1 Corinthians, Day 3
The Problems, #3 (1 Corinthians 5)
“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6 – 8).
I have used this illustration once during a sermon: My wife makes the best brownies. Nobody can make brownies that can even compare. Why? Because she uses a special ingredient. Just a little bit. I asked who would like to try my wife’s brownies and several hands went up. I then asked if they wanted me to tell them the special ingredient. I told them it was “doggie doo-doo.” I can still picture the congregation’s reaction when they found out what the ingredient was. I asked again, “Who would like to try my wife’s brownies?” Unsurprisingly, nobody raised their hand. What makes this illustration even better was that there was a luncheon afterwards with several different kinds of desserts. Almost all of the desserts were completely eaten except for — what? Brownies! Apparently, the congregation was now cautious about what they ate. I hope I did not impact their love for brownies for long. I also want to clarify that my wife does not use any special ingredients in her brownies, and they are amazing!
I mention that illustration to you because sin can be like doggie doo-doo. It’s amazing how many people would be completely turned off by a brownie even with just the thought that there might be a speck of doggie doo-doo, but yet we will readily consume so much of the garbage that the world has to offer.
The specific sin that Paul is referring to here is immorality. Leviticus 18 mentions several specific sexual sins, including when a man has relations with his father’s wife (Verse 8). This was the situation here. Did the congregation here respond appropriately to this situation? No. In order to be loving, they were accepting his actions. Paul then warns that a little bit of excused sin can and will affect the entire Body. Paul even goes so far as to tell the Christians that they should not even eat with such a person (Verse 11).
What’s great about this scenario is that the church obeyed Paul and rebuked the sinner. Later, in 2 Corinthians, we learn that the man repented of his sin and was offered once again to associate with the Body. Another lesson to be learned from this passage is that we as Christians do not have the right or jurisdiction to judge the world. We cannot hold them to the same standard, because they are living in darkness. Christians, however, are the light of the world and we need to be living as such.
Today, I challenge you to examine your own heart. Do you have a little bit of “doggie doo-doo” in your life that you need to cleanse? Do you associate with someone who calls themself a Christian and yet brags about sin in their life? As Christians, it is our responsibility to correct other believers so the Body remains pure. We also need to be sure that our end goal is not to destroy, but to help the person take responsibility for their actions so they can be pure and holy before God.
Pastor David Guenin