9-13I wrote you in my earlier letter that you shouldn't make yourselves at home among the sexually promiscuous. I didn't mean that you should have nothing at all to do with outsiders of that sort. Or with crooks, whether blue or white-collar. Or with spiritual phonies, for that matter. You'd have to leave the world entirely to do that! But I am saying that you shouldn't act as if everything is just fine when a friend who claims to be a Christian is promiscuous or crooked, is flip with God or rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and predatory. You can't just go along with this, treating it as acceptable behavior. I'm not responsible for what the outsiders do, but don't we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers? God decides on the outsiders, but we need to decide when our brothers and sisters are out of line and, if necessary, clean house. (The Message)
"If necessary" are the words that stand out here for me. As we considered the difficulty yesterday of confronting someone who is doing wrong today there comes the reality that at times it is necessary to part ways. To say the hard thing and point out that because of certain things the relationship cannot continue. In the past and I'm sure even in some churches today some behavior immediately gets you shunned or thrown out of the fellowship. But Paul sees this not as the first response but as a last resort.
Today we might need to ask ourselves what are the things that could be most distructive to a fellowship and to Jesus' reputation in the community? It could be that greed or gossip is more destructive than gambling. It could be that many of the things that we choose to allow or look the other way today are actually the very things that are destroying our churches from the inside out. Confronting sin is never easy or fun whether it is our own or someone else's. Confronting destructive behavior in a loving way within a church will demonstrate to the world that Jesus does care about those who are impacted by others sins. Confronting sin is a necessity, seeking reconciliation is a priority, cleaning house should be a last resort.
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- Paul seems to be saying that the Corinthians went to far in distancing themselves from people they thought were involved in sin. Why do you think they might have come to that conclusion?
- What would be easier for you, to pass judgement quickly and break off a relationship or to spend a long time trying to work things out? Why?
- What do you think is the most destructive sin in a church body? Why? Where have you seen it take its toll?
- How might you comfort those who have been impacted by someone else's sin within a group of believers?
No comments:
Post a Comment