1 Corinthians 5:9-11 "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one."
In the book of 1st Corinthians, Paul admonishes the church at Corinth about mingling with and accepting immoral people. Paul makes it very clear that there is a distinction between the people that he is talking about. He said to them that he did not mean ALL immoral people because to avoid association with them would mean that believers would have to go out of the world. Paul was specifically talking about recalcitrant, immoral people within the church. The immorality that he was referencing was sexual immorality- he gave an example of a man sleeping with his own mother at the beginning of this particular chapter. He is referencing folks in the church that are patently unrepentant and yet stay around because the church is a comfortable place.
Paul says that so-called brothers should be expelled. He went on to discuss other behaviors that are in the same vein as immorality such as covetousness, idolatry, drunkenness, swindling, reviling. Let me be clear, ALL of us are struggling with something. However, some of us are actually struggling whereas others are not struggling, but basking in the glow of sinfulness- and not thinking twice about it. These should be expelled!
When immoral, recalcitrant, unrepentant people stay around people that are seeking holiness, they cause problems. They cause people to look at God as their BFF and as a God that does not expect holiness out of His people. What this does is water down the cause of God! How can we preach holiness and salvation to the world if the people that make up the body of Christ look the same as the people that are outside the body? If there is no change, no regeneration, no inward purge of the old nature, no crucifying of the flesh-- then the outside world sees the power of God as ineffective. Paul says also that he turns such a one over to Satan so that their flesh can be "destroyed". This statement is not as shocking when we read the entire scripture. The B-clause of the same scripture in verse 5 says this, "so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Paul's decision to "turn such a one over to Satan" is a decision to give that person that refuses to repent of sin exactly what they want. If they are choosing to live an unrepentant life, don't do it under the cover of church- do it outside of the church. "Turning them over" is done such that once Satan finishes with them, they will understand the protection, the peace and the grace that God provides to us and come back to the church, but with different intentions! It is our acceptable sacrifice to live lives that are pleasing to God in return to the grace that He has bestowed upon us!
The problem is that these types of "church people" are just like the men that Jude refers to as "hidden reefs" (Jude 12). Jude speaks of false prophets in his text and the analogy that he used was quite vivid. If you have ever flown over tropical waters and looked out the window of the plane, you can actually see reefs in the ocean. You can see them very well if the water is clear. What's the significance of this? Hidden reefs cause shipwreck. If a ship is sailing and strikes a reef, that ship is going to sink! There are hidden reefs in every Christian church and yet Christians stand idly by and allow them to continue to sink ships.
I wrote this after reading about a "pastor", Darrell Gilyard, that has been released from jail for sexual crimes against minors (my good friend Lynn from Hicktownpress has blogged about this). He's promptly been placed in a pastoral position after being accused of the same thing at numerous locations. He's also now a registered sex offender. The church, in their silliness, rather than expelling the immoral brother, decided to make the kids in the church meet in a separate building on the property so that the "pastor" could preach without violating the terms of his probation. How stupid is that? How desperate are these people for a pastor? Do these people not realize that they are sailing in waters with hidden reefs and that they are doomed for shipwreck? Do they not see that this man is a shark waiting to devour them? Or are they so desperate to excuse their own indiscretions that they appoint a man in worse shape than them to watch over their souls? Having a pastor of ill repute is totally unbiblical. It's not that the pastor must be perfect, but he must be above reproach (Titus 1:5-9) and must live a blameless life. It's very simple. Sit this man down or expel him from your midst because he will eventually cause shipwreck within the body- and evidently he already has. He's a hidden reef that should be avoided by those in the already turbulent seas of life.
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