1 Corinthians 5:1-2 (ESV)
[1] It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you,
and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s
wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to
mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
The Corinthian believers were actually arrogant about
the sin in their midst. I can envision them saying something like, “Look at the
grace of God. Isn’t it amazing. We can even sin in ways the pagans would not
tolerate and God will forgive us.” But their arrogance missed the heart of God
completely. God’s grace is never an excuse for sin. It is a motivation to
holiness.
1 Corinthians 5 lays out four appropriate responses
to sin in the church. The first is mourning. “Ought you not rather to mourn?”
(1 Cor 5:2). Sin in the life of a brother or sister in Christ should not make
us arrogant. Neither should it make us angry. It should make us grieve. Now
certainly anger is an aspect of grief, and righteous anger over sin is appropriate,
but in our anger I fear that we sometimes lack grief. Our first response should
be a broken heart over the decisions and actions of brother and sisters in
Christ.
A friend recently posted an article about a Baptist
church that called a pastor living an unbiblical and immoral lifestyle. My response
was grief. My heart is heavy. How can a church that claims the name of Christ make
such a decision? It seems that we are ready at the drop of a hat to fight with
each other over doctrine. The real question is whether we grieve for one another
over morality. Grief and mourning are the proper responses to sin in the life
of another believer or another church claiming the name of Christ. If we truly
love the Body of Christ then we will grieve over it when it is not living like
the Body of Christ.
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