Today’s scripture: 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Don Clark):
These verses are more easily read in The Message translation by Eugene Peterson to help us get our minds around what is really being said. Sometimes church people can be the most messed up of all people. There. I put it in writing. After serving as a pastor for many, many years, I can testify! These sentences from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church are addressing some serious issues within the church itself. In Paul’s day, as today, there were social and moral issues to be dealt with and scandals in the church. We shouldn’t be surprised by that. As I reread these difficult passages, I was struck by a couple surprising thoughts.
First, immoral behavior, whether sexual or something else, always involves broken relationships, broken trust, and misuse or abuse of others. It is not loving God nor is it loving others as I would love myself. It is taking advantage unfairly of and thereby hurting another person. Lying hurts others. Stealing hurts others. Gossip hurts others. Infidelity hurts others. And the list goes on. This particular offense in the church at Corinth was especially hurtful because it reflected a behavior that was not even acceptable to the surrounding pagan culture. Immoral behavior is anything that disregards our love of God. It refuses to show love and deference for others. This kind of behavior is selfish and self-serving. It’s all about me, and I don’t care about the consequences in other persons’ lives. Sinful behavior also reflects adversely on our love of self or self-worth. The Corinthian culture was a mixed religious culture that included, among others, a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite that involved ritual sex. This made any kind of impropriety within the church appear to bring Christians down to the same level as their neighbors morally. And Paul said even the unbelieving neighbors didn’t approve of this kind of behavior! Morally tainted actions or behaviors can create much damage unless checked by a clear sense of personal moral boundaries.
Second, the real scandal of this situation is that the church was being very indifferent about this broken relationship between a father, his son, and the father’s wife. Paul writes, “And you’re so above it all that it doesn’t even faze you! Shouldn’t this break your hearts? Shouldn’t it bring you to your knees in tears?” Again, Paul seems to me to be stressing the church’s arrogant attitude and callousness toward the brokenness of this family more than the actual situation or action that caused the scandal and pain in the first place. Paul’s answer in this particular situation is to ask the community of faith to step in and to deal with the brokenness in the Spirit of Christ. The result of this kind of engagement and the possible separation of the individual from the community of faith can be devastating to the individual and embarrassing to the congregation, but Paul says in The Message translation, “. . . better devastation and embarrassment than damnation. You want him on his feet and forgiven before the Master on the Day of Judgment.”
The ultimate result of this kind of intervention is grace and restoration which we find reflected in the second letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. This is the rest of the story! “Now, regarding the one who started all this — the person in question who caused all this pain — . . . I don’t want to come down too hard. . . . Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it. My counsel now is to pour on the love. The focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him . . .” (2 Corinthians 2:5-10; The Message).
This is incredible! Pour on the love! A focus of the community of faith is to come together in our brokenness, take corporate and individual responsibility for all our failures together, and then . . . forgive, love, and restore individuals in their relationship with Christ and within the community of faith.
What are my broken places? Can I bring my own brokenness into the light of my community of faith? Where do I need restoration of relationship and trust? Do my relationships reflect my faith in Christ? How can I better take personal responsibility for the health of my church?
Prayer for the day: Holy One, help me to bring my own personal brokenness to you that you may bring healing, wholeness, and restoration to me, to my relationships, and to my faith community. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.