I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (I Corinthians 5:9-13)
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (I Corinthians 5:9-13)
I suspect there are a lot of people who would love to cheer for Paul. How dare Christians impose our morality on the rest of society? Why doesn’t the Church address the sins that are in our midst? And to an extent, I agree. The Church should be dealing more, and more effectively, with our sins, including my “favorites,” gluttony, anger, fear, and pride.
One problem is that the world does not do any better. It doesn’t say to the Church, “we won’t judge you; we’ll leave you alone.” Does the world shrug its shoulders and say that the sexual abuse found in the Church is none of its affair? No, the world judges. What’s more, the world judges the Church if the Church stands by and says nothing – consider the criticism of German Christians who did not speak out forcefully enough against the Nazis.
More importantly, when the world declares something to be acceptable, it imposes that morality on the Church. This was my argument against granting legal status to some groups. I don’t care what they do on their own, amongst themselves. That’s between them and God. However, I warned some friends that when it happened, it would result in that group trying to force its morality on the Church and its members. I was told that it would never happen, but when it did, I just got smiles. And when I do what they scold the German Church for not doing in World War II, they scold me for doing it and tell me that I’m the Nazi, not they. This is to be expected. We’re talking about the World.
The second problem is that the Church often wants to be just like the world. It’s so much easier. And the first step in dealing with the Church is to deal with ourselves. We can't expect the Church to be the Church while we're cozying up with the world.
One problem is that the world does not do any better. It doesn’t say to the Church, “we won’t judge you; we’ll leave you alone.” Does the world shrug its shoulders and say that the sexual abuse found in the Church is none of its affair? No, the world judges. What’s more, the world judges the Church if the Church stands by and says nothing – consider the criticism of German Christians who did not speak out forcefully enough against the Nazis.
More importantly, when the world declares something to be acceptable, it imposes that morality on the Church. This was my argument against granting legal status to some groups. I don’t care what they do on their own, amongst themselves. That’s between them and God. However, I warned some friends that when it happened, it would result in that group trying to force its morality on the Church and its members. I was told that it would never happen, but when it did, I just got smiles. And when I do what they scold the German Church for not doing in World War II, they scold me for doing it and tell me that I’m the Nazi, not they. This is to be expected. We’re talking about the World.
The second problem is that the Church often wants to be just like the world. It’s so much easier. And the first step in dealing with the Church is to deal with ourselves. We can't expect the Church to be the Church while we're cozying up with the world.
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