Blind - 1 Cor. 5 & 6 Part 1.

Having a child changes things--said every parent ever. One of the things it has changed in my life is the ability to walk through my house at night without the lights on. Suddenly there are numerous objects scattered about, that, when stepped on, bring unexpected and excruciating pain. In the day, my daughter delights in these, her toys, and they are so harmless that a little baby like her can play with them without fear. At night, they turn my home into a minefield. Why? Because things that are obviously harmful become dangerous when you can't see.

Pride is blinding. Some people are unable to receive any form of constructive criticism simply because pride has such a hold on their heart that they are completely unable and unwilling to recognize an area of weakness or sin in their life. And things that are obviously harmful become truly dangerous when you can't, or won't, see. In 1 Corinthians 5 & 6 we find 5 marks of a dysfunctional church fellowship. Here are two to consider:

1) Pride causes an unjustified confidence in your spiritual standing (1 Cor. 5:1-6). Paul opens the chapter by addressing a claim against the Corinthian church-- that within their fellowship they have tolerated immorality of an unbelievably gross nature: that a man has married his father's wife! This sin is so perverse that it would be considered shameful even in a secular Corinthian culture noted for debauchery. Paul then unleashes this stinging statement: "And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you (1 Cor. 5:2)." Down a few verses Paul will again say: "Your glorifying is not good (1 Cor. 5:6a)." The reality is that this church is steeped in sin...division, sexual impurity, factionalism,and general love-less behavior toward one another, and yet they are proud of themselves. They think they are spiritually full, they believe they spiritually reign! Their pride has blinded them to their folly and sin.

2) Pride causes a lack of zeal for purity (1 Cor. 5:2-8). Because they are proud, because they don't think anything is wrong, the Corinthian believers are not worried about the danger to their purity that tolerating such sin represents. Paul uses an interesting analogy: "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Cor. 6:6b)?" Leaven is often used in Scripture as a metaphor for sin, so Paul here is using the analogy to demonstrate the truth that any tolerated sin threatens to make their whole church impure. The Corinthians are so proud they fail to see a problem, and therefore they aren't zealous to protect their purity.

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Application: How do we avoid these two mistakes? Examine ourselves. People die all the time of curable diseases that progressed too far out of hand, because they waited too long to be examined by a doctor and have the disease detected. Christians see their spiritual vitality seep away when they allow pride to blind them to dominating sin. We must regularly examine our hearts to ensure we are not allowing pride to blind us to sins that have taken root in our hearts. Here are two questions to think hard on: In what ways does sin blind you, and what sins have you become blind to?

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Read 1 Corinthians 5 & 6