Judging Within (1 corinthians 5:9-13)

Judging Within

1 Cor 5:9 – 13

Connection/Tension

One sad and hard thing as a pastor has been walking our church through a handful of church discipline situations since we started. I’ve had/have personal connections to many of these people and have spend a lot of time with them. I had hoped that they would be raised up to be disciple-makers along with me (and that has not yet come to pass). Part of me wants to ask, “why Lord?” as if it was all in vain.

I think a fair question for us to ask is, did we do the right thing? Is it loving for our church or any church to stand on God’s Word in the way this chapter talks about? And if so, how is it loving? Because at face value it certainly doesn’t seem that way.

And if you’re not yet a follower of Jesus, we are so glad you are here, and this sermon probably already sounds crazy to you. I want to ask you to just give it a chance. My hope is that you will be more convinced than you are right now that a good God and a good church family having authority over you is something you desire (even if you don’t know it yet).

Context

Last week, pastor Daniel started this chapter with a charge for us to turn especially from sexual immorality. This week will continue in this same chapter, talking about the principles of church discipline and how we ought to relate to different kinds of people.

Paul has now moved on from the first problem he wanted to address in the Corinthain church- their division over their preferred speaker and now he has moved onto the second problem, sexual immorality (and other sins) in their church. Let’s hop in:  

Revelation

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

“I wrote to you in my last letter…” Apparently “1 Corinthians” is not the first letter Paul wrote to this church, it’s just the first letter we have (that is, that the Spirit wanted us to have). He references what he had wrote that they should not “associate” with sexually immoral people. What a statement! Already, not a few of us feel uncomfortable just hearing that statement.

It plays into the sentiment that’s out there that the church and Christians like to especially pick on sexual sin (and leave other sins alone, possibly even overlooking more “respectable sins” within the church). Yet, whether some churches have acted like that or not is not our biggest concern this morning, but rather what this Word from God says and how it addresses our moment. And, to see how it addresses our moment, we are first going to step into the past and see what Paul had to say about to the Corinthians in their time.

Corinth was an archetypal city of man, another iteration of babel, just as is our own city and every other city in this fallen age. And what the city of man does is to distort Eden, which includes the beautiful design God has for sexual relationships (in addition to all other kinds of holiness, as we see in the next few verses).  

Now, what Paul says next is unexpected. He corrects a misunderstanding of what he meant by “not to associate sexually immoral people.” You might be thinking that it may make sense for a holy Christian to cut off relationship with people living in sin. Yet Paul says, “not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world.” And then he adds, “or the greedy and swindlers, or idolators, since then you would need to go out of the world-“which, some Christians have unfortunately tried to do (and it has not borne the fruit one may have hoped. This is essentially what a monastery was designed to be).

So, what’s going on here? You might think that there would be a barrier between a holy Christian and their unholy neighbors. Yet, there’s something surprising about Jesus’s holiness- it doesn’t merely distinguish between him and those who are not holy (although it does), it also reaches out with love to the unholy to make them holy. Some have even called Jesus’s holiness a “Contagious Holiness.”[1] And in the gospel of Luke, Jesus receives accusation for being, “A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ (7:34).

And so, as followers of Jesus, we don’t shun those who are not yet like us, we welcome them, even as Jesus welcomed us (and keeps welcoming us). As followers of Jesus, we don’t just believe the gospel, we become like the gospel-[2] and this is one way that happens. We give others the same, undeserved welcome we received to show them what God is like to help them believe in him.

To be clear, our worldly neighbors should not feel our condemnation or disapproval. We are going to get into this more in our text, but we don’t have authority over them- only God does (there are people we have authority over- but it’s not them).

We have authority not to call people to live according to certain expectations before they trust Christ, but rather, we have all authority to preach the gospel to everyone and then to call them to change their life after they have trusted in Christ and surrendered to him. We don’t start with morals- we start with hearts, and Christ, and faith in him- which is why we “associate” with people living all kinds of lifestyles, just like Jesus did.   

Okay, we’ve seen so far who we are not supposed to disassociate with. Yet, who does Paul want us to separate from? Let’s see in the next verse,

11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

Paul has now clarified who we are supposed to “associate” with, and now he clarifies who we are not. Paul specifically has in mind those who “bear the name of brother,” or another way to put it, someone who identifies as a Christian, especially someone who is apart of your church family (since in the context of this chapter, Paul is addressing a situation that relates specifically to this church family).

So, immediately, many of us wonder, what does it mean, “not to associate”? That’s a big statement is it not? Not associating with someone could be emotionally painful for both you and them- so we would want to know what this means so we do it right, don’t we?

This word has the idea of “mixing together”[3] and it comes up in the Old Testament specifically in the context of Israel’s temptation to mix their allegiance to Yahweh with allegiances to the idols of the nations (cf. Ex 20:18). This is a passage about the holiness of God’s people (the word doesn’t appear in this chapter, but it’s the basic idea from earlier on, 3:17).

So, the idea of “associating” with someone at least includes the idea of them having tainted allegiances, and that they would share a relationship with you and with God’s people in which they would be able to influence them with their unholy values.

Paul lists specifically not associating with those who are guilty of “sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler.” Quick definitions: reviler means something like “emotional abuser” and a “swindler” is someone who steals with trickery. These are different ways people try to meet their legitimate, true needs in corrupt, illegitimate ways. That’s essentially what an idol is- something outside of God we turn to to meet real needs, like the need for approval, companionship, accomplishment or something else. The problem with an idol is that it often sacrifice others to meet out needs rather than turning to Jesus, who already sacrificed himself- to meet our needs. Maybe you’re prone to reviling- to blowing up at others when things don’t go how you want them. There’s a real need in your heart- possibly for security, and instead of turning over your needs to Christ, who died and rose so you know your life is secure in him forever, you explode on other people to get them to do what you want them to do so you feel more secure.[4] (we can’t be selective in war against sin).

Now, some of you might say, “I’ve done some or all of those things,” to which I would say, “me too.” Does that mean I should pack up and leave? Not if you’re repenting. Jesus does not make up the church of the sinless, but of forgiven sinners who are turning from their sins. The ones we are not to associate with are the ones who give into these sins habitually, normally, and characteristically such that their confession that “Jesus is Lord” is no longer believable. Our actions express the allegiances of our hearts, and there is a point at which we show by our actions that our confession is not genuine. And according to Paul in this passage, this is a decision the community has a responsibility to make and carry out (v. 4). We don’t make it for ourselves. No one person (and not the pastoral team) makes this decision- only the whole church does.

Then Paul says, we are “not even to eat with such a one!” Woah! That’s a big statement. Anyone else feel like it’s important we know what this means? This is not something that we can almost get right- it’s weighty. So, let’s start with what’s more certain and move to what’s less certain:

1.       Someone who is walking in unrepentant sin should not take the Lord’s supper with us. It’s a meal that affirms someone is a Christian, and so people who are walking in unrepentant sin should not be taking it. Which is why in sad circumstances when we remove someone from our church, we ask them to stop taking the Lord’s supper until they repent and are restored (excommunicate).

Which means that on the other hand, when we eat the supper together, we are affirming that we are followers of Jesus together, and that we belong to his church- his community of followers.

2.       Now, could this command “not even to eat with them” go beyond just the Lord’s table? I think its likely it does, especially because of that phrase, “not even…”[5]  It seems like it’s elevating the intensity of this command.

I think it would be going too far to elevate this command to all meals- such that we should shun those we’ve removed from the church family. And yet, something is still off if we keep eating and hanging out with someone who is no longer a part of the church family due to sin as if everything is normal except we don’t eat the Lord’s Supper together anymore.

Jesus’s example in the gospels is instructive to me. He eats with all kinds of people (like we mentioned before from Luke). Yet, when he eats with religious hypocrites, like the Pharisees, he challenges them to repent; he doesn’t feast and party as if all is well, because it’s not. I see this command as a charge not to act like nothing happened or everything is alright with someone who is no longer a follower of Jesus. If you are spending time with them, it is good to express sadness and invite them back to the way of Jesus. If you have more questions about this complicated question, please ask me or any of the other pastors- we would be happy to dialogue with you more.

And just by way of reminder: this person is not our enemy, sin is their enemy and ours, and we are doing everything we can to fight against their sin, not against them

Now, the next two verses are quite significant for this sermon:

12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Does anyone else agree the Bible is more intense of a book than it would have been if you wrote it? That may be true, but it also wouldn’t be the book we need. Because the Bible says things that are difficult is evidence that God wrote it- if it didn’t challenge us, wouldn’t it be evidence that a fellow sinner wrote this book than a holy God? 

Now, verse twelve says something quite clarifying, “followers of Jesus don’t have authority to judge those outside the church (God does). Followers of Jesus do have authority to judge those within the church (because God delegated it to them).” You can look at Matthew 18:15-18 if you have more questions about that.

All of that is to say that we are on good ground when we use the authority God gave us and on poor ground when we neglect to use authority he gave us or use authority where we don’t have it. Just a comment on the word, “judge.” Almost everyone would say that “judging” others is a bad thing. By judging, they typically mean to harshly or hypocritically hold people to a standard of behavior. I don’t think that’s what Paul is getting at. Rather, this word gets at the idea of exercising wise discernment or a reasonable assessment of someone else’s behavior.

People often get offended if they feel judged by a stranger, and many times for good reason. Yet, that’s not what’s going on here- when you join a church, you are submitting yourself to the authority of God and to the authority of the congregation (which by the way- pastors must submit to as well). And while our culture would buck at such an idea, I want to remind you this morning that this is a good thing. It’s a good thing to submit our lives to the evaluation of others who care about us and want us to live with God forever.

Jesus ruling over us through his Word and through his people is a good thing. A big part of the gospel is, “Jesus is Lord,” which means that, “Sin and Satan are no longer Lord.” Jesus’s death released us from the bondage of fear and shame Satan held over us (Heb 2:15). The gospel is not that you are your own Lord (that’s the false gospel Adam and Eve believed that plunged them under the rule of the serpent). News flash: if you are doing your will, that is doing Satan’s will because if you are defying Jesus, you are following his way.

The gospel is the good news that God rescues all who come to him of the bad authority of Satan that kills into the good authority of Jesus that gives life instead (John 10:10). And as Lord, Jesus has authority to delegate his rule (just like he can heal through his people, he can also rule through his people). And one way he rules is by giving people in the local church authority over one another- and that’s a good thing. I’m here to hold you accountable and you’re here to hold me. We have authority from God to help one another get safely home.

We can hear things like “purge the evil person from among you,” (the image from the last passage is getting rid of leven) and think that sounds so awful. And it is tragic (and right for us to feel sad for the names and faces we have lost because we have carried this out). We have walked out the commands of the Scriptures to do church discipline and that is sad and hard. There are names we should remember, and grieve over, and pray for that the Lord would restore them (like happens with this particular man as we learn in 2 Corinthians).

And before going any further church, we pastors want to affirm you for your faithfulness to God’s word to walk this process out. It’s been hard. It’s been sad. It’s been no one’s preference. It feels like it’s against our instincts because it’s so counter-cultural. And yet, as a community, we’ve looked at texts and said, “God is wiser than us. He knows how to love better than we do. We are going to trust and obey.”

And I think largely because of this instinct our church is where we are today. I look out and I see an unusually mature, zealous, united church. And that in part has come through applying texts like this one, and saying with our hearts, God makes the boundaries, God determines how to walk them out, and that’s a good thing.

I want to end by reminding you that boundaries are a good, life-giving thing. The primary image of a boundary is God determining where the seas end and dry land begins (Gen 3:9)- and those boundaries brough flourishing and life. Likewise in the church, so do these boundaries of what is right and wrong- good and evil, and how a follower of Jesus may live- it brings life! (even earlier in chapter 5, the reason for applying the boundary is so the man could be saved!”)

And one-way boundaries bring life is they bring intimacy to a relationship. Our church has sweet personal intimacy (and we want more), and one essential ingredient to healthy, life-giving intimacy is boundaries. Can anyone who is married say, “amen”? Your spouse being loyal to an agreed standard of faithfulness and exclusivity brings intimacy and life to your relationship. So also with our church, our shared faithfulness to Jesus brings intimacy with one another.

One reason that is so is because shared boundaries of right and wrong build trust. In our modern world where morality is self-defined more and more (and there are less boundaries than ever), the world becomes scarier, more unpredictable, and lonely. In other words, people are more difficult to trust. As you spend time with people, if you see them making poor moral choices or making up morality for themselves, you may not consciously know it, but intuitively you will lose trust in them and feel more isolated (because if they treat that person wrongly, what’s to keep them from mistreating you?)

Yet, as we in this community have a shared standard of holiness, and was we live that out in the presence of others even in hard and tempting moments, trust will grow in our community, and her in this place, we will increasingly experience the opposite of the postmodern trend of loneliness, as God’s good boundaries bring life and freedom (the exact opposite of what we’ve been conditioned to think). This is what I feel when I think of this church- a great deal of trust, because of the holiness I get to witness in so many of your lives. If something happened to Charlotte and me and someone else had to raise Vivienne, a couple from the community is the first place we would want her to go.

G.K. Chesterton has a great image: he once observed kids playing on a playground without a fence in a vast open field, and they seemed frightened and camped out under the play equipment. Then, he later observed another play ground with a fence, and the kids running wild and exploring the space that was safe for them. That’s what these good boundaries are supposed to do for this family. That’s what a holy community should feel like- the presence of God and others we trust available and close to us. That’s how we arrive at the intimacy Paul describes in chapter 12 of the “body of Christ” and avoid the disunity from chapter 1 that’s tearing this church apart- loving and enforcing the good boundaries of life God has established and deputized us to enforce.

And if you are not yet a follower of Jesus, and are looking for a place of belonging where you can trust others- the community of Jesus is just that. There are times you must forgive, and it is not perfect, yet, we become a little closer to the ideal each day as we repent and believe. Would you come repent and believe with us?

And church, my admonition to you this morning is to gladly enforce God’s boundaries in your own life, and to humbly, gently, yet boldly call others in this family not to overstep them. We don’t have to be ashamed of God’s law- every word of it is for our good always.

Let’s pray.

Reflection:

1.       Do you tend to view God’s law as restrictive rather than life-giving?

2.       What is one area God is calling you to be more bold in our family of calling both yourself and others into greater faithfulness?  

[1] Craig L. Blomberg, Contagious Holiness: Jesus’ Meals with Sinners, ed. D. A. Carson, vol. 19, New Studies in Biblical Theology (England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2005).

[2] Paul E. Miller, J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life, Illustrated edition (Crossway, 2019).

[3] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 445.

[4] Chip Dodd, The Needs of the Heart (Sage Hill, LLC, 2016).

[5] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 415.