August 18th | 1 Corinthians 6

A transformed life can transform lives. A transformed community can transform a community. 

Paul is writing to a group of Christians, but they aren’t acting very Christian. They are bickering, hateful, and even taking each other to small claims court to sue one another. Paul tells them this is shameful! If they are a Christian community, there should be enough wisdom in that community to handle those disputes without dragging them into the public eye. 

Paul is trying to help them see that their actions affect others in the world. To bear the name of Christ is no trivial thing. Many people, especially in the Bible belt, will gladly tell you they are Christian. But they have no outward fruits or marks of a follower of Christ. Paul has some difficult words to say to these people. 

1 Corinthians 5:11, “11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”

Wow. Imagine if our churches held that standard for members today? Perhaps our faith is weak and our churches are declining because we don't hold believers in the church to the standards of Christ. 

This is not a call for legalism but rather a plea for missions. Your life and how you treat people in the church affect how those outside the church think about Jesus. “Why would I want to be a Christian if they are rude, bickering, and suing one another?” Rather, Paul calls us to live a transformed life. To radically love, forgive, and offer grace.

1 Corinthians 6:7, “7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”

Why not suffer wrong? We don’t like this because we claim we love justice. We teach our kids, “You don’t start fights, but you finish them.” “If that kid says something mean to you, then you can say something mean back and see how they like it!” There is a sense of justice here. Righting a perceived wrong. But Paul tells us, don’t act like that. Rather, suffer wrong. Why? So they can see that Christians are different than the sin sick, hateful, desperate world we live in. 

This is not a revolutionary thought for Paul. Actually, he is just pulling this teaching directly from Jesus. 

Matthew 5:38-42 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Jesus not only taught this, but he modeled it. As he stood before Pilate as an innocent man, he did not defend himself. As soldiers mocked and beat him, he endured it. As His hands and feet were nailed to the wood and he was raised, beaten, bloodied, and bruised, He didn’t call down angels to get Him off the cross. No, he suffered wrong so that we might be made right. 

Now, if you have been transformed by this message, you can transform others with it. If you were to act differently from the world and follow Christ, people would be drawn to this beautiful message of grace and mercy, and they too might be changed. 

A transformed life transforms lives. A transformed community can transform a community. Seek to live out that transformed life with others in the church to see more come to know the love and mercy of Christ.