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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 21, 2010
“Sexual Immorality Among You”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you…”
That’s what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, as you can read for yourself in First Corinthians chapter five.
Sexual immorality is always scandalous, even in the world. You don’t expect worldly magazines to uphold Christian values, but when there is sexual immorality, they are on it. Just watch the next time some cheating celebrity gets caught. It will make the front page of those magazines.
The church in Corinth had their own scandal, and Paul confronted it in First Corinthians five.
First of all, it was not your run-of-the-mill immorality. Paul said it was a kind not even found among the pagans, and here is how he worded it.
“A man has his father’s wife.”
Due to the way it’s worded, it was probably a stepmother, and she was probably not part of the church, though he was.
So there’s a church member gallivanting about with his dad’s wife; and how did the other church members react?
According to verse two, they were proud! It doesn’t say why they were proud, but perhaps they thought it showed how gracious and loving they were. “See? We accept everyone!”
That’s nice, isn’t it? We accept everyone.
But Paul sure had a problem with it. Instead of pride, Paul said they should have been filled with grief. And instead of letting him to stay, Paul said he should be expelled from the fellowship.
That’s harsh. Kick him out for one little mistake?
Again, we are short on details, but it doesn’t appear to be one little mistake. It’s more like a lifestyle; and he’s not repenting. He is indulging his sinful nature with wanton disregard for righteousness.
So what should you do with someone like this in your church? Let’s say you are a church leader and you discover that one of your church members is living in sexual immorality. What do you do?
Jesus gave us a little outline to follow in Matthew 18. First of all, you go to that person, one-on-one, and “tell him his fault.”
Hopefully he will be mature enough to accept the rebuke, repent and turn from his sin.
But if not, Jesus said to grab another person or two and go back. The extra witnesses turn up the spotlight and can reveal the true nature of the situation. Now if he repents, good. You have reclaimed him from sin.
But if not, Jesus gave a third round of action. Bring the situation before the whole church. Let everyone know what is going on. Then maybe the man will understand the seriousness of what he is doing.
But if he doesn’t, even after all that, then it’s time to part ways. He cannot continue to fellowship in your church if he wants to live in blatant sin.
Kicking someone out of church sounds rash, but you have two goals.
First of all, you are trying to turn that man from sin, for his own good. You ratchet up the consequences so he will turn around.
Second, you are trying to keep his attitude from spreading. Paul said in verse six, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Leaven is yeast that works through the whole batch of dough.
If you allow blatant sin to continue in the church, it can spread. Moral standards can fall. People will think it’s not important and will be less concerned about living by God’s righteous principles.
In verse nine Paul warns them again about not associating with sexually immoral people. Don’t even eat with them, he said – not talking about the world in general, but about people in the church.
Then he widened the net. It’s not just the sexually immoral to watch out for, but also people who are greedy, people who are drunkards, people who are swindlers, and people who are slanderers.
Does that mean we check people at the entrance and keep them out of our meetings?
No. Everyone is invited. Come and receive from the Lord.
But when you become part of a local church fellowship or congregation, you have a certain standard to live up to, and you are accountable to the others. They have the right to confront you about sin, and if you choose to continue in that sin, then they have the right and the responsibility to remove you as a member of that fellowship.
The church is the body of Christ, and if one part of the body is hurting itself or the others, we must take action.
We must work hard to turn them from their sin, but if they simply will not turn, then the hard thing must be done, and they must be removed from the fellowship.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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