I Corinthians Chapter 5

Paul pens tough words in this chapter, in the end referencing the Law to "expel the wicked man from among you". Deuteronomy 17:7 instructs that someone worshipping another God, contrary to the requirements of the Law, be more than expelled, but completely eliminated -- stoned to death to "purge the evil" that is among the people. So one could say that Paul's solution to a bad influence is quite softened by grace. His desire is two-fold: that the body of Christ be preserved, and that, perhaps, the one expelled may change his ways and, ultimately, be restored to the congregation.

Our class enjoyed a spirited discussion about boundaries for congregational life. Some questions: are modern congregations too tolerant of behavior that contradicts a group's distinctively Christian values? What is the role of the pastor in the contemporary church in calling congregations to account and responsibility for healthy community? In what contexts would "tolerance" be a Christian virtue; or a compromise to culture and practices that are out of sync with Christianity?

My take -- hey I'm writing the blog -- : ) is to notice ALL of what Paul is saying in the context. Besides expressing dismay about the congregation's tolerance of a man's inappropriate relationship with "his father's wife", he lists "brothers" who are sexually immoral or greedy (interesting to put these in the same breath), idolaters (see Deuteronomy 17 above) or slanderers, drunkards or swindlers, as men who must be excluded from the intimate fellowship of eating together. Worth noting, always, is the patriarchal nature of the culture of the time, and how even the church back then took this for granted -- something most of us in our congregation would challenge, on Christian principle.

I think Paul's perception of the context matters a lot, as it seems to me contradictory to Jesus' own practices of welcoming "sinners" and yes eating with them. He is concerned about the health of the Corinthian church, and their slackness in paying mind to who they are. I believe forming and maintaining a healthy congregation is hard work, and the Corinthians are being, as a friend of mine puts it, "lazy thinkers".

So I conclude that Paul is not being judgmental in a self-righteous way, but rather realistic and evaluative in a way that reminds us that there must be healthy boundaries in community. And I do think that modern churches get lazy, too, and can do better at both: offering grace-based acceptance to everyone, but also keeping high expectations regarding behaviors that affect and influence everyone.

We continue our study of I Corinthians this Sunday, January 30 -- hope to see you all there!

Pastor Dan

I Corinthians Wisdom and Intelligence

New Testament Made Easy class is now beginning an overview of Paul's letters to the Corinthian church.

Last Sunday we shared conversation, experiences and insight relative to this passage:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."
(I Cor. 1:18-25)

As I listened to our class discuss "wisdom" and "intelligence" I am gleaning a few insights for myself that I think are worth having and sharing.

-- A person can have high "intelligence" as a human being, achieve a high level of education and success because of this, and still be a person of humility and faith.
-- Human intellect, though, can be a stumbling block to faith, if that intellect is so insistently logical that mystery (accepting that an experience or idea is "true" though it cannot be explained in human terms) cannot be embraced.
-- Our human interpretation of facts will vary from individual to individual; but one fact we can accept in one another is that we each have a unique relationship with God. Related to this is the important observation that "fact" and "truth" are really not the same thing.

Now for a factual story, that may be true, as well . . . a man with a very logical bent set out one chilly day to determine what the temperature was. Using a high-tech thermometer he took many readings, most of them different even though the data came from the air temperature in the same immediate vicinity. Confused by the facts, he sat down in tense frustration because he could not know the "right" temperature reading. A member of his family tried to explain that the truth of the matter was simply that IT WAS COLD. I thought this anecdote has some bearing on our discussion of matters of faith. Even the details in the Bible vary; the facts as presented need to be interpreted; but the Truth remains: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God".

We meet again this Sunday, January 9, 10:00 a.m., everyone is welcome.

-- Pastor Dan