You Are Not Your Own

Be forewarned, there is some harsh language in this. Sexual Immorality is a big deal. It's a sin that plagues both the world and the Church. As I've been reading through 1 Corinthians it was something that the church of Corinth really struggled with. Paul reminds them of exactly what they are doing. It's disgusting.

The following is paraphrasing and quotations from 1 Cor. 6:12-20; Matt 5; Jeremiah 2:13; James 1:13-15; Romans 12:1-2 as well as some of my own words.

When we put of faith in Christ and commit to following Him we become members of the Church, the body of Christ. We become part of something bigger than ourselves. Should we then take members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?! Don't you know that two become one flesh?! We are already one with the Lord in Spirit! Don't even think about sexual immorality! Run from it! God says, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. " He explains that His people left Him, this perfect bubbling spring of fresh water for a well that has only a bit of muddy water and will dry up because it isn't even able to hold water. They left the perfect for something that won't even satisfy! They are whores who leave the one that loves and cares for them and trade it in for something that is only temporary and won't satisfy. It's disgusting! They were drawn away be their own desires and then, as James explains, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. This adultery, this love affair with sin leads to conception and then leads to this stillborn baby. All the excitement of the pregnancy is gone when in your hands you hold a lifeless baby. As God's people, this is what sin looks like and does. It does not satisfy, its disgusting and disappointing. Jesus says that even in looking at a woman with lust we have commited adultery. We need to run from sexual sin! Therefore...present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind... Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Be Immitators

We often hear the passage where Paul tells the Corinthians to imitate him as he imitates Christ, but often we forget the context. In 1 Corinthians 4 Paul gives this list of the way he responds to things:

To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, ¹²and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; ¹³when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

While reading this I felt bad about some of these that I struggle with, but he then goes on to say:

¹⁴I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

He doesn't write it to condemn the Corinthians, but rather to exemplify Christ-like living.

Who do you know living like this that you could learn to imitate?

Are you living in a way that those who would imitate you would be imitating Christ?

The -ism's That Plague the American Church

Each of these has significant impact on the way church is done in America.

narcissism
nihilism
materialism
capitalism?
consumerism
hedonism
activism

Think about how these affect your view of church and the way in which you approach church ministry. How should the church respond to these views that are ingrained within our society?

Can you think of any others?