Paul’s Concern For The Church At Corinth

All over this country today God is leading CERTAIN PEOPLE to CERTAIN CHURCHES because they can make valuable contributions to these churches. As God leads people to join the church, we need to ask, “WHAT SHOULD THEY BE LOOKING FOR WHEN THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A CHURCH TO JOIN?”

Many have their own criteria set up. Some join a church because-

- They like the CHURCH BUILDING.

- They like the PROGRAMS that church offers.

- They like the PEOPLE who attend there.

- The church is CONVENIENT, being close to their home.

Listen, all of these things are nice, but the fact is that these are not the reasons a person should join a church! There are churches across this nation that meet those standards, but they do not meet God’s standards.

Let us suppose we could sit down with the Lord Jesus and ask Him, “WHAT SHOULD A PERSON LOOK FOR WHEN SEEKING A CHURCH TO JOIN?”

God’s criteria includes:

- That the people WORSHIP HIM there!

- That His WORD IS PREACHED there!

God is not interested, as we are, so much in how beautiful the building is, how many socials there are, or how convenient the location is.

Let us suppose that you lived in the times of the apostle Paul and were looking for a church. WHAT KIND OF CHURCH WOULD YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE IN? Do you think you would like-

- The church in Ephesus?

- The church in Philippi?

- The church in Galatia?

There would be many to pick from.

Sad to say, probably many American Christians would feel most comfortable joining the church at Corinth--it would best suit them because the folks at Corinth...

- Were spiritual babes.

- Were envious.

- Tolerated gross sin in the church membership.

- Fought among themselves, like children.

- Did not know the meaning of the word love.

- Were preacher worshippers, not God worshippers.

- Were spiritually ignorant.

- Desecrated the house of God during the Lord’s supper and at other times.

Paul was constantly having to teach and correct those folks. So that our church might not be like the church in Corinth, we will look at at least two things Paul taught.

I. PAUL WROTE THEM ABOUT MORALITY PROBLEMS IN THE CHURCH.

Notice, Paul talked to them about an issue that had become rumored widely about them. Look at I Cor. 5:1. We read, “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.” Paul was saying, paraphrase, “This horrendous thing I have heard about you is so bad that I do not even hear of the gentiles doing such a horrible thing.” Then he continued, “Rumor has it that one of your church members has actually committed fornication with his step-mother!”

Paul was shocked to hear such a thing had taken place among the people of the church at Corinth. He was even more shocked that the people were not ashamed of what had happened and that they were not doing anything about it.

Look at verse 2. “And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” We seldom hear the word, “ex-communicate” any more, but Paul was shocked that the person who had committed such ungodly acts was still a part of the church. He said that the person should have been, “...taken away from among you.” Paul would be shocked if he lived among us also. As one travels across this country he hears of terrible things still taking place among those who claim to be members of God’s Church.

Illus: One Christian man visited a church and said, “I am looking for a church for my family and myself.” He then went on to explain that the previous Tuesday, the deacons at the church he had been attending had a meeting and it ended up in a fist fight that even damaged the church building!”

Illus: One church had a division. The group that stood with the preacher announced among themselves a change in the time for the service. When the other group arrived they were locked out! They tried to tear the door down, and finally the police had to be called in. They came and sent everyone home.

Illus: One Christian man called the pastor aside one morning when he arrived at his church. He said, “Pastor, On my way to church this morning I saw something that shocked me. As I came by (a large, well-known church in town), there were two grown men fighting it out in the parking lot.”

So, we see, in some cases we hear of things happening among Christians that are worse than some of the things we hear that happen in the local saloons.