Tom writes:

Paul expected immorality to constantly define the people of the world. He refused to judge them for it. Instead he looked past any lewdness, sold them some tents and kept on witnessing. His focus was on getting holiness into the house of God. Some of you recoil against this idea. It seems far too insular. Surely God wants us to fight systemic racism and work for the good of our world? Yes, of course. God made the earth, in the end we will inherit it (3:22) and we practise now our stewardship of it. But, Paul never aspired to be Rome’s moral policeman. He did not engage in culture wars. Instead he told the sinful world about the gospel of Jesus and turned his moral attention to those within the church. And he urgently demanded utter sexual purity in the church. Do you hear that? In our age many Christians are saying the church needs to relax orthodox views on Christian sexual ethics. In our day it is normal for christians to sleep together, live together, express their sexual desires in whatever context seems best to them. Paul very strongly speaks against that. Paul even says it would be better for all if people who deliberately persist in sexual impurity to be asked to leave the church.

This is the man who gave up all he had to see some come to faith. This is the man who was compelled by the love of Christ and who regarded himself as the worst of all sinners. This can’t just be written off as bigotry on Paul’s part. We must ask why Paul would even suggest such a thing. Could it be that Paul’s compassion led him to demand a certain way of living; sacrificial, painful at times, but riven with holiness? Could it be that Paul saw greater benefit for every person if they prioritised holiness over happiness? I wonder how you respond to this? You might be deeply conscious of your sexual sin. Do not fear; repentance is real and God loves to cleanse you of every sense of shame. Or you might - like the Corinthians - be angry. I get that. Paul makes me angry sometimes too. In these moments we need to really hear Jesus and not let memories of other voices swamp what he really says. And we also need to be honest about the choice we have - when we actually hear Jesus will we let his Word form us? Do we want to be people who worship Jesus when he says stuff we like but reject him when he says stuff we don’t? For Paul, it was “everything Jesus said” or it wasn’t worth showing up. That was what it meant to live in weakness. That was what it meant to live in fear and trembling, and to see the foolishness of God as wiser than the wisdom of the world.

Question for reflection

Are you allowing Jesus to rule your sex life?

1 Corinthians 5 - Wednesday 22nd May