1 Corinthians 5
For the next three Sunday sermons, we are going to have “The Talk.” You know, the talk that made you uncomfortable as a parent when your kids started asking questions. That talk you have with friends, neighbors, and co-workers when there are headlines in the news that reveal a counter-cultural ideology that makes your conversations feel a little awkward. The talk that may produce some unpleasant memories when you think about your previous lapses in judgment.
Well, that same talk can be unpleasant during a church service as well. As we enter into three chapters of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he has lots to say to the church as he seeks to refine their mission to be witnesses for Christ. The contrast is stark between a church that is set apart to be the holy temple and the Body of Christ, and the surrounding culture that is filled with paganism.
The parallels between 1 Corinthians and our church today are uncanny. We find ourselves inside a Midwestern culture that is in the midst of unprecedented change. The world outside our walls is quickly losing Christian influence, and we find ourselves questioning how we can live in the world without being of the world. How can the church be a refuge of hope in a morally bankrupt culture? How can we present the eternal gospel of love to people who only know about the corrupt, temporal love the world offers, without adding to their own feelings of guilt and shame? The Apostle Paul gives timely answers from a letter that is over two thousand years old. His words are as relevant today as they were then.