A Life Worthy

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).

Multiple layers of thought here.

1. It’s not our job to judge the world. We are here to be salt and light and hopefully, by our words and our example, lead some toward God. You are a rescue hero. Go rescue.
2. We are called to judge those inside the Church, to clean our own house as it were. BUT there is a big, fat, hairy difference between glaring sin and difference of opinion.  Oh, and by the way–the vast majority of what bugs you about your brothers and sisters in Christ is simply difference of opinion, so cool your jets.
3. God will judge those outside. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been at this for a while now. 

Stay in your own lane, Beloved.

Happy Thursday

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. (1 Corinthians 5:11).

They claim Christ, but their lives…

Beloved, there’s a little hypocrisy firmly enmeshed in all of us. None of us lives our life in utter purity. We stumble, we fall, we keep trying.

But then there’s the pretender. He says all the right things, but lives a life that is directly at odds with all he claims to believe–at odds with the very Lord he claims to serve. He is in the world and of the world, but figures he can say a few magic words and all will be well.

It doesn’t work that way.

Steer clear of that one, Beloved. Wherever you see him. Find the people who will draw you closer to Christ, who are an example of living out this faith of ours. Spend time with them. Life’s too short for anything else.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved

Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth  (1 Corinthians 5:8).

Time to wrap up the bread analogy–maybe put a twist tie on it.

Beloved, when you come to God, do you come with all the junk and garbage and fluff and stuff and nonsense and yeast that you carry around all the time?

or

Do you grab a broom and try to sweep it out?

Please don’t get me wrong–I’m not saying that you could ever get that heart of yours clean enough to merit a meeting with God.

But he does like it when you make the attempt.

As you come to him this morning–or afternoon, or whenever–try clearing out some of the yeast. You know, spruce up a little bit.  And if you just can’t–and sometimes you just can’t–go to him anyway, and ask him to sweep it out for you. He’s very good at that.

Happy Friday, Beloved

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? (1 Corinthians 5:6)

Just a little

A taste

A smidge

No one will notice.

Not even me

But the effects are there, Beloved.

In the loaf, and in the life

Happy Wednesday, Beloved

Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 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…  (1 Corinthians 5:3-4).

Wait a minute…

Didn’t Jesus tell us not to judge? But Paul is judging. What gives?

Good question, Beloved. You always ask such good questions.

Here’s how I see it–and remember, I’m not a Bible scholar, just a Michael. In Matthew 7, Jesus tells us to “Judge not, lest ye be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use you will be measured.” He goes on to talk about the “speck in the eye” business. I think the point Jesus is making is that we need to attend to our own spiritual business before we go poking our finger into someone else’s. Otherwise, we’re asking to be judged by the same standard that we are using on others, and that is not a winning situation.

Paul is looking at a particular sin–and it’s one neither he nor his readers is likely to have committed. 

I mean, I really hope not.

So, Paul is not worried about being judged as he is judging. He is calling out egregious sin in the Church, and he is dealing with it. Even so, note the care he takes:

“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…”

This is no hasty rush to judgment carried out by a self-righteous zealot. This is the entire body coming together in the name and power of Christ to defend the holiness of the Church.

And, as we will see in a bit, to bring the sinner to repentance.

Christ’s injunction to take care in judging does not let you off the hook, Beloved. You still have the responsibility to call out sin, as Paul shows us. Just go easy on the condemnation part, Ya?

Happy Monday, Beloved.