Grace will lead us home
JOE MILLER JR.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

We have all been taught not to be judgmental. "Judge not, that ye be not judged," said Jesus, and he included a lecture on fixing yourself before you condemn others. (Matthew 7:1-5)

If we hear that a fellow church member has sinned, we would not dare to confront him with his sin. After all, his behavior is between God and him. We might gossip about it, but we would not do anything constructive. We have our own relationship with God to worry about.

This type of reaction is cultural and not scriptural. Our culture is one of individualism. We are taught from birth to be self-sufficient, successful, winning, rugged individualists. We tend to "worship" highly successful athletes, celebrities, and CEO's of major companies. Mothers love to brag on what their children have achieved on their own. Mothers do not brag because their children have lots of friends and good relationships with school mates.

However, the entire Bible presents a completely different picture. The Hebrew Scriptures recount the children of Israel as God's chosen people. The prophets all attempt to influence the entire society around them and try to bring the people back to God and their covenant with God.

Jesus picks 12 special people to be with him, not because he needed them, but because they would become the church after he returned to heaven. Christians are called to assemble in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and not to go it alone.

The church is founded as the body of Christ with the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are part of the body of Christ and our brothers and sisters in Christ are part of us and vice-versa. We are not individuals sitting in our own pew worshipping God unless we love and care for those around us.

Therefore, when this text tells us to hold each other accountable, Paul is telling us to live into what we were called to be. The church has the responsibility to care for each of our members, and we are to assume responsibility for the lives of each other.

Of course, any correction that we might consider must be done with great love and forgiveness. There is no room in the church for angry vengeance and exclusion. There is plenty of room for repentance and forgiveness. That is called Grace… amazing Grace.

Email me at newtonumc@valornet.com with your thoughts.

Joe Miller Jr. is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Newton.