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The Imperfect Church – 9
The Tolerant Church
Introduction
The list of sins that Paul confronts in 1 Corinthians is quite lengthy.
The Corinthians were guilty of:
Disunity Homosexuality
Power plays Abusing others
Relying on human wisdom Abusing freedom
Valuing their own intelligence over God’s Prostitution
Disrespecting the Gospel Bad marriages
Disregarding the Holy Spirit Divorce for unbiblical reasons
Jealousy Violating conscience
Spiritual immaturity Leading others into sin
Hurting the Church Testing Christ
Boasting Fellowshipping with demons
Judging others Confusing gender roles
Pride in their achievements and possessions Fighting during communion
Hubris, thinking they didn’t need God Spiritual gifts for own glory
Defying God given authority Unloving
Grotesque sexual sin Chaotic, disordered worship
Misunderstanding grace Denying the resurrection
Celebrating wickedness Idolatry
Suing one another in court
TS –This is what makes 1 Corinthians so challenging to deal with.
It seems kind of dark and foreboding.
Sin after sin, confrontation after confrontation.
Can’t we just talk about God’s love?
Let’s talk about grace, we like grace.
Why do we have to deal with all this sin stuff?
Isn’t Paul being a little judgy?
Shouldn’t we acknowledge that people are sinners and sins like this in the church are to be accepted, dismissed, maybe even celebrated?
After all, shouldn’t we be proud that these sinners find church to be comfortable and welcoming?
I mean, at least they’re coming to church.
So goes the contemporary church model in America.
All we want is for more people to attend our church, so we will dismiss anything they do, and we will do all we can to make people feel comfortable.
The Bible categorically denies this mentality and clearly informs us that it is wrong.
Of course we want people who do not know Jesus to attend.
Of course we want to help people grow from immaturity to maturity.
But making people comfortable in their sin is not the way to go about doing that.
The Church is serious business.
Being part of The Church is serious business for two primary reasons:
1.
The Church Belongs to God
Paul has already been establishing this truth for us.
1:2 – I am writing to God’s church in Corinth.
2:1 - The Gospel is “God’s secret plan.”
3:6-7 – God makes the church grow.
3: 9 – The Church is “God’s field, God’s building.”
3:16 – The Church is the temple of God.
3:23 – we belong to Christ.
4:2 – we are merely managers for the Master/Owner of the Church.
4:4 – we are accountable to the Lord himself.
4:21 – we live in God’s Kingdom.
This entire thing called The Church is God’s enterprise from beginning to end, start to finish.
He conceived it, Jesus died for it, God calls people into it, he sits supreme over it in authority, and Jesus will return to hold it accountable.
We don’t get to decide what we are going to do with the Church.
It is never about our vision, our direction, our strategic plan.
We don’t run this thing; Jesus is the Head of the Church.
And as such:
2. The Church Represents Jesus to the World
As the Body of Christ, we are his representation in and to the world around us.
What the Church must always be asking is this: are we representing Him well?
When the world looks at us, are they getting an accurate, biblical picture of him?
So yes, we absolutely show love to people.
Yes, we show mercy and understanding.
Yes, we welcome and invite.
Yes, we show grace.
But let us not forget…the chief attribute of God in the Bible is holiness.
To represent the Lord accurately and biblically, this characteristic must be top on our list.
Paul has already been establishing this truth for us as well.
1:2 – “I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people.”
In chapter 3 he confronted their lack of spiritual growth.
3:2-3 – “I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger.
And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature.
You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other.
Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature?
Aren’t you living like people of the world?”
Steve Lawson – “Every believer has been chosen by God from eternity past for Heaven later, but for holiness now.”[1]
TS – with all that as the backdrop, let’s look at our text for today.
– I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do.
I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame.
And you should remove this man from your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit.
And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You must call a meeting of the church.
I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.
5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.
6 Your boasting about this is terrible.
Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?
7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you.
Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are.
Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols.
You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.
11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people.
Don’t even eat with such people.
12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.
13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
TS – With this explosive, counter-cultural text, Paul offers three corrections to the problem of sin in the church.
He corrects their sin, their theology, and their misunderstanding.
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