Introduction
This is the last of three sermons on the subject of discipline; you just have to get through this one more sermon. Then we can relax a bit as we go into chapter 6 and only deal with conflict between Christians and Christians engaged in sexual immorality! What is with these people? Their church was founded by the greatest church planter in the history of the Church; they are of the first generation of believers who are caught up in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; they speak in tongues, prophesy, and heal. What is their problem? Why, they are like us. They have the same sins and same problems we do. I guess it doesn’t matter if we go back 2,000 years or ahead 2,000 years. Solomon was right; there is nothing new under the sun.
Let’s review what we have considered so far. In the first sermon we defended church discipline, noting its benefits; in the second sermon we present the reasons church discipline is difficult to exercise in a productive way or exercise at all. This morning, we will discuss how to positively exercise discipline.
We have also considered the different types of discipline. There is the discipline of governing and admonition. This form of discipline goes on in the daily life of the church. Church officers and teachers are screened for their beliefs and behavior. My teaching is monitored. The elders have authority over what activities may take place in the church, and so on. I discipline you every Sunday through the admonition I give in the sermon. The other form of discipline is the one we normally associate with the term, what our Book of Church Order refers to as judicial process, and we call punishment. We saw that kind of discipline exercised in our scripture text, 5:1-5, in which Paul calls on the church to excommunicate a member. We also noted the reasons given for such discipline: to maintain the glory of God; to keep and reclaim sinners; and thirdly, to maintain the purity of God’s Church.
This last reason is the one given in our opening verse.
Text
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
This leaven is dough from the previous week’s batch. The cook would save dough, allow it to ferment, then mix it into the next batch to produce a lightness in the loaf of bread. A small amount was sufficient to affect, or infiltrate, the whole loaf. That is the problem with sin in the body of Christ. If it is allowed to go unabated in one person, it will infect the whole body, i.e. the church.
The sin at hand is an incestuous relationship between son and stepmother. The Corinthian Church is not only allowing the sin to be publicly carried on, but somehow seems pleased. Paul refers to their boasting. How could they boast about sin? By boasting in their freedom in Christ. We will explore this skewed understanding of the gospel another time. Suffice it to say now that their pride in the spiritual gifts has blinded them to the doctrine of sanctification in Christ. Here is a case where doctrine does matter. It is also a case of how pride can spark and fan other sins. Paul is trying to put out the flame.
Don’t you realize, he is saying, that sin is infectious? Once it is allowed to enter the church body, it infiltrates every part of the body until some action is taken to stop it. Like leaven, though, once it is begins to spread, it is almost impossible to remove it without further damage. It has already done its work.
How? For one, this man’s behavior will encourage similar behavior by others in the church, and, indeed, we will get to them in later chapters. To let a public sin go unchecked is to endorse the behavior in the eyes of others. This sin is also stirring other sin such as pride. The real issue in the text is not so much this man’s sin, as it is the church’s sinful response. Finally, regardless of how much the sin influences others in the church, the purity of the church is already stained, making the church a mockery before the world and disillusioning members within.
Verse 7 presents the answer to dealing with the present problem and preventing others like it from reoccurring: 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. 8 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.
In the present case, the Corinth Church needs to cleanse from its midst the offender. It needs to start new without the old leaven. But in a broader sense, it also needs a new perspective on the Christian life. The language sounds similar to Jesus’ admonition that new wine is not to be kept in old wineskins or new cloth used to patch old cloth. The old cannot handle the new.
In this case, the old pagan lifestyle cannot be adapted to the new life in Christ. Becoming a new person in Christ does not mean merely having new beliefs about Jesus doing the work for our salvation, nor is the new life limited to getting some nifty spiritual gifts. Christ has truly accomplished our salvation by his work on the cross, but that work was done that we might be made into new persons who live for the glory of God. We were in bondage to sin; now we are freed from sin so that we may live holy lives. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit was sent into our lives, not only to give us spiritual gifts, but to produce holy fruit. Thus, for a man to proclaim himself a born-again believer in Christ and then to unashamedly live an immoral lifestyle is to slander Christ and his sacrifice.
Christ has died to give you new life that will grow in righteousness. If you are truly born-again by the Holy Spirit, then this new life has begun. Again, verse 7: Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. Christ has changed your status. Now live out what you have become. This is an important point. The Corinthian believers are not being told to make themselves unleavened so they can attain a new status with God. Christ has done that work for them. Rather, they are being told to be the people they in truth are in Christ.
We don’t make ourselves good people. Christ’s sacrifice has given us that status before God. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling is generating goodness in us and empowering us to live good lives. We are called upon to avail ourselves of the mercy in Christ and of the Spirit’s power so that we might willfully live in obedience to God. This is the message of verse 8: 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.
Let us celebrate the ongoing festival that is the new life in Christ. Let us rid ourselves of the old leaven that characterized our old life and live unleavened lives. Note the traits of the old life – malice and evil. These are umbrella words to cover all the various forms of sin. We are to put sin aside and embrace the traits of sincerity and truth. That is an interesting pair of traits to list. One would think Paul would have given the opposing counterparts of malice and evil, such as love and righteousness. Instead, he puts forth traits that emphasize honesty and trueness. It seems that he is saying sin, in its different manifestations, springs from duplicity and what is false. Goodness, on the other hand, finds its source in what is true. Do you remember what was said of Adam and Eve before they sinned? They were naked and not ashamed. Why were they not ashamed? Because they had no sin. There was nothing for them to be ashamed about and thus no reason to hide anything. They had not thought anything evil and thus had no reason to lie. Sin is the effort to obtain what we should not seek or avoid what we should desire. We must lie to sin. Either we lie, claiming we did not commit the sin in question, or we lie, claiming that our sin is not sin. Even the honest sinner who admits he enjoys his sin, lives the lie that his sin is somehow producing good results for himself.
Isn’t that the Corinthians’ problem? Either they know the man is sinning, and they are covering it up, or they are living the lie that such sin is not blameworthy. The unleavened life cannot abide such duplicity. The is why even so-called small sins make Christians miserable. What before, in our pre-Christ days, we could laugh about and boast in, we now appropriately feel guilt about.
The following verses put church discipline in its proper perspective, which is that it is discipline in the church, not the church trying to discipline the world.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
1 Corinthians is not the first letter to the Corinthians. Paul has written before, evidently also about matters of discipline and had stated then for the believers not to associate with sexually immoral persons. It would seem from what he says in verse 10 that the Corinthians were too zealous in carrying out his instruction and shunned even unbelievers. It would seem so, except for the fact of this man’s immorality. What happened? What was their response to the previous letter?
Apparently they rejected his instruction and did so by misreading or exaggerating what he had said. Don’t listen to Paul. See how legalistic he has become. He doesn’t want us associating with anybody. (Sexual immorality would have covered most people in Corinth). Or had they flip-flopped Paul’s admonition: don’t associate with sexually immoral unbelievers but keep fellowship with believers. They, after all, are holy in Christ. Right? I know this reasoning seems irrational, but when we get into the upcoming chapters, we will explore how their theology led them to such conclusions.
Meanwhile, the message is that the church is to shun its own members who publicly and unashamedly commit the sins of the world. Her own people are her business, not the world. Those who are outside the church are not subject to the church. We may express our opinion of their behavior, but they do not owe us submission. They are acting in accord with their own standards, not those of the gospel. In one sense, they are being true to their faith, however misguided it may be.
This principle leads to another discussion of the church’s place in the world. When may the church or individual Christians speak to the world about sin and injustice? Because our focus is on church discipline, we cannot take the time to explore the issue. But for a starting point in your deliberations, I think the point that the NT writers would make is that there is a distinction between being a prophet to the world and its judge. We may, and should, proclaim the full gospel which includes pronouncing what is sin. What we are not to do as a church is exercise judgment against unbelievers because they do not conform to biblical principles.
Besides, we have enough problems of our own, considering the implications of our text. Paul clearly indicates that within the church there can be those who bear the name of Christian and be guilty of sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, verbal abuse, drunkenness, and even swindling. You talking to me? says the world. Take care of your own problems.
Application
So, how do we take care of our own problems? How do we exercise church discipline in such a way that we actually help the church rather than merely stir up our troubles?
One step is education. Our Book of Church Order says that teaching elders must instruct the church officers and the congregation in discipline. Many, if not most, church members are not informed about the subject. They are unaware that their beliefs or behavior could actually come under judgment and, thus, are offended if they are questioned. “Who do you think you are to question me?” “Where do you get the authority to judge me?”
But we need education about more than discipline. We need for example to understand the biblical concept of the church. I have alluded to this already in these sermons when making the comment that the church is the covenant community of Christ and not merely a religious service organization. In our society, we prize going our own way, and we balk at “interfering” in each other’s lives. But belonging to a church means belonging to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We have the mutual obligation to help each other in our Christian walk. We are accountable before our Lord to hold one another accountable in following him.
We need education about sanctification – the subject of how we are to live as followers of Christ. Again, we live in a society that separates being spiritual from being moral and righteous. Somehow we can have a relationship with God without having to conform to his expectations of us. I could go on, but the point I am trying to make is that, contrary to popular opinion, doctrine does matter. What we believe about God, about salvation, and about the church does make a difference in the way we live. Foundational beliefs affect the structure we build for our lives.
Education is not enough, however, to practice good church discipline. It is critical to be already practicing good relations. We will listen to one another if we have already established caring relationships. We will accept “judging” statements from those who have encouraged us, listened to us, shared our troubles, in short, who have been there for us.
What does it mean to be a covenant community? That is what church discipline forces us to deal with. It challenges each of us to examine our preconceived notions of what a church is supposed to be like. It challenges us to examine our seriously we take being disciples of Jesus Christ. It challenges us to examine how much we really care for one another.
Would you consider such questions? Let me give a more specific list to help in the process.
Do you regard being a Christian primarily about getting saved, or do you see it as a call to serve Christ in his kingdom?
When you make decisions about a job, a school, a place to live, etc., do you ask yourself how you can best serve the Lord?
Do you regard yourself as a Christian, primarily identified by your beliefs, or as a disciple of Christ, identified by your commitment to follow Christ?
In your prayer life, are most of your prayers about problems that you would like God to solve, or are they about the success of the gospel going forth?
Is the church for you a place to get what you like out of your religion, or is it a community of people that you commit to being involved with?
When you hear of a church event, do you decide to participate based on your personal interest in the event, or do you consider how you may contribute to the encouragement of your brothers and sisters by your participation?
Do you, when you attend worship, think of how you might encourage others, especially others in the church you do not know well?
Do you take time to get to know others in the church, especially those who attend “the other” service?
If these questions are making you uncomfortable, then I am doing my job. They make me uncomfortable, and I am the pastor! But if I am put in a position of authority in the church, then I must examine my own heart, and I must be willing to listen to my brothers and sisters.
Funny how things work. We discuss church discipline, and it leads us to examine how we handle all the other areas of church life. It’s like tithing. In order to take tithing seriously, we have to take seriously our attitude about everything involving money. But then, that’s like God. He is concerned with our hearts, not merely our outward faces. He doesn’t want a bit of the old leaven in us, however light and tasteful we may seem to be. Christ our Passover lamb was sacrificed so that we could join in the feast of our God, not in the poor substitute of our own creation. His physical body was sacrificed so that we might become members of his spiritual body, the Church. Therefore, let us join fully the feast with our brothers and sisters.
