skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Someone once said… “How you treat someone is what they become”
It’s probably not 100% true but most of the time it’s going to be true. Let’s think about this. What if we treated someone in a loving fashion? Would that make them lovable?
If we were patient with them would that make them also patient?
If we treated them with complete trust would they become trustworthy?
If we treated them like we really appreciated them would they have their self esteem lifted up?
If we sought after the other persons well being more than our own would they recognize that and adopt the same trait?
If we refused to become angry even if we are intentionally baited to become angry… would the one provoking us learn to appreciate that quality?
If someone treated us badly could we put that behind us and treated the other person like it never happened… would they recognize that? Would they see the the moral superiority in that type of behavior and work to be the same kind of person? Would they?
The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 seemed to think so because he said the exact same thing.
Here’s the thing… not only can we help transform some one else by the way that we treat them but we are also transformed from “faith unto faith”
Don’t treat someone so horribly that they become horrible people… treat them with love as you yourself were treated by Jesus Christ himself and were washed and made clean and made acceptable to God.
Pass the love down.
Sometimes in congregations the question comes up… “what should we do about members who have quit attending?”
S
Some would recommend disfellowshipping them in accordance with what is taught in 1 Corinthians 5.
In my opinion our scenario would not fit 1 Corinthians 5. The fellow was actively involved in a sin that everyone knew about and continued to attend. Paul instructed the congregation to not associate with him in any form or fashion. Taking away that association would cause the fellow to lament what he had lost due to his willful sin.
See the difference? The one who has left the congregation doesn’t care about his association with other Christians so taking that away when he has already disposed of it won’t have the desired affect.
Some would recommend sending a letter to the fellow alerting him that he is no longer a member of the congregation. I’m not sure what the purpose of that would be because he has already given that up by walking away from it.
For these sorts of issues I think about the father and the Prodigal son. The Prodigal son gave up on his family to live a life style that he knew his family would not approve of.
Did the father send him a letter stating… “you are no longer my son”? of course not he continually thought of his lost son and looked earnestly for a change of heart.
Did the father “disfellowship” him? no, again, because the son had already removed his fellowship.
Those weak sheep who stray away need to be searched for and encouraged and not treated in such a way as to drive them away even further.
There’s a difference between a weak sheep and a rebellious sheep.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul calls the Corinthian Christians “babes in Christ” who aren’t ready for the “meat” of the word. They had failed to mature as Christians.
Hebrews 6 sheds additional light on this figure of speech. Everyone who is still on the “milk” of the word is “without experience of the word of righteousness”
These spiritual infants are contrasted with spiritual “full-grown men” who are able “by reason of use have their senses exercised to differentiate between good and evil”
The Corinthians who were spiritual babies were actively engaged in sin… they gloried in who baptized them and in so doing diminished those who were baptized by someone else. They failed to “differentiate between good and evil” in their failure to take action against fellow members who were actively engaged in fornication and they had civil law suits against each other. They were whiney little thumb sucking spiritual babies.
Full grown Christians can not only differentiate between the black and white of sin but also are wary of those gray areas… like where a gray activity might lead.
For instance, I made it a policy in my life not to eat lunch or any other kind of meal (by myself) with a woman who was not my wife. Why? because of where it might lead.
I have a friend who is a drug rep. and in the course of his business would go out to eat with young pretty women who were also drug reps. As a friend I told him that if I was him I would not engage in that behavior. He responded… but thats my job.
The next week he told me he had mentioned our conversation to his wife and continued… Rob, why would I go eat a hamburger when I have Filet Mignon at home? I responded, I like Filet Mignon too but every once in a while I like a hamburger.
Grow up as Christians and not only stay away from that black, black sin but also stay away from activities that could lead you in that direction.
Think of all the consequences. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13
A few thoughts about what was going on in 1 Corinthians 5. As we all know Paul acknowledges the report that one of the Christians in the church at Corinth committed fornication with his father’s wife.
The text does not identify her as his mother but she may well have been. She may have been identified as “wife” to further illustrate that the guilty party had “uncovered his father’s nakedness which is expressly prohibited in the Law (Leviticus 18:7).
The father could have been either alive or deceased. Even deceased his son would “uncover his nakedness” by having sex with his widow.
The woman was certainly not a Christian. If she were she would have received the same admonishment that her Christian lover received. She was probably not a Jew either. She was probably a polytheistic pagan and she may have been a current or former prostitute.
Twice in 1 Corinthians Paul uses the phrase “All things are lawful for me… “ to introduce a conclusion. In 10:23 he draws some conclusions about eating meats sacrificed to idols.
Likewise in 6:12 he is drawing a conclusion about the subject of fornication that was introduced in chapter 5. In this conclusion he states that Christians should not be joined sexually to a prostitute. I think this has reference to the father’s wife that the Christian had sex with.
There was a temple in Corinth to the false Goddess Aphrodite and history records that there were male and female prostitutes available to the devotees of Aphrodite. It’s possible that the father’s wife was engaged in this activity.
Certainly some of these Christians came out of paganism and still may have felt the “hook” of not only the Priestesses of Prostitution but also the eating of meats sacrificed to idols.
Sometimes it takes time to fully eliminate deeply engrained sin in our lives. Fortunately according to 2 Corinthians 2:7 Paul’s admonishment worked and the guilty young Christian man repented of his heinous sin.
I occasionally hear of congregation’s Elders who mandate or require face masking in the assembly. In fact some friends of ours were told (by their Elders) that if they didn’t wear a mask in the assembly that they could go find a new church. Amazing and sickening.
Let me kindly suggest that Elders have no authority to require the wearing of masks in the assembly. The work of Elders is purely spiritual… they protect the flock from false teachers and they help their fellow Christians grow to spiritual maturity.
There is no authority in the scriptures for Elders to be in charge of their member’s health… none. People (not Elders) are in charge of their own health.
As usual what proves a little proves too much. If Elders can require face masking can they also require require vaccinations? Can they require that their members lose weight all in the name of health? Where does it stop?
If we can change the work of the Elders can we also change the work of the church and authorize churches to build health clinics or hospitals?
Requiring masks to assemble or even to be considered a member of a congregation goes beyond what is written.
Certainly Elders can make suggestions (and accomodations) concerning health, just as any Christian can do, but they cannot expand their authority and *require* things of members that they have no authority for.
“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus Christ)…
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness…
There was a man sent from God whose name was John… he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light (Jesus Christ) that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1)
These verses in the Gospel of John are very reminiscent of what was written in Genesis…
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…
And God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1)
Imagine at the creation of the world (in Genesis) that all was dark and black and God flipped on the light switch and the whole world was illuminated.
Something similar happened when Jesus came into the world. The world was dark and black with sin… Satan was running rampant. The God flipped on the spiritual light switch by sending Jesus into the world.
But wait… the light of Jesus is contagious (like a California wild fire) and can light up humanity.
Imagine a dark room and someone lights a candle… one single solitary light and then another candle is lit and another and another until the whole room is fully illuminated.
We’re here to bring light into a dark world. When a room is lit up all those dirty, nasty cockroaches scatter and run looking for a dark place to hide in… and so does sin. Most people try to cover their sin. We’re here to help expose it and bring folks to repentance.
Here’s a problem… sometimes we hole up in our homes or just want our light to shine around other Christians. Take that light out where you can do the most good with it. Take it to some dark, dark places and don’t forget to have your Christian armor on. What’s there to be afraid of? After all we have the Spirit of God on our side.
There were some bad problems in Corinth. The big one was divisions among the members based upon who baptized them.
So how did Paul handle or approach this?
First of all he attacked the issue and argued that their position was inconsistent with the teachings of Christ.
Then he absolved himself of any blame recounting his behavior and teaching that came from the Holy Spirit himself.
He charged them with fomenting “jealousy and strife” which were the natural results of their contentions.
He said the fault was with them and called them “babes in Christ” and that they had failed to progress spiritually since the day they were born (baptized).
He called them “worldly”
He said his motivation was not to shame them but to admonish them. Certainly being admonished would cause shame but that wasn’t his primary intent.
Lastly he said this…
“What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?” (1 Cor. 4:21)
Basically he said there were two ways he could handle this… a nice way and a not so nice way… you choose.
There’s a lot we can learn from Paul… arguing the inconsistency of a problem, identifying where that problem might lead. Calling them out and holding them accountable.
His first approach would be “love and gentleness” but failing that he was ready to whip up on them (figuratively).
Admonishment takes a lot of thought and consideration. Thank you Paul for providing a pattern for us.
