Join Me in My Wrestle!

So this morning I have been thrown into a deep internal tension. Over the past few weeks the Lord has been leading me in a study of what scripture teaches about the subject of "judging". It has led me through the gospels, Acts, Romans and this morning I landed in 1 Corinthians 5!

(I'd invite to read it if you have a moment)

This passage raises a common objection in the human heart - "expel the immoral brother?!", What? If I am a "good" Christian I will not judge others! And yet, Paul clearly states that we are to judge them, and should not even engage in the lowest form of social interaction with such a brother, the act of fellowship over food.


After meditating on this for a few minutes I decided I needed to read a few commentaries on the matter and they all came back saying the exact same thing - we must rid ourselves of the immoral brother! Who are the "immoral"? Those who commit sexual immorality, drunkenness and fornication.

What is fornication? One commentary defined "fornication & covetousness" as this:  

"the fierce and ever fiercer longing of the creature...to fill itself with the inferior objects of sense".

What does he mean by "inferior objects of sense"? Our senses! The unsatisfiable hunger of sensory pleasures (eating, watching, touching, smelling, listening) that become a substitute for feeding on the pleasure of loving God.


Don't worry, this is not going to be a blog about the theological basis of judging - I will let you wrestle that out yourself in the place of prayer! What I'm bumping up against today is my present family experience and the difficulty of trying to make sense of how this command has been walked out over the past 15 years.

You see, I have one family member who has experienced this kind of "putting out" from the congregation a number of years ago. I know that it has caused him great hurt and resulted in much anger against the church that lasted for many years (and my still linger to this day). However, I also know that God has once again won his heart and transformed him into a person who understands mercy and repentance. He has been "restored" into fellowship and is a blessing to God and the local church!

Ironically enough, one of the things that preceded this season of his life was an encounter with his in-laws church, a church who refused to "put out" a member who was unrepentant of sexual sin! His own family refused to expel this man from fellowship and it grieved my brother and his marriage deeply.

But it gets worse. For while one body refused to expel their own immoral brother, my own brother, living with a wife bound by ungodly forces as a result of the sins of this immoral man, found himself in a season in which his faith was tested in the crucible of fire, and during that season of testing entered into sin. But unlike his in-laws congregation, his own church walked the difficult road of expelling him from the congregation!

One man, caught between two churches, both believing that they were demonstrating the nature of God's grace and mercy, but having it expressed in radically contradicting ways.

So I am left to ask myself this question. Which of the two men do you think was shown love? Which congregation was cleansed of it's immorality? The one that swept it under the carpet and allowed their sexually immoral brother to continue in his sin, and left him to face the coming judgment of God's wrath. (1 Cor 6:7-10), or the one that gave their immoral brother over to sin so that it could be burned away in this age, and in doing so saved my brothers soul for eternity? (James 5:20)

I'm left asking myself this question today. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Or as I would paraphrase it - what does it profit a man to keep his Christian community and lose his eternal fellowship with Christ?

But that is not my wrestle! No, that is merely the warm up!!

My wrestle is the fact that I am about to go home and celebrate Christmas in a few weeks with my extended family, one of whom has left his family to pursue a life of "sensory indulgence", and it is growing with an ever increasing fury. And yet, the family (who are all believers) will not "put him out" of fellowship because we are all "loving" people and want to show him "grace"! We have prayed for him fervently for many years, but continue to have fellowship with him!?






Is that grace? Is grace not the power of God in us to work righteousness?! (and NOT the power to feel good while we sin)

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the idea of putting him out. It doesn't feel loving or kind, but there are lots of things that God commands me to do that don't feel good to my sinful body - but they produce righteousness in me! I don't like the idea, but what I have encountered in Gods word over the past few weeks shouts a resounding "AMEN" to the wisdom of this command.

So welcome to my wrestle! Do I walk the difficult road of shaming my brother, or do I walk the road of un-sanctifide grace? I don't have any resolution on it, although I wish I could say I did! And I'm sure it has stirred up as many things in you as it has in me and for that I'd like to say that I am sorry (but I'm not sure I am...if that's ok?)

In closing I will say this - it seems that this is a huge question for the church in this day and age. We live in a time when the Church is embarrassed with it's own weakness and scandalous reputation, and yet, we are unwilling to hold ourselves to the very standard of righteousness that we profess, and put ourselves under the power of grace to live in holiness.

What are we going to allow ourselves to become? Ever increasingly weak people, with a weak testimony of God's saving power to transform and sanctify us? Or people who live by the power of God's spirit in us (grace) to do the goods works He set forth for us to do!

It is sobering for me when I read these words to the church at the end of the age...

Jesus said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." (Rev 3:19-20)

"Jesus, I want to be found faithful to your words. Teach me Your ways and grant me the strength to do rightly by You. Amen."

Jon