Face the Sin in the Church (2)

After Pentecost (IV)

 

1 Corinthians 5

 

There are three things, which seem to be great qualities of a culture:

being open-minded,

being tolerant,

and respecting privacy.

However, the same three qualities can be the greatest dangers the church faces.

 

To have a broader view of issues is wonderful. To have an OPEN MIND in understanding things is a great virtue. Yet, being open-minded means to accept things that God calls sin is tragic. Being open-minded these days means believing that there is no absolute truth in life, everything is relative. THIS IS DANGEROUS.

 

Secondly, in the name of TOLERANCE we accept all kinds of lifestyles. Everything is acceptable. Of course, when there is no absolute truth everything is tolerated.

 

Thus we move to the third idea, PRIVACY. “Please do not interfere in my life. This is my life; I run it the way I want.” Even kids can tell their parents, “This my privacy, do not enter to my room, do not look at my computer history, do not interfere with whom I speak on my space…” Where is the limit? What kind of parent are you when you can not be a parent for your children?

 

Confronting our sins and asking God’s forgiveness must be a daily prayer in our lives.

 Each person in the body of Christ must take his/her life to Jesus everyday. Therefore, your personal confession to God is a private matter between you and God.

 

Paul is responding to the church of Corinth about a sin that was reported and was public information. This is not just a rumor going around. No, this was an open sin, everyone knew about it, and no one dealt with it. In fact, the Corinthians were “open-minded” Christians, they were “proud” of their being tolerant.

 

Paul is using sharp words:

-put out of your fellowship (2)

-hand this man over to Satan, (5) (Satan: To the world)

-Get rid of the old yeast (7)

-not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother (11)

-Expel the wicked man (13)

 

When there is a wound, the doctors start by treating it with medication.

If all efforts fail, their last resort will be surgery- using the knife. Same in the church, or personal life. When sin is not confronted and healed, the last resort will be putting the person “out of the fellowship”, “not associating with them.”

                                            

In the OT, David sinned when he married Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). He actually broke six commandments from the 10 commandments:

1-Dishonored God,

2-committed adultery,

3-lied,

4-stole,

5-killed,

6-coveted the neighbors wife.

 

Nathan was not silent. He faced the King, God’s chosen king. He confronted him with the truth about his life conduct. At the end David repented.

Paul is not against repentance.

He knew how Jesus handled a situation when a member in the body of Christ sinned:

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17)

 

Actually, Paul too teaches the same approach in handling sin in the church.

We read in Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”

 

When I served in Ainjar, I was in a situation when there was a public sin to face as the pastor of the church. I had a member of our church who deliberately manipulated an elderly couple and stole their house and properties. I had papers which proved her misconduct. Our church council and deacons decided that we approach her and ask her to repent and give the house back. She refused. We conducted the method described in Matthew 15. She refused. It was very painful for me to write a letter to her telling her that she could not be a member of the church any more. She could attend the church anytime. Church is open to anyone. But she was no longer a member of the church. She was not a member of the body of Christ. I did not stop there. She was in my prayers. She was the lost sheep that the shepherd is looking for. She was the “prodigal son” lost to the “world”. You see in both stories there is a choice that the lost sheep or the lost son made- a choice to return and repent.

 

UCLA sociologist, James Wilson, has observed an interesting fact in city life. The crime rate escalated on those streets where broken windows are not repaired. His study showed that the failure to replace windows makes an announcement to the public saying the standards have been lowered and authority has abandoned.

 

It is similar in church life. God requires biblical standards in the church. This does not mean we are not sinning. When we sin, we need to repent and bring ourselves to God through Jesus Christ. Paul uses the picture of the yeast:

“Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (6-8)

There is a tradition in Jewish homes. When Passover arrives, they clean the house and get rid of all the old yeasts. It is symbolism of taking away the old, and being ready for the new one.

As Christians, our Passover lamb is Jesus Christ.

If we do not deal with sin, we are saying to Jesus you died for nothing. Sin is a serious matter; we can not just ignore it. Jesus died for our sins. His death on the cross was for the removal our sins. Our part is to accept him in our lives, and continue to live by His instructions. One of them is confession. The church can not be silent when there is unconfessed and repented sin.

 

In 2nd Corinthians chapter 2:5-8, Paul asks the church to reaffirm love to the man who was punished (it could be the same man as in 1st Corinthians or maybe similar case.)

“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”

 

Correction and discipline are not popular topics in the church. They are important topics, and should be handled not with vengeance, no, but with love and care.

 

I gave the example of David and his public sin with Bathsheba. Later on David wrote wonderful prayers in the book of Psalm. One example is psalm 139:

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

    24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

This sermon is not a evaluation of the church of Corinth only. It is evaluation of our church and our lives. Let us be silent for a moment. Meditate; Confess….

Amen