Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Devotion - Wednesday, October 7

I want to continue with some thoughts from I Corinthians 5.

The issue that Paul is dealing with is the acceptance by the members of the Church of behaviors which ought not be present among those who have come to understand Christ's claim on their lives.  This man, whom Paul says is engaging in immorality, yet continues to be welcomed, is the leaven which has the potential to spoil the whole.

We spent considerable time on this in our LCM Bible Study last week.  The tough question for us is to ask whether we have come to accept immorality in our midst; failing to drive it out.

While I dislike the easy, broad terms, I am clearly on the "liberal" side of Christianity.  I do not take a "conservative" stance with regard to divorce, alcohol consumption, etc.  I have not come to this position lightly - I understand it to be consistent with a theology rooted in grace.  However, I know that too often I hear of liberties taken with our freedom in Christ's grace.

I often speak of my holy envy of Methodistism's methodical eradication of vices and bad practices from one's life.  This would be a good practice for us all.  We could (and should) identify those practices of ours which have the opportunity to lead astray those who do share our confidence in grace.  We could (and should) cease any immorality which teeters too close to "See, I can to this and still be a part of my church."

No comments:

Post a Comment