Text: 1 Cor 6:1-8, Title: Stupid Losers, Date/Place: NRBC, 9/26/10, AM
A. Opening illustration: fictitious marital spat: he just made the comment that she should be more careful when she uses the lawnmower, and she reacts and says that he is never careful with anything except what is important to him, and he is only concerned with himself and not her. Doors slam, and all day long the pot is stewing, pressure is building, and both are thinking of all the reasons that they are right, and what they are gonna say when they get home; watch out! Then it all breaks loose when they get home, tempers flare, words exchanged, names called, accusations made, examples given; and finally she piles up the guilt and examples of his selfishness not that he would repent, but that his anger seethes, and he leaves to cool off before this really gets out of hand. She won! She was righter! Victory is sweet! Or is it?
B. Background to passage: First item up for bids was division in the church. Next item up for bids is man sleeping with his step mom. Third item up for bids is a brother suing another brother!
C. Main thought: in the text we will see three needs for an eternal perspective on severe conflict
A. Significance of Things (v. 1-3)
1. If you thought Paul was harsh or indignant with the Corinthians in dealing with division/carnality or with sexual immorality in the camp, he is just getting started. In 5, he tells them he is not trying to shame them, here he tells them that he is. Paul transitions from the last verse in chapter five about judging those who are outside, and deals with going outside for inside problems. The English doesn’t really convey his outrage. He says, “How dare you!” One believer had a grievance with another, and they were taking it to the secular courts. Later in the text, we can infer that this may have been a leader in the church and regarding some sort of property or business dispute. And so Paul gives his first reason and argument for that reason why they shouldn’t do what they are doing the way they are doing it—in view of kingdom concerns, this is a small matter. Two ways he says saints will judge much bigger things, so shouldn’t we be able to handle the smaller; saint will judge heavenly things, so shouldn’t we be able to judge earthly things. Relative to eternal treasures, this is an insignificant thing to argue over, let alone to sue over.
2. 2 Cor 4:18, 1 John 2:16-17, Col 3:1-2, Psa 16:11, Matt 6:20, 33, John 6:27,
3. Illustration: King Henry IV of France once asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed the great eclipse of the sun that had recently occurred. "No," said the duke, "I have so much to do on the earth that I have no leisure to look up into heaven." Commenting on this, Thomas Brooks said, "It is sad to think how heart and time are so taken up with earthly things that we have no leisure to look to Christ and the things that belong to everlasting peace." We are early for the game but late to the worship (see below)
4. Where is our holy outrage against earthly mindedness? Against materialism? Against self-centeredness? As the culture seeps into our hearts, we begin to think like the world, then act like it. And that culture comes through TV, music, internet, peers, advertising, etc. We think that it is of utmost importance that we are well off, drive the nicest cars, have the newest, most in style clothes and shoes, maintain a supermodel figure, have the newest gadgets and toys, eat the best foods, achieve the greatest accomplishments in education, athletics, and occupations, and succeed in all our relationships. And the world says that if you don’t have these things, sacrifice whatever you need to get them. Therefore we have massive debt, bankruptcy, plastic surgery, diets galore, titles, promotions, degrees, depression, mid-life crises, suicide, despondency, addictions. All because we are pursing and in love with the things of this world. When the bible teaches that we are to focus, strive for, love things of another world, for these other things will not matter in 100 years; they are temporary. We must learn to be discerning about how we invest our passions, time, and resources to achieve. In all of these truths, the main application is toward the church as a whole for allowing this kind of thing to go on, rather than putting an end to it. The body as a whole is responsible for holding members accountable for their actions.
B. Sufficiency of the Church (v. 4-5)
1. Next Paul, assuming rightfully, that there would be disputes among them that the individuals in the suit couldn’t work out, asks them to think about what they are doing. They are getting someone with no standing (no esteem) in the church, to make judgments about the business of the children of God. These pagan judges had no regard for Christ or the kingdom, no concern about the bride, and did things the way that the world does things. Sound familiar? Paul told the Corinthians back in ch. 3 that they were acting like “mere men” by being so carnal. Paul says the standard of settling disputes in the church should be different than that of the world. Then he chides them by asking if there wasn’t a “wise” man who can help these two brothers? Ironic how they were all about wisdom in the first four chapters, huh? His point is not only that we shouldn’t look to unbeliever to settle disputes, but that the body of Christ has been given sufficient resources in her members, use them. Christ is sufficient to manage His church. And His word has been given us to guide us.
2. Acts 6:1-4, James 5:9, Num 11:16, Deut 1:13, 2 Pet 1:3, Philip 4:2-3,
3. Illustration: chapter in the book, “How to Fight Fair,” computers are not everyone’s thing, but if computers were your thing, and your spouse kept calling a repair man to come fix the computer and paying an egregious amount of money,
4. The way that we love, disagree, care for, and fight should be altogether different from the world. Why? Because we have different priorities: please Christ, lay down our lives (agendas, self-preservation, etc), help the poor and oppressed, take the gospel to the world, forgive each other, etc. Unbelievers sue and go before unbelieving people, but we shouldn’t. We should be able to settle disputes in house, or at least with the help of another wise, discerning, mature believer. You may have to agree beforehand to abide by the judgment. But especially in temporary things, do what’s right, and focus on eternal things. Your first resource if you have a dispute is Christ, His word, and His church. There is never a time when Christ is not sufficient, and sufficient through His word, and His people. Again, this is a perspective shift. Does this mean that secular authorities never get involved? In all of these truths, the main application is toward the church as a whole for allowing this kind of thing to go on, rather than putting an end to it. You can be a force working, encouraging those among us who have disputes to go and work it out in house or with your help. Go to them and work it out, don’t
C. Severity of Harm (v. 6-8)
1. Then Paul uses a very strong phrase and says, “this is already an utter failure.” These things are altogether degrading, debasing, and worsening the glory of the gospel. Nobody wins: brothers don’t win (what happens to opposing sides in litigation?), the church doesn’t win, the cultural does win, because they will not see that Christ is beautiful when brothers are not loving one another. Then he tells them that they should allow themselves to be wronged rather than airing out their dirty laundry to a watching world. He said that it is OK to go on without getting what you deserve, without gaining justice, without vindicating yourself, without recovering property, rather than shame the church in the world, and prevent the world from seeing the light of Christ in us. In essence he says that the harm to the church and her Savior and her witness will far outweigh the harm you may suffer with a loss.
2. Pro 20:22, Matt 5:39-41, Rom 12:19, 1 Pet 2:19-23, 3:9
3. Illustration: read in the paper on Wed how two former church members of Bishop Eddie Long’s church in ATL were suing him for supposedly giving them stuff in return for sexual relationships, true or not true all of these men, Christ, and the church are disgraced, when Erika and I built a house in Maine, we used a builder from our congregation, and things didn’t get done just right, and over and over we called, and got no response, but decided to just drop it, even though we were wronged for the team,
4. We need to count the cost before we enter into conflict or even conflict resolution. Is it worth the trouble it will bring? Sometimes there are situations that require this action. Feelings take a long time to heal. Now remember that this has to do with airing out our dirty laundry. Within the church, conflicts should be worked out and settled. In mature believers even when hard things are said, and disagreements persist, reconciliation can take place, and relationships can be restored. Self-preservation and personal rights and a sense of justice cause us all to demand that we are restored, but sometimes we should just take one for the team. Fairness and justice is not the highest good—the glory of Christ is, therefore if to achieve the magnification of Christ, we must be wronged then so be it! Get comfortable with the idea that you may suffer unjustly, and not receive justice on this side, but that it is OK; start now, so in anger, that thought comes back. What injustices that you have suffered do you need to forgive and release. In all of these truths, the main application is toward the church as a whole for allowing this kind of thing to go on, rather than putting an end to it.
A. Closing illustration: Public’s Confidence: Gallup’s annual measure of public confidence in institutions reports the military is #1 followed by the police and the church. While the military’s rating is lower than in ‘02, the church has been slowly recovering from the sharp decline in confidence it experienced two years ago in the wake of the Catholic priest sex scandal. Today, 53% of Americans say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church or organized religion. This is up from 50% last year and 45% in ‘02, but below the 56% to 60% level between ‘95 and ’01,
Recap William Lobdell is a writer and reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Several years ago he attended a men’s retreat and decided that he wanted to follow Christ. He began to attend church, read the Bible and serve God in a variety of ways. He soon wanted to write about faith and he approached the Times on numerous occasions about creating a religion column. After much persuasion the Times allowed Lobdell to write “Getting Religion”, a weekly column about religion.
Lobdell wrote about an elderly church organist who became a mentor to the man that tried to rape and kill her. He wrote about an Orthodox Jewish mother who developed a line of modest clothing for Barbie dolls. Lobdell’s stories didn’t just inform but they inspired the reader.
Lobdell loved his life. He couldn’t wait to get up and go to work in the morning and he couldn’t wait to go to church on Sundays. Then some of his religion stories began to bother him at a deep level. He began to cover the Catholic clergy sex scandal. He saw how the church had been covering up the misdeeds of her priests. He interviewed victims and families and became deeply grieved.
Then Lobdell began to cover the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The prosperity theology of founders Paul and Jan Crouch had them calling for sacrificial donations from viewers with the promise of God answering prayers and bestowing blessings. Meanwhile the Crouches ate $180 per plate meals, flew in a $21 million corporate jet and had access to 30 TBN owned homes across the country. All paid for with donor money.
Lobdell met and covered the work of faith healer Benny Hinn. He interviewed sick people from all over the world who would spend their life savings to come to one of Hinn’s “Miracle Crusades”. As an act of faith they would give money to Hinn and take themselves off of medical treatments so that God might heal them. And they weren’t healed.
The final straw was when Lobdell went to Portland to cover the case of a single mom whose sickly son needed help and she was seeking child support from the child’s father, a Catholic priest. The priest simply declared to the court that he had taken a vow of poverty, had no possessions but the clothes on his back and therefore could not afford the $323 a month child support. Yet, the religious order came up with the necessary money for the priest to have a sharp lawyer to represent him. The mother who couldn’t afford a lawyer lost the case.
With that Lobdell walked away from Christianity. In my words the lifestyles of “pretender Christians” was too discouraging for him to overcome.
B. Invitation to commitment
WHAT ARE THE "PRIORITIES" AT YOUR HOUSE?
WHAT PRIORITIES WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN OUR CHILDREN WHEN THE FOLLOWING HAPPEN?
1. We are early for the game but late to the worship.
2. We see to it that our children do their homework but never check to seek if SS lessons are completed,
3. They are not allowed to stay up late on school nights lest it infringe upon their school work but are allowed to stay up and watch the "LATE SHOW" on Saturday night, though they will be attending SS the next morning.
4. We will not let them miss school even though they do not want to attend, but we cater to their whims and let them miss SS and church.
6. We will serve as room mother or president of the PTA at school, but what about helping with a youth/children’s ministry.
7. We will attend their school open house but not their open house on the last day of V.B.S.
8. We will not schedule vacations so as to make them miss school, but what about V.B.S. or church events.
9. They see us go to work even though we do not feel well but stay at home from church under the same circumstances.
10. They see us look at and study their school work but never pay any attention at all to their spiritual work.
YES, WITH SUCH SITUATIONS PREVAILING, WHAT PRIORITIES ARE BEING ESTABLISHED IN THE HEARTS OF OUR CHILDREN?
Wendell Winkler
