Saints Judging Saints

Text: 1 Corintihians 5 Theme: We are to judge those in the body of Christ and deal with them scripturally and appropriately. Key verses: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you…A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?… I have already passed judgment on the one who did this…When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.” (v. 1-5) “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you.'” (v. 12-13) What God said to me: Son, this is a very difficult passage to absorb and even more difficult to apply. Yet, Paul was determined to preach and live the whole counsel of my truth and Word. On the surface it might appear harsh and loving what Paul is telling the Corinthian church to do with the immoral man in their local body of believers. Yet, to leave him there among them was like a cancer, like bad yeast that sours the entire loaf. As leaders of my flock you must deal quickly and effectively with such rebellious and outwardly sinful people. Notice there was a sense of arrogance among the church regarding this. It was as though they were above being corrupted by this man, like his behavior wouldn’t affect them. Or perhaps they thought their tolerance of his sin was an overt sign of their extraordinary love for the saints. But Paul knew the real reason was pride in their hearts — and no doubt pride in the heart of the one who was immoral. Dwayne, as much as you may want to, you cannot truly love someone who is in direct and deliberate opposition to my Word by overlooking their sin. You must expel that person from your fellowship. In doing so, you will save not only your congregation, but also that person. What I said to God: Holy Father, You are so right in saying we may not want to follow these apparently unloving and confrontational directions from Paul. Yet, I do see why what he says is true. And I acknowledge that we as leaders are responsible for the health of our congregations. To continue to allow outward rebellion will affect and eat away at everyone around. At the least it will produce a spirit of apathy toward Your clear precepts and laws. Right now I’m feeling real thankful I’m not a lead pastor, for those undershepherds must stand before You for what they allow and what they overlook. However, I know that I too have a responsibility to pray for and support my pastor — even in the hard decisions that might seem unloving and unwise.