Get Rid of the Leaven!
March 17, 2001
The Globe and Mail has been running some rather controversial and attention grabbing advertisements of late. In one that I hear on the radio, the idea is that a CEO is promoting someone to a vice-presidency, I believe, and states: “Jones is over 6 feet tall, has all sorts of great virtues, always keeps his friends close and enemies closer, and knows all the company secrets. I’ll be watching you, buddy.” And the line then is, “The truth is not always this clear. Read the Globe and Mail to get up-to-date information.
I’ve seen their similar ads on television a couple of times and they’re equally attention grabbing. The ads show a number of shots of people’s heads and they’re making straightforward statements. “I believe abortion should be illegal.” “Capital punishment should be brought back.” And other similar statements are made. Again, the line is, “The truth is not always this clear. Read the Globe and Mail.”
What catches me, in the statements on television, in particular, is that the ideas spoken are not generally accepted ideas anymore. In fact, I believe there would be a lot of intolerance toward the ideas that are used to catch attention, which is what the ads are supposed to do. So, I imagine people have done some reading of the Globe in response to the ads. There, they’re meant to get all the true stories that will allow them to make informed decisions about what is right and wrong in any story.
Tolerance is a difficult subject- it was the Corinthian Christians and it is for us, too. What is tolerance? What is too much tolerance? Can Christians be too tolerant? What kind of result comes from being too tolerant? Is it a good result? Or is it a bad result?
Let’s meet the apostle Paul as he worked with the Corinthian Christians on this important subject. The exact situation might not apply to us, but the principles do, and we can take those principles to other areas of our lives, including our church life.
The presenting situation is bizarre, to say the least.
1 Cor. 5. 1, 2- here you have a believer Christian who has entered a sexual relationship with his stepmother, who is, obviously a non-believer or non-Christian. (How do we know or surmise that? Who can tell us?) Wow! People will do incredible things, but this really mucks up a family situation. The idea of sexual relationships with the same person a father is with is really incredible!
Paul wasn’t impressed by their reaction, and he goes on to explain what they should have considered but didn’t. They let their hearts rule their heads on this one. They allowed the idea of their ‘freedom’ to extend much too far!
v. 3, 4, 5- Paul comes across clearly, exercising the leadership that was incumbent upon him. I can guess that he got a lot of criticism about this. I can imagine that a lot of people ‘didn’t agree with Paul.’ I, also, have an idea that this didn’t bother Paul very much.
He, remember, kept pointing back to Him- to God- from whom all identity and absolutes came. He was the one who emphasized the reality that everything we have came from Him. He’s the one who spoke, clearly, of the stewardship responsibility we/they have in all areas of life. He stood very strongly and clearly in matters having to do with God!
Paul is not being precipitous here. He is not spanking someone just to make himself feel good. His intention is clearly disciplinary and remedial and, ultimately, for the man’s spiritual benefit. Paul always was looking out for the well being of the individuals he was working with. The person had to be put outside the fellowship of the church in order to realize how good he had it inside the church.
Now, here’s something that warrants our thinking about. Is our church the kind of place that someone would be sad to not be a part of? It’s important that we be the kind of family where we would actually miss being with one another. I’m not sure we’re at that point right now. However, we have been, and I hear from many sides that we need to be again. I can only say a hearty ‘amen’ to that idea! Obviously, Paul wanted the man to feel cut off and separated so he would make suitable changes in order to be able to come back!
v. 6- by their laxity, the Corinthians betrayed their ignorance of the nature of the Christian life. Is Christian freedom something to be taken for granted? Is it something that allows us to do anything we want to do, under the guise of the forgiveness of God that is freely given? Oh, yes, we CAN sin knowing that we will be forgiven. But is that really what we want to be doing in our lives? I think not! That fails to show the deep love and respect that God is more than worthy of receiving.
The next couple of verses are very interesting. Remember who was in the Corinthian church. This was not a Jewish church. This was a church in what would be called a gentile area. So, in reading this, they did not have a lot of preconceptions about what Paul meant. Notice what he’s saying and let’s get it right and learn from this lesson.
v. 7- he’s talking about evil and sin. Evil must be cleansed out. By nature, sin is corrupting, even as leaven or yeast changes the dough it is in. The church is a society for those whose lives have been radically and divinely re-created. The Israelites had to remove all leaven from their houses before the Passover festival. Their paschal lamb prefigured Christ. His sacrificial death, by taking away sin, makes Christians the new Israel, and unleavened and free from evil.
v. 8- let us celebrate- is in the continuous present tense. The Christian life is likened to a constant festival, so believers must continuously keep leaven out of their lives and fellowship.
Let’s consider some areas in which we can allow leaven into our lives and fellowship, that is not healthy and not edifying for us.
We’ve been talking, a bit, about Christian giving, and as we do, or as we read about it, there are many ideas which we can read or hear which can introduce leaven. Let us not be incorrect on this matter. Let us not be leavened.
There’s the example of ‘the widow’s mite’ in Mark 12.42sq. There are many wonderful lessons that can come from this. These include lessons of faith and of sacrifice. However, it is leaven to say, for instance, that God wants us to give all we have, and that until we come up to the example of this lady, that we’re somehow falling short. She gave and didn’t know where her next meal would even come from, possibly, although she might have had a garden and some meal and oil, so we have to be careful not to extrapolate too much or too far. The poor or single often do give more- I know I did when I was a student in college- I was freer to give more then and had a simpler life with fewer obligations.
Sometimes we can hear the expression that would indicate that we’re to give until it hurts and until we do, we’re not rising to the challenge or the need or the opportunity. However, you do not find that idea in scripture and it is a leaven to be rejected. We’re told how to give in 1 Cor. 16. 1, and we read there of planned giving, not a knee-jerk reaction or just when basket comes by. We’re meant to plan and to be prepared for the times that we’re going to give. Where we have a weekly collection, there is not an obligation to contribute every collection. However, as Christians, we are to contribute. There’s no question and no leaven in that.
Sometimes, people can give the impression of determining for someone what they ought to give. It can be rendered as an amount or a percentage or even a comment about the perceived financial state of someone and that ‘you can do better’. However, no one really knows that, except God. Again, the passage to remember is 2 Cor. 9. 6, 7, 8, where we’re told to think about it and to give as we determine, in counsel with God, and to give in such a way that we feel good and feel generous about it. This is one passage that tells us that just, for 2001 church needs, we have to recognize needs and our responsibility and make some decisions about those and our giving, with God. The NT requirement is that giving be from the heart, not from compulsion and not to cause us to give grudgingly.
So, there’s a need for vigilance about ideas that even come from Christian circles but can reflect legalism.
AS I’ve been thinking about this subject over the past little while, it seems to me that there’s a key verse that’s appropriate and which can address all that we do- Heb. 12.2- is this what people see in you and in your giving.
Let me discuss, briefly, a second area that there can be leaven in, which can come from Christian circles. This is one that Mr. Tkach has addressed, briefly, at least, in his monthly letter to pastors and which I’ve sent on to the congregations. The subject is spiritual warfare. You hear about it; I hear about it. However, it is important to be very discerning on this matter. It is important to recognize what scripture says and what it does not say and to recognize that whole ministries have developed without clear scriptural instruction or command in this field. While it is true that Satan is not to be trifled with, it is not true that he is incredibly powerful. Christians are warned about him and told to do what? Resist! That’s it! 1 Pet. 5. 8, 9. That’s the power of Jesus in us. It doesn’t take a lot more than to resist. It is important to not build more around this than scripture speaks of. It is important to not become so obsessed with spiritual powers in high places and demons and all that, as Christians, we feel they’re everywhere and infiltrating. We pray for God’s presence to be here and He comes- we don’t have to shout at Him or beg and plead for Him to come. We ask, and He comes. When He comes, all dark forces go. Why? Because God is present- light is here!
Allow me to read from Mr. Tkach’s writing on the subject, which reflects the belief and teaching of our church, in brief, at least:
“In past articles I have recommended a few books to read in order to assist in developing a reliable understanding of “spirituality.” There are a variety of practices that become trendy and can easily lead to problems. As an example, “spiritual warfare” is just one of those items. Unwittingly, some are misled into giving as much or more time to the “battling” of the devil than they do in worship of God. And many superstitious practices can emerge from losing the right focus, practices such as laying hands on each hymnal to seal them from demons or praying for doorknobs to be free of demonic presence. In some cases a congregation can be misled into having a worship service that more closely resembles a séance than a worship service. Instead of corporate worship, it becomes a showcase for the supposed giftedness of a few people. Some can even be fooled into believing that if they oppose such practices that they are somehow working against the Holy Spirit.
“To be more discerning and guard against such malpractice, let’s remember a fundamental truth. Miracles, by definition, are not normative. They cannot be induced or brought about by following some kind of formula. The practice of promising miracles as a promotion of an individual ministry is mistakenly turning God into our personal valet or cosmic vending machine. As a loving father, he does not accommodate our every whim and desire. As humans in the flesh, when we are in Christ we enter both into his joy and into his suffering. Anyone who is teaching that we can have all pain and problems removed from this life is teaching you bad theology. “
We must be careful not to introduce leaven. The fact that other believers make a big deal about something does not mean it’s right. Some Christians enforce tithing- we believe based on our understanding of the New Covenant, which is not right, for instance. We have to sift and the fact that something is interesting does not make it something we have to spend a lot of time in. God is so concerned about our victory and He guarantees it so clearly that we can go forward living in joy and excitement!
Leaven is all-pervasive, as we know. If you have a loaf of normal bread, there is not a molecule that doesn’t have some of the yeast or leaven in it. So it can be with ideas that are not clearly and strictly from God. They can take on a life of their own, and can become ‘urban myths’, as a manner of speaking, and people can not confront whether or not they’re really true. They can ‘sound’ good. They can ‘sound’ spiritual or sincere or so incredibly righteous that ‘how can we say anything against that idea?’ But, again, that does not make something true. Truth is measured by the Word of God- written and living. And, again, nothing that the Spirit leads us to do or say will be in contradiction of the written Word.
I hope these couple of examples are helpful for us. The Corinthian Christians took ‘freedom in Christ’ too far and they took too far the idea of ‘judge not that you be not judged’ from the Sermon on the Mount. And when someone says to you, about something, ‘oh, aren’t you being judgmental?’ doesn’t that take you aback sometimes, and make you a bit defensive about what you stand on, when you may have seen Joe Blow actually rob the bank and have made a statement about it’s being wrong?
So, Paul has to clarify a bit more and he concludes his discussion of this subject in this way:
1 Cor. 5. 9, 10, 11- 13. For Christians, there is a sacred area of operation, and that is clearly within the church. There’s a lot of organization and ‘power’ within the church. There are responsibilities and obligation, as far as how each of us is to live. There are responsibilities and obligations as far as how those in pastoral ministry are to lead and teach. It’s interesting that verses 9 & 10 tell us that whereas some were too lax, others were too rigid. Some would have anybody in the church under any circumstances. Others kept a great distance from even people of the world who were in sin. They must have had quite a difficulty with those who were lax with regard to this sinning person, and this may have contributed quite a bit to the upsets in the Corinthian church, that prompted Paul’s letter.
v. 13- the OT ordained death for gross sinners, so the penalty under the New Covenant is not excessive.
The question is ‘how tolerant are you and I to be?’ The answer is, ‘precisely as tolerant as God is.’ We can look at His Word and learn the standards to maintain. We can draw the wisdom from Him so we act properly and speak properly. We can hold views that others may not need to know about. Being too tolerant destroys a society and a nation. It happened with Rome. It can happen with us, too. We live in a very tolerant age and nation, on many fronts. However, it’s an interesting and contradictory tolerance, because there is very little tolerance for people who don’t hold the most liberal of views. It’s a bit of a minefield for Christians, in short, in today’s Canada. However, this is the mission field that we’ve been given, so we have to learn how to be ‘wise as serpents and harmless as doves.’ It’s not an easy assignment, but Paul’s words to the Corinthians helps us with regard to both our internal and external relations. He tells us how tolerant to be within the church; on the other hand, he instructs us in how tolerant to be with regard to the outside. The balance of Paul is incredible. He is clearly telling us that we can’t expect the same of those outside the church as we can expect of those within the church. He, clearly, tells us that God sets standards and that we have every reason to rise to those standards, although they are, probably, not the standards of society. He tells us, too, that the standards of the world are not to be the standards of the church- and this is a hard one for us all, as we wrestle.
So, what do we get, as a lesson, from Paul’s discussion about tolerance? We are urged to rise to God’s high standard and expectation, and encouraged in the reality that we CAN rise to it! We’re told that we can expect a lot of each other. We’re told not to bring leaven of the world into the church. It’s our quest to resist that leaven, on all sides, and to rise to God’s expectations here! We don’t have to set expectations that are too low. God’s in charge and He’ll bring us up to Himself… if we’ll allow Him to do that!
