Jump Start # 993

1 Corinthians 5:1 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.”

  These words from the apostle Paul could not have been more shocking to the Corinthian church. Paul now knew. Everyone knew. The sexual sins that some of these very Corinthians had left when they first believed in Christ had returned. It wasn’t the pagan Corinthians this time, it was the believers that had these problems.

This section of Corinthians has been on my mind lately. I know of more than a half dozen marriages that are messy, troubled, and on the verge of falling apart. Some already have. Many of these involve believers. It seems that there is a disconnect taking place between what we are saying and believing on Sunday and what we are doing the rest of the week. The bridge between our faith and our behavior has been torn down. What is taking place in our homes often dishonors God and ignores what we claim we believe. When these things come to me my first reaction is to preach harder on these things. More classes. More teaching. There is a definite place for that and often that solves some of the problems, but in the end, there is a responsibility that each believer must have. Each person must decide how they are going to live. Are they going to toss out what they believe and turn their back on the eternal, for their own feelings and the pleasures of the moment?

What happened in Corinth reminded me of some truths that I want to share with you.

1. It’s not the churches fault if members do not live godly. Now, if the church tolerates wrong, as Corinth was doing, that needs to be addressed. If the church ignores teaching on morality, marriage, purity, then that needs to be addressed. Like the home, often godly churches and godly parents are blamed for the ungodly choices of the members and kids.

2. Even with the best teaching, believers must take it upon themselves to live and walk in the Lord. Corinth had Paul! Corinth had Apollos! Fervent preachers who were mighty in the Scriptures. An Apostle! Yet, there was still someone there who lived immorally. What we do at home reflects what we really believe. Flirting with the world, not dealing with problems, letting lust conquer us, sticking our heads in the sand, and mostly, allowing our spiritual lives to die sets us up for all kinds of moral and marital problems.

For a moment let’s consider the problem detailed in our verse—someone had his father’s wife. Commentators try to determine if this was his step-mother or his actual mother. Doesn’t matter. It was wrong. It was so over the top that even the pagans wouldn’t accept this. Now, the man doing this was a Christian. What is going on inside his head? Had he never heard about Joseph and his boss’ wife? Joseph remained pure. Had he never heard of Proverbs 7 and the naïve young man who was caught by the adulteress? Our faith must be more than facts and intellect. Our faith does little good if it does not change us, move us and affect our behavior. Believing in God but disobeying Him in such a blatant fashion shows that this guy’s spiritual life was dismal and weak. Strong faith does not prevail in this story. Strong faith is missing. What is he thinking as he leaves worship? What is he thinking when he gets back home? I expect he wasn’t thinking. I expect that was a major part of the problem. He left his faith hanging in the coat room where the church met. He didn’t see what happens on Sunday affects his Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He’s not the only one. Others have done the same and still do the same. Some see no connection to what happens on Sunday and their business dealings. At work they can be dishonest, misleading and worldly. They do not think about inviting Christ into their place of business. Others toss out all they know about spiritual values when it comes to buying and selling things. Dishonest in selling cars, houses or things on Ebay.

I wonder where this guy’s father was. Was he dead? The text states “his father’s wife.” What did dad say about this? And the woman? She obviously has no moral compass about her. The whole thing fits a TV show but not among people who claim to believe.

What could have made a difference here? It’s easy to be a back seat driver and after the facts reveal everything that was wrong and what a person missed. Oh, to have that foresight before the trouble begins. But here’s a few thoughts:

• More spirituality throughout the week. Meaningful prayers at home. Serious discussions about the Bible and discipleship around the family table.

• Less Corinthian influence and more Christ influence. Everyone knows the setting in Corinth was a sewer. People can climb out of that. People can become clean, inside and out. People can change. It takes effort. It takes diligence. It takes a steady and regular commitment to Christ. Who was this guy hanging around with? What did he fill his mind with? Was he living with one foot in the world and one foot in Christ? Cut the worldly TV shows. Don’t go to every movie that folks claim is a “must see.” Purity in heart doesn’t work if purity is not in the home and the mind. Did this guy have other affairs? Was this a pattern? He believed enough to be baptized but not enough to leave the world.

• Taking what we believe seriously. What did Jesus say about looking upon a woman with lust? Did he not remember that, believe that, or even care about that? Taking the relationship of marriage seriously helps. Taking what Jesus said about God’s wrath seriously helps. Being serous about our faith helps.

• Being careful and alert is necessary. Peter warned about the lion Satan. He’s looking. He’s on the prowl. He’s waiting. The serious disciple is careful of words, influences, actions, and being trapped. It’s the weak, the careless and the indifferent that are caught. Satan knows. Do we?

It’s time we owned our faith. It’s time we took charge of what is happening to us. Stop the blame game. Quit pointing fingers to our parents, to your church, to what happened five years ago, and being the constant victim. Do you believe? Act that way. Do you want to go to Heaven? Act that way. No excuses! Doesn’t matter who has done what to you. Doesn’t matter how hard it is for you. Doesn’t matter how you feel, or your rights or anything like that. Do you believe? Act that way!

Your faith—show it. Shine it. Live it. Share it. Protect it. Die with it.

Roger