NT Sermons

What do you aim at in life? What do you want to achieve? What are the things that you’d make big sacrifices for?

The Christians in ancient Corinth were aiming at the wrong things. Or, rather, they were missing some very important ambitious.

And as a result, they were growing less keen on the apostle Paul, their founder.

We’re in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. If you were here when we looked at chapter 8, you’ll know that Paul was answering a question they’d asked him: “Can we eat meat that has first been offered as a sacrifice to one of the Greek gods?”

The apostle Paul gets plenty of bad press. We’ve been working our way through 1 Corinthians, a letter Paul wrote. It’s in the Bible, So it’s the word of God for us today.

It should be that simple, but there are plenty of people in the wider church who have lots of time for Jesus but not a lot of time for Paul.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little weary of living in a world where it’s a scramble to the top. Where everyone stands on their rights, claiming everything they think they’re entitled to. Where other people are frequently nothing more than an inconvenience for everyone’s personal ambition.

God intends the Christian church to be radically different from that. To be a refreshing picture of how humanity is meant to function. To be a foretaste of how things will be when Jesus returns.

We live in a restless age. Whether it’s houses, jobs or relationships, people are always trying to move onwards and upwards.

Houses: It’s called a housing ladder. It’s increasingly hard to get on that first rung, but once there some people change their home every few years, climbing that ladder.

Jobs: I have several friends who change their employer every few years, either because they’re dissatisfied with their current job, or because moving sideways is the way to move upwards.

The Christian church is often heard, by those on the outside, as having a purely negative message about sex and relationships. It seems there are an awful lot of things the people shouldn’t do. It’s all about “thou shalt not”.

Indeed, we’ve had a bit of that in recent chapters in 1 Corinthians. In chapter 5, a man was sleeping with his stepmother, and Paul rebukes the church for failing to discipline the man.

Today, our Bible reading addresses the subject of sexual sin. And I’m very aware of the need to tread carefully. This is a sensitive subject. For a number of reasons.

It’s sensitive culturally. Increasingly, Western culture says there’s no such thing as sexual sin. That’s not actually true. There are taboos. The big ones are unfaithfulness and underage. But apart from that, as long as there is clear consent, just about anything goes.

Have a think for a moment: What’s the most precious thing you own?

If there was a danger you might lose that thing, what would you do to protect it? How far would you go to ensure you don’t lose your most prized possession?

Today, we continue our journey through Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. He’s had a number of reports that concern him. Divisions around loyalty to different preachers. A church that’s proud that a man is sleeping with his stepmother. And now today: Christians taking each other to court.

Introduction: A Startling Issue

Well, I wonder what you made of that reading. Paul describes something that would need a movie to be a 15 or 18 certificate. The editors have added a shocking heading to our English Bibles: “Dealing with a case of incest”.

The really shocking thing is that this was happening in a Christian church. Paul makes no effort to hide his disbelief at what has been reported to him.

The challenge for us is that it’s so unexpected, it’s hard to see the relevance of a chapter like this. It may fascinate us, but does it connect with us?

Arrogance is ugly. We don’t like it when people get above their station.

We hate it in our political leaders. We hate it the world of work. One office I worked in, middle managers were the most annoying people to work there. Promoted one step above the rest of us, they then thought they owned the place. And we should hate it in the church, hate it in ourselves.

Because, yes, arrogance exists among Christians, in churches, too.

It is extremely awkward when adults behave in a childish way.

I’m sure you’ve all looked at someone being thoroughly selfish, unable to cope with getting their own way, and thought to yourself: “How childish!”

I’m sure you’ve all also got drawn into some petty squabble or other. Something on the same level as who’s got more than their fair share of the back seat of the car. I know I have.

From time to time, we all behave like children.