Today’s scripture: 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Michael Landon):
My first reaction to receiving today’s passage to write a reflection on was thinking, “You have got to be kidding me! God, you know how this passage has caused me so much pain recently; how can I be expected to write a reflection on this particular passage?” After taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I realized that this was an opportunity to find some healing and to let go of my pain and resentment towards some family members who recently used this passage to justify shunning me and trying to get the rest of my family to join them in shunning me, including my daughters. Perhaps this is an invitation for me to look deeper and to listen to what God is saying through this passage, and to stop listening to the bigotry and rejection of some of my family members.
I believe with my whole heart that God continually invites us to a place of healing and transformation and truly desires the best for each of us. So with this in mind, I decided that I would spend some time praying with and studying this passage with the hope that I would hear an invitation from God to heal at a deeper place, and that I would in turn be able to invite others to also find that place of healing. After all, I am not the only person that has had scripture misused against them; and avoiding those painful places does not help one heal, it only extends the pain.
It is important to remember when reading this passage (and much of scripture) that Paul is writing a letter to a particular congregation and is addressing communal behavior that is jeopardizing the spiritual health of the congregation. He is not addressing the rest of the world. Paul sees the church as a covenant community that is accountable to one another. When members of the community are living in a way that does not demonstrate the love of Christ, then the whole community suffers. An important understanding of what it means to follow Jesus is that our lives will be transformed. Our faith is not just theological/theoretical mumbo-jumbo that stays in our heads. Our faith is something we live and practice; and this includes our behavior. In other words, our faith has an impact on our sexual expression, our attachment to possessions, our use of physical force against others, our ability to speak honestly, and our use of alcohol, to name just a few.
If members of the congregation are spreading false information about someone, then that will begin to erode trust and will cause dissention and arguments. If we are trying to grow a spiritually healthy community that is developing and maturing in faith, then this kind of behavior needs to be confronted and stopped, because it is hurting the community and is not living as Jesus would have us live. If the congregation just ignores and overlooks this behavior, then the congregation is condoning this behavior and the congregation will suffer because of it. So Paul is reminding us that we need to hold each other accountable, which means we need to be encouraging each other to grow in our faith and to let our behaviors be transformed into love. Spreading false information is not love; having sex with anybody and everybody is not love; stealing is not love; getting drunk is not love; physically hurting another is not love; and none of these behaviors help the community or the individual grow in maturity of faith. We need to help each other to not live a life of destruction, but a life of love and transformation. I believe that Paul’s underlying message is about mutual accountability, rather than about disciplinary action.
Thought for the day: What behaviors or attitudes still need to be transformed within me? Who can I go to for help? Who might need my help in transforming their lives and living lives of love?
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.