As we approach the Lord’s Table this Sunday, we should soberly consider Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5 in preparation for the elements of grace in light of what is going on in the world around us and how we have been challenged in worship over the last few weeks. In this passage, Paul addresses a difficult set of circumstances in the Corinthian church that would not be ignored by the surrounding culture but escapes address among the saints. The presence of such blatant sin should produce mourning and decisive action to address the issue; however, the Corinthians act as if these issues don’t really matter. Their dismissal of the issues serves as a display of utter arrogance which is repugnant to both God and the world around them. It also serves to influence and corrupt them from within so that they fail to enjoy the application of the means of grace and have no witness to those outside the church. Instead of judging themselves and removing those who were unrepentant in their ongoing sin, they were judging the surrounding culture. Paul makes it clear that the Corinthian saints are NOT to disassociate with or cast judgment on those in the surrounding culture who are guilty of sexual immorality, faulty business and governance practices, and/or hate God choosing instead to worship something destructive. How could the Corinthians ever fulfill the Great Commission by pouring out their judgment on the world for the very things that had invaded and were eroding them from within? Paul makes it clear that judgment of the surrounding culture and world outside of the church is His alone to render at the appropriate time.

    This would all have been an unbearable indictment were it not for the hope that Paul declares in the middle of the chapter in verses 7-8: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Note that Paul describes the Corinthians who had been arrogantly tolerating all manner of evil to the detriment of their witness in the world as ALREADY unleavened because of the finished work of Christ in His sacrificial death and cleansing resurrection! This gives them (and us) the power to address the issues within their (and our) church that are crippling their (and our) witness to Christ’s redemption in the world. Christ’s eternal atoning work also grants them (and us) the ability to celebrate all of life with sincerity and truth. This means that guilt and shame from past and present failures cannot dictate or define God’s people. God’s people are defined by Christ’s work alone before God; however, the obedience of God’s people in how we live dictates and defines our witness in the world. Our obedience to God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit teaches the world what kind of God He is and what kind of Savior Jesus is and what the Christian life is about. You may say, “That is a lot of pressure!” Given that we are already unleavened in Christ and have been given the Holy Spirit, God’s word, the means of grace, and the community of the saints, the pressure pales in comparison to the cost of judgment for those around us.

    Take time this week to repent of the leaven in its various forms in your life knowing that in the finished work of Christ you are unleavened before the throne of God! Ask the Holy Spirit to challenge how you engage sinners in the surrounding culture repenting of judgment and disassociation seeking instead to make disciples. May the broken bread and offered cup of Christ, our Passover lamb, nourish us for the life and mission to which He has called us!

In Christ,

Cameron