With regard to sexual behavior, the Church is the same as the world.
Too often our behavior is no different, no more or less holy, than the behavior of the world. We are proud instead of ashamed. There are no tears and there is no grieving over the lives that are being destroyed right on our doorsteps, even in our own homes or communities. There is virtually no outrage, no sense of danger, and no concern for innocence. We don't care about the moral legacy we are leavingfor our children or forthe next generation.We're afraid to say anything lest someone accuse us of the "J" word. "You're judging me." Or we're afraid that someone might accuse us of being prudes.
As a church, we are all about welcoming people and including everyone. We don’t want to offend anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings. We understandably want to believe that everyone has good intentions and is sincere and repentant and right minded. We cannot imagine that there are times, there are situations, and there are people who would be most helped if we put them out of our fellowship. There are people who would be most helped if we handed them over to Satan so that their spirits would be humbled by the consequences their sin will inevitably bring. We forget that love sometimes has to let go, turn over, and even turn away from.If you don'tbelieve me, see Romans 1:18-32.
And we are so naïve, playing with fire. We forget that such a little spark can ignite such an uncontainable forest fire. This is a firethat can destroy not just one home, but entire communities. We are so arrogant though, telling ourselves,"I can handle this.I can manage this.This is harmless. It's not going to hurt me. I’m the exception.I’m not hurting anyone. I’m an adult. This is true love."
We become boastful even as we are being taken captive to our own sins. We don’t realize that our lax attitudes,lax standards, and lax behaviors are working through the whole batch of dough. What captivates us on television or on the internet, the attitudes and behaviors we tolerate in our spouse or home, in our children, and in our church are all very contagious. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Children become like their parents. Sin doesn’t just infect individuals. The sins of our fathers and grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, infect generations!
We’ve learned to be complacent and content in our hypocrisy. It doesn’t bother us all that much. We are being "Corinthians." It’s not an insult to be called such and to be identified by our sins. In fact, it's kind of a badge of honor. "I’m like the world.I’m desirable. I’m strong. I’m attractive. I’m noticed.I’m part of the crowd." We see no conflict between being a Corinthian and being a Christian. Being a cultural, carnal Christian isn’t all that bad, or so we convince ourselves.
We don't take responsibility for living holy, sanctified lives.
Because we don’t take any responsibility for personally living holy and sanctified lives, it’s no surprise that we remain silent as those around us succumb to temptation and sin. Parents who sin tolerate the same sins in their children. Church leaders who sin tolerate the same sins in their churches. Teachers who sin turn a blind eye to the same sins in their students. Mothers who sin shrug off the same sins in their daughters. We live in a day where there is no discipline, no concern, and no sense of responsibility toward one another. We commend our own ambivalence as if it were some noble quality. "Look how tolerant, accepting, and affirming I am." But tolerance isn’t a virtue! When we sit back in silence, we become complicit in the sins and guilt of others.
What did God tell Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:17-19 (NIV)? "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself."
The fact that the Son of God was made to die on the cross for our sins barely raises an eyebrow these days. The word of God, the Ten Commandments, the prophets of old, the teachings of Christ, and the Holy Scriptures ought to prick our consciences. Yet we have no idea how deeply our sin causes God to grieve. God wants to bless us richly, but he is grieving instead.
The cross of Jesus Christ ought to persuade us of the severity of our sin.
The cross of Jesus Christ, the cross that is foolishness to those who are perishing, ought to stop us dead in our tracks. The death of Christ on the cross ought to persuade us at once of the severity of our sin—of the power of our sin to destroy our souls completely. The crucifixion ought to remove any doubt that God’s justice demands that sin be punished, that the wages of sin is death, that God constrains himself, and that were it not for God’s grace expressed in his kindness through Christ,we would be condemned. The only thing keeping us from experiencing the full fury of God’s wrath is Christ’s righteousness, which has become our righteousness through faith.
2 Peter 3:8-13 (NIV) says,"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly livesas you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness."
We should not use our freedom in Christ as a cover for evil.
We also forget the purpose of our freedom. 1 Peter 2:16 (NIV) says, "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God."
Just because you have the freedom to do a thing doesn’t mean that it’s beneficial. God wants us to treat our bodies as temples of worship. We're to useour freedom to worship, serve,and glorify Christ. What we do with our bodies ought to inspire people to live holy, godly, upright lives. What we do in our bodies ought to cause men to praise their Father in heaven. Our behavior ought to raise the bar!
As it is, our low standards of personal conduct have created a permissive culture. The salt has lost its saltiness. The city on the hill, the beacon of hope in a dark world, the Church--- has turned off its lights. We’ve forgotten what it means to be in the world but not of the world. Consider Paul’s sober admonition in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 (NIV).
"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. (Notice how Paul names the sin specifically. Would we be so bold to do this in church today?) And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. (Notice Pauls's ultimate concern for the person’s salvation.)
"Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth." (Paul urges sincerity and truth.)
"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." (Our presence in this sinner's company can send mixed signals or approval of the immoral behavior.)
"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.'"(Separation and turning away communicates the displeasure of God. This has the effect of pricking the conscience of an individual.)
Paul's final word on sexual immorality.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV) says,"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offendersnor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.And that is what some of you were. 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."
We cannot allow people be deceived, thinking that they have peace with God when in reality, they are rebelling against God. We need to be a transformed community, led by the Spirit, and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (NIV) says, " 'Everything is permissible for me'—but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible for me'—but I will not be mastered by anything. 'Food for the stomach and the stomach for food'—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two will become one flesh.' But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit."
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Communion meditation. Let the cross change these sinful attitudes.
•Pride- feeling pleased, satisfied, or complacent about our sin.
•Laughter- being entertained by, instead of grieving sin.
•Tolerance- rejecting God’s judgement about sin, not calling ourselvesand our brothers and sisters to genuine repentance.
•Passivity- not being vigilant or watchful about sin. Not rooting out evil, giving the devil a foothold, letting sinful attitudes and behavior infect our families, our marriage, or our church.
•Enabling- not having clear expectations and moral boundaries. Enabling is letting a person destroy himself, destroy others, or even destroy you because you feel some need to be accepted byhim or for him to like you. Enabling is not taking steps to protect yourself and others. Enabling is being naïve to the danger a wicked person poses. Paul says, "Expel the wicked man from among you."
•Hypocrisy- lacking a sincere desire to be changed and to be holy.
•Ambivalence- not caring about the condition of someone’s soul. Not warning them how sin can rob them of eternal life.
•Impulsivity- lacking self-control, living in the flesh, living for pleasure, living for the moment, and being mastered by a sin or vice instead of living for God.
•Sinning against your body- not seeing your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, dishonoring God with your body.
Paul asks us to remember three facts about our identity. "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."
Washed: We have pledged our lives in baptism to live with a clear conscience before God. Our sin has been washed away.
Sanctified: The Holy Spirit is at work making us holy. Cooperate with him!
Justified: We’ve trusted Christ to be our righteousness by faith, accepting Christ’s death as just payment for our sin. If we reject Christ’s sacrifice, there is no plan B. This is our only shot so we'vegot tomake this new life in Christ count.