“For every sermon that you preach, there are three or four you have to choose not to preach.” So goes an old preaching adage. The point being that many scripture passages lend themselves to all sorts of teaching we could do, but you should focus on one topic with a laser beam focus and save the rest for another day.
It is an adage too many of those of us in the trade ignore. We feel it is our responsibility to give everyone a drink from a fire hose every Sunday. However, if you know you are ADD, like me, it is better to focus on one topic because you will create enough of your own rabbit trails as it is!
So it was last Sunday when I was teaching from I Corinthians 11:17-34 where Paul critiques the church in Corinth about their worship services and in particular their celebration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s major concern is that a dichotomy in the church has been developed between rich and poor. The rich were getting to house church early and eating all the food and over serving themselves on the wine, and when the poor showed up there was nothing left. Boorish behavior by any social standards; but in the church, it served to create second class citizens and divisions, an “us against them” mentality, which Paul found completely unacceptable.
There is a verse in this teaching which is usually ignored. “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (I Cor. 11:29-30)
An unintended consequence of the poor worship habits of the church in Corinth was physical illness and death. Huh?
My guess is the Corinthians hadn’t given the consequences of their behavior any thought whatsoever. In fact, apparently, until Paul pointed it out, they didn’t think their divisive attitudes in worship were anything to be concerned about at all.
We have a hard time with these consequences. Really, God would allow some people to be ill and others die because of disobedience in the church? Apparently, yes!
All parents teach their kids about consequences out of love. “Don’t play in the street, the consequence might be horrible injury.” “Don’t touch the stove, you’ll burn yourself.” “Be careful what you post on Facebook, it could really hurt your reputation or relationships.”
The Bible is clear about disobedience having consequences. Wandering in the wilderness for 40 years was a consequence of Israel’s lack of faith. Being held captive by foreign nations as slaves was a consequence of their turning their back on God.
In Corinth, people were ill and some died because of their lack of unity. It makes you wonder how individual disobedience is negatively impacting church life in our congregations. Is my failure to tithe the reason we are not successful at evangelism? Is my hostility to others in our congregation the cause of our church financial plight? Is my grumbling and complaining the reason our spiritual vitality is lacking?
We live in such an individualized culture that we rarely think about how our disobedience may impact the lives of an entire congregation. But, it is clear that disobedience has consequences, individually and corporately.
I better spend some time doing some soul searching not just for my sake, but for the sake of the body of Christ.
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