Sin Accomodating Churches-5 Series

SIN ACCOMODATING CHURCHES-V—1Cor. 5:1-13

Attention:

Pretense Golf:

Negotiations between union members & their employer were at an impasse. The union denied that their workers were flagrantly abusing their contract's sick-leave provisions.

One morning at the bargaining table, the company's chief negotiator held aloft the morning edition of the newspaper, “This man,” he announced, “Called in Sick yesterday!”

There on the sports page, was a photo of the supposedly ill employee, who had just won a local golf tournament with an excellent score.

The silence in the room was broken by a union negotiator...

“Wow,” he said. “Think of what kind of score he could have had if he hadn't been sick!”

*To Dance around a problem rather than taking care of a problem.

Similarly, The Church proper is populated by Christians, all of the same heritage...they are brothers & sisters by the blood of Jesus. None of them are Christian sympathizers, they are actual Christians!

However, the sympathizers are readily invited to witness & be involved with the true Christian work but only to a limited extent...

...Because...

1)The church works so closely with the world, & that...

2)We cannot ultimately determine the reality of anyone’s salvation(only God can per 1Cor. 4-5) & that...

3)We minister with those who consider themselves ‘saved,’ the church can inadvertently & ignorantly become party to worldliness.

4)Our hearts can deceive us so that we think we are doing God service when in fact we are undermining the Kingdom(Jer. 17:9-10; Jn. 16:2-3)!

Such a hodge-podge can invite a label of ‘hypocrisy’ upon the Church among outsiders, who lump all so-called ‘Christians’ together, assuming everyone who claims the name ‘Christian’ is the ‘real-deal’...

Such a hodge-podge can also invite a label of ‘hypocrisy’ upon the Church from insiders, who impose legalism upon the Church in order to ‘weed out’ sympathizers from the ‘real deal’!

Regardless, neither the lost nor the church can afford to submit to such abuse.

SIN ACCOMODATING CHURCHES-V—1Cor. 5:1-13

Paul admonished(called out) the Corinthian church because they had allowed/accommodated heinous sin in their midst.

The church must not accommodate sin in their midst.

*How can the true church effectively act against sin in their midst?

When does a church accommodate sin?

9 deficiencies of sin accommodating churches.

We had previously visited the fact that,

Sin Accommodating Churches skirt/deny...

1. BASELINES(:1)

2. BROKENNESS(:2)

3. God’s PRESENCE(:3)

4. AVAILABLE ARSENAL/Weaponry(:4)

5. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY(:5)—See #10 :13

6—Sin Accommodating churches skirt/deny...

DAMAGE POTENTIAL(:6)

Explanation:(:6)Sin’s potential for damage/Collateral-Inadvertent Damage.

:6—“Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”

Again possibly...“puffed up with their lenity & forbearance, boasting of it as an act of humanity & good nature, & an instance of charity, showing that they were not severe upon one another, for mistakes in life”—John Gill

The church’s “glorying” in their handling of this moral question is somewhat understandable if one considers that their focus was entirely upon the skewed ‘unconditionality’ of love. This is the problem with any lop-sided & thus namby-pamby ‘gospel.’ Their problem:—This church preached love to such an extent, that everything became forgivable & thus acceptable, while nothing became condemnable. Preaching love to the exclusion of calling sin, “sin” is damning to any church & people. The whole counsel of God must be preached, taught, held to, & maintained in the body of Christ!

When Christians use the term ‘Unconditional love’ what we actually mean is that no sin in your past is so heinous that the blood of Jesus cannot cover it! Once you are saved, God will never hold your past sins against you, so that you can never be condemned by it/them!

Rev. 2:14-16; 20-23; 3:1-3—“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, & to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. ‘Repent, or else I will come to you quickly & will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”.....“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach & seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality & eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, & she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, & those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, & all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds & hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”.....“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God & the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, & strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received & heard; hold fast & repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, & you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” A little bit of falsehood or perversion or iniquity can indeed pervade the entire local church & beyond. Think of the many lost who have been damned to hell because the church did not take its God-ordained authority in Christ, to heart(which authority Paul will address in chapter 6:1-11).