Church Matters: Correcting the Corinthians (3)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 11/23/2014
Years ago, a large statue of Christ was erected high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile. Called "Christ of the Andes," the statue symbolizes a pledge between the two countries that as long as the statue stands, there will be peace between Chile and Argentina. Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans began to protest that they had been slighted -- the statue had its back turned to Chile. Just when tempers were at their highest in Chile, a Chilean newspaperman saved the day. In an editorial that not only satisfied the people but made them laugh, he simply said, “The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans.”
If there was ever a church that needed more watching over than most, it was the church in Corinth. Plagued with a bevy of spiritual and moral problems, the Corinthians just couldn’t stay out of trouble. Whether they realized it or not, Jesus was watching over them and so was the apostle Paul.
A couple weeks ago, we began a new series exploring the book of 1 Corinthians. Last week, in chapter three, Paul addressed the issue of growth. Though they struggled with maturity, God wanted the church in Corinth to continue growing in spirituality, in size and in service. As we turn to chapter six, we discover a few more problems plaguing the young Corinthian congregation.
First, Paul addresses the problem of strife.
• A PROBLEM WITH STRIFE
The church at Corinth was rapidly losing its testimony in the city because of their inability to get along. Not only had they divided into four competing denominations, but their disputes and disagreements escalated to the point that they we taking one another to court and suing each other. Here’s what Paul says:
“And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians?… As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgment of people you don’t trust in any other way? I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice?!” (1 Corinthians 6:1-6 MSG).
The Greeks in general, and the Athenians in particular, were known for their involvements in court battles. In one of his stage plays, the Greek playwright Aristophanes has one of his characters look at a map and ask were Greece is located. When it is pointed out to him, he replies that there must be some mistake—because he can’t see any lawsuits going on there! I think the United States is rapidly earning a similar reputation.
372,563 civil suits were filed in federal court and over 12 million filed in states courts last year. All of these lawsuits are handled by the 1.3 million lawyers licensed in the United States who raked in over $170 trillion for it. Like the Corinthians, thousands of Americans have aired their dirty laundry as publicly as possible on televised courtrooms like The People’s Court, Divorce Court, or Judge Judy.
I don’t think there are many—if any—in our congregation dragging their fellow Christians into court. But the root problem that plagued the Corinthians still pesters people today—disputes and disagreements. We just can’t get along.
The fact that disputes arise should not surprise us because almost everybody has opinions on almost everything—especially in the church. Some people think we sing too many hymns, others think we don’t sing enough hymn. Some people think I preach too long, others think I don’t preach long enough. Some think we should build a new building, some think we should remodel the one we have, some think we ought to just leave everything the way it is. There are always going to be disputable matters. The question is—how do we handle our disagreements and disputes? Do you let hostility and resentment fester? Do you sow seeds of discord, complaining to others who aren’t involved? Do you confront the person or the problem? Sadly, disagreements over some of the silliest things have led to division and even the destruction of congregation.
It reminds me of one of the more peculiar footnotes of American History—the famous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. The feud between these two families apparently lasted for 12 years and, over the course of that time, 12 people were ultimately murdered—one revenge-killing after another. Does anybody know how this feud began in the first place? Well, it all started because one of the Hatfields believed (with no actual evidence) that one of the McCoys had stolen his pig. Just the rumor that one family stole a pig from the other family caused years of fighting that resulting in the senseless deaths of 12 of their loved ones. I wonder—when it was all over—if any of them believed that it was worth it?
The Bible says, “Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out” (Proverbs 17:14 NLT). When arguments arise in the church, Paul tells us to find a levelheaded person who can make fair decisions—a pastor, shepherd, or a deacon—to help us settle our differences. Let’s work together to avoid the strife that Corinth got caught up in.
Furthermore, in addition to strife, the Corinthians also had a problem with sex.
• A PROBLEM WITH SEX
Like I said before, Corinth was steeped in sexual immorality. It was what we might call a very tolerant society. Sexual sin had permeated that culture and infiltrated the church. Paul first addresses the problem in chapter five, where he writes, “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” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2 NLT).
There is a man in the church who is in an openly sexual relationship with his stepmother and the church hadn’t done anything about it! Instead, they were proud of it. They thought it demonstrated how tolerant and accepting they were. Paul says, “You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame” (1 Corinthians 5:3 NLT).
I think the reason the church wasn’t responding to this situation is that many of them were guilty of their own sexual sins. Within Corinth stood a temple to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love. The temple employed over a thousand prostitutes. The city was renowned for these temple prostitutes, who served the wealthy merchants and the powerful officials who frequented the city, as well as many of the men in the Corinthian church. Paul calls them out on it, saying, “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, ‘The two are united into one’” (6:15-16 NLT).
We may not have a temple full of prostitutes in our town, but sexual sin is just as rampant in our culture as it was in theirs. You can hardly go online or turn on the TV without being bombarded with sexual images. One in eight online searches (12.5 %) is for pornography. And Christians are not immune to this. One study showed that 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women admit to having a problem with pornography. Another study conducted at a Midwestern school showed that 80% of the women who have premarital sex hoped to marry their partner, but only 12% of the men had the same expectation. According to the National Opinion Research Center 20% of men and 10% of women admit to cheating on their spouse sometime during their marriage. Our culture sends the message that sex is no big deal, while at the same time acting like sex is the most important thing in the world. To a lot of people, it doesn’t matter who you’re with or if you even care about each other—it’s just something that feels good.
But listen to what Paul tells the Corinthians and us by extension: “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NLT).
As Christians, we dare to believe that sex is precious, and God created it to be fully experienced only in the most precious relationship—marriage. Sex isn’t casual. It wasn’t created for boyfriends and girlfriends. It wasn’t even meant for serious couples who intend to get married. It doesn’t matter whether it’s pornography, or premarital sex, or homosexuality, or adultery, if it falls short of God’s purpose and plan for sex, it’s wrong. We need to run from sexual sin! It’s a struggle to try to honor God in a sex-crazed culture. Christians will sometimes slip up; they sin. Others worry that they are going to. But you can be forgiven and you start fresh. That leads us to Paul’s last point.
• A PROBLEM WITH SANCTIFICATION
Finally, in addition to their problems with strife and sex, the Corinthians just didn’t seem to understand sanctification. Here’s what God has to say to this bunch of sinning saints:
“Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 HCSB).
Paul produces quite a list of sins and sinners here; some of them sexual, some ethical, and some spiritual. And he tells the Corinthians “you used to be like this.” If we’re honest, many of us would have to admit we used to be like this too. Some of us still are like this. But—he says—you were washed, sanctified, and justified. To be washed means that you have been forgiven. Your sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. To be justified means that you have been made right with God—you’re square now. But I want to focus on that middle word—sanctified.
To be sanctified means to be made holy—to be changed from what you were to what God wants you to be. That’s good news, isn’t it? You aren’t stuck with today’s sins or shortcomings. You’re tweakable. You’re changeable. Paul describes sanctification elsewhere, when he writes, “But you were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person. That new person is made to be like God—made to be truly good and holy” (Ephesians 4:23-24).
It’s difficult to sum up grand truths in a single statement, but I’m going to try. If one sentence could capture God’s desire for each of us, it might go like this:
God loves you just the way you are—with all your faults, foibles, and failures—but he loves you too much to leave you that way.
Max Lucado tells an adorable tale about his daughter Jenna. When she was a toddler, he took her to a park not far from their apartment. As she played joyfully in the sandbox, the unmistakable jingle of an ice-cream truck tickled Max’s ears. He approached the vehicle and bought an ice-cream cone for his daughter, but when he turned to give it to her, he saw her mouth full of sand. Where he intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt.
Did he love her any less with the dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Would he let her keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. He loved her, dirt and all. But he loved her too much to leave her there. He carried her over to the fountain, rinsed out her mouth, and replaced the dirt with something delicious.
God does the same for us. He holds us over the fountain of the Holy Spirt, “Spit out the dirt,” he says. “I’ve got something better for you.” The Spirit of God washes in and through us, rinsing away the filth—immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed, godlessness. We don’t always enjoy the sanctification process. Sometimes we opt for the dirt over the ice-cream. That’s what the Corinthians were did. But if we do—the loss is ours. God has a better offer.
It doesn’t matter what you were or what you’ve done, if you’ll let God have his way with you, he will transform your heart into something truly good and holy.
Conclusion:
The church in Corinth struggled with strife, they struggled with sex, and they struggled with sanctification. I don’t know if a giant statue of Jesus watching over them in their backyard would have helped or not. But their struggles aren’t over yet. Next week we’ll explore chapter seven and discover what Paul says about marriage, divorce, and remarriage in the church. In the meantime, let me leave you with this question: what are you struggling with?
Invitation:
Do you struggle with strife? Is it hard for you to get along with some people? Do you hold on to anger and resentment? Or do you struggle with sexual purity? Is sexual sin affecting your marriage or your walk with God? Or do you struggle with sanctification? Are you still hanging on to who you used to be, even though God has something better in store for you? Whatever it is you struggle with, you need to know that you’re not alone. You have a church family that will come along next to you and be there for you. If you’d like to share your struggles with me this morning, please come forward while we stand and sing.
