Ep 273 – 1 Corinthians 5

In chapter five of 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses an interesting topic: Excessive tolerance. It seems that there was a man in the church there who was guilty of having an affair. Not only that, it was with his stepmother. But Paul's real issue is not with the man or his adulterous affair, but with the over-accepting nature of the church's reaction to it all. Rather than be appalled at the man's sinful behavior, they were actually bragging about it. Instead of embarrassment, they were exhibiting a sense of approval. If you recall, in our very first episode, we talked about Paul's use of the plural pronoun "you." This letter was written to the body of Christ, not a single individual. And Paul addresses then corporate nature of this man's sin. Sure, it was he who had committed adultery. And it was his own stepmother who participated in this unacceptable behavior. But the church was also corporately culpable, because they had done nothing about it. In essence, their failure to speak up was as good as an endorsement of the couple's wicked behavior. And when sin goes unaddressed in the body of Christ, it spreads like a cancer. It infects and pollutes. It weakens the spiritual immune system of the church. And tolerance, while it may appear to be an act of love, is actually a form of hatred. By remaining silent and refusing to address the sin in our midst, we reveal a disregard for the well-being of the one whose sin we are overlooking and a deadly apathy to the health of the church.