Back to Corinth: 2 Cor. 7:1-16

Verse 11: “For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

“Don’t get in trouble!” “Don’t do that, it’ll hurt!” We’ve heard those phrases before; now how about these:

“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” That quote was from the late Rep. John Lewis from atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL on March 1, 2020. https://www.al.com/news/2020/07/get-in-good-trouble-famous-quotes-from-the-late-john-lewis.html . He was speaking of the type of trouble one would encounter confronting injustice, but not backing away from the confrontation. I thought about that phrase when I read the Holman New Testament Commentary on I & II Corinthians on 2 Cor. 7. It, too, made reference to a story about visiting people in the hospital and the term “good pain”…that when suffering “temporary agony that leads to the discovery and eradication of a disease is really a blessing.” (pg. 385 of the above book).

You wouldn’t normally associate “trouble” and “pain” with the adjective “good”. Likewise, you would think that someone who had been reprimanded wouldn’t feel better about the experience. But here, Paul is complimenting the Corinthian church for repenting and learning from their past sin and the sorrow that was caused. Paul even listed the benefits gained in verse 11 from the lesson they had learned. Therefore, the reprimand produced good fruit in the church.

When I used to officiate football, I learned some things correctly, but in my zeal to know more, I talked more that I listened. I had a veteran referee on a long “away game” have a talk with me about it. Yes, what he said stung my pride, but he was right. I learned from it, and became a better official because of it. I also came to value his wisdom very much in officiating matters, so that I would use him as a barometer to make sure I was learning correctly.

How about you, Christian? Do you learn from God’s correction? Remember, He does it because He loves us, and wants us to grow in Him.

Something to think about.

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Back to Corinth: 1 Cor. 5:1-13

Verse 6: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”

A male church leader and a female church pianist once confessed to the pastor of an affair with each other (both were married to other spouses). The church was shocked; the pastor, with the support of the deacons, took appropriate action. The church leader stepped down from his leadership role as did the pianist from hers. They were both genuinely repentant and sought help in mending their marriages. In this manner, the church had to defend against the corruption of sin into its membership, and two families were ultimately restored.

Paul had an opposite problem here; it was reported to him that a brother in the Corinthian church was guilty of active sexual immorality. The difference here is, not only had the brother not repented of it and was still sinning, and not only had the Corinthian church not acted to discipline him, they actually were proud to the point of acceptance of it! (The verse quoted above is NKJV; NIV translation uses the phrase above “Your boasting is not good”.

Paul couldn’t believe his ears! Corinth historically was a city that had an open acceptance of loose and open sexual lifestyles (page 80, Deeper Discoveries, A. Sexual Immorality (5:1), in Holman’s New Testament Commentary of I & II Corinthians). Paul reminded them that the church, although ministering to sinners and unbelievers, is supposed to be different from the world. When people see the church tolerating sin that they supposedly are against, they cry “hypocrite!” It hurts the ministry of the Gospel when the church tolerates sin, worse when it brags about it! When ministering to a member about their sin, if they are unrepentant, the church has to take action. Sometimes that action is to dismiss them from the fellowship (in verse 5 of this passage, Paul calls on the church to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”). Hopefully when the fallen member comes to repentance, then we should be faithful to welcome them back.

Reading that passage about historical Corinth calls forth comparisons to the modern world and some churches we have today. We don’t need to let Satan poison the whole church with one little piece of bad “leaven”. We should always confess our sins to God and seek our church family’s help in repenting of that sin.

Something to think about.

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