Yesterday, Pastor Byron continued our series on 1 Corinthians by preaching on chapters 5 and 6. You can hear the full message here. Today, I’d like to make three reflections on Sexual Ethics in 1 Corinthians. Before we get to the three reflections, I’d like to mention a very prominent and important event that happened that shows how relevant chapters like 5 and 6 are in our day and why we need to wrestle through the words in truth and in love.
Last Tuesday, February 26th, the United Methodist Church, the largest protestant denomination in the USA held Special Session for their General Conference. The biggest focus of the Special Session was a vote to determine whether LGBTQ marriages would be recognized and whether LGBTQ individuals could hold ministry vocations within the denomination. For years, there has been an uneasy split, where some churches and regions were open to LGBTQ leaders and marriages; while other churches and regions held to a more traditionally biblical view of marriage and the presence of LGBTQ allowances. Early on, the vote landed in favor of traditional views for marriage and vocational ministry. The implications likely mean that eventually, even the current LGBTQ pastors and bishops will have to step down from office in addition to a prohibition of churches ordaining new LGBTQ ministers and bishops as well as a prohibition of same-sex marriages.
Either way the vote could have went, people would be upset and grieved. It is a difficult time for all members of the UMC denomination. Now that it has been determined, there will be fallout. Those in favor of and part of the LGBTQ communities within the UMC are going to have a lot of questions to ask. So will the more traditional communities. Questions regarding legitimacy, sexuality as a human experience, God’s expectations, and more. How can both sides continue to love and respect one another as image bearers of God? How do they move forward? Will LGBTQ churches and regions stay within the UMC or split off to become their own thing? What does it mean for the future of the UMC as a denomination? Needless to say, there are very real and very powerful ramifications So the issue of sexual ethics and sexual identity are a very hot topic in the American church. I won’t speak to my thoughts on what the UMC should do, as I’m not part of the denomination. What I will do in today’s post is highlight some guiding principles from 1 Cor. 5-6 related to Christian sexual ethics.
Don’t Associate W/ Immoral Believers
Paul instructs the Corinthian church to disassociate with those who are sexually (and in other areas) immoral and consider themselves a part of the faith community. In the previous verses, Paul brought up the issue of a man being intimate with his father’s wife (presumably his step-mother). Paul overtly addresses the action as shameful and “unspeakable, even among the pagans.” So we see an instance in the Corinthian church, where the sexually moral practice was worse than the non-believers in Corinth. More than that, it seems the Corinthian church was openly OK with it. What really set Paul off was the church’s acceptance of it. He calls it shameful. The church is supposed to be a community of believers baptized in the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 6), and designed to be a holy community, set apart from the sins of the world. So, not only do we see church members acting in ways that are so unholy that unholy Pagan’s wouldn’t dare do it, but we also see the community itself accepting the behavior. The Corinthian church was essentially celebrating their “acceptance” of clearly unholy actions.
How does this speak to us today? The sexual ethics of the Bible are more than just a societal consensus of right and wrong. The ethic is there to protect a very strong part of humanity. The Community of Jesus is called to put Him at the top of everything in our lives. He designed the human body. He designed our sexuality. He designed the optimal expression of said sexuality. When we don’t act in line with how we are designed and instructed to express it, we do more than harm the machine (our bodies). We threaten to tear apart one of the core tenants of the greatest commandments–to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the human experience, our actions affect others. When we choose unwise actions, we hurt not only ourselves, but others. The emphasis Paul puts on sexual ethics in these two chapters tells us such actions can hurt others very extensively. When someone claims to be in the faith, but their actions are of an immoral nature–people in the community will be harmed without exception. Since it is God’s heart to protect the vulnerable population, we stray against God’s heart when we allow that population be be harmed through immoral actions–and most powerfully through sexual immorality. Thus the command to not even share a dinner with such a person is so plain. When we view sexual ethics in the context of relationship, we have the grounding to see how harmful it really is to a community. That is because sexual immorality destroys trust, safety, and goodwill.
Christian Sexual Ethics Is Very Conservative By Comparison
In America, we live in a very sexually free society. Advertisers go to great lengths to exploit the sensual visions of attractive people as a lure to consumers. People are constantly and unknowingly conditioned to respond to those lures. Sexual activity is so prevalent in our society that for many it is unthinkable for someone to remain a virgin until marriage, and many won’t. More than that, Christian Sexual Ethics hold in high esteem those who have only one partner and then only in a rightful marriage. When we look at our current society, with the TV shows, the commercials, and more, then repeat that the Christian sexual ethic is no sexual partners until marriage, at which point that will be your partner for life, And in addition, that partner has to be the opposite sex, many come away with the thought that it is a very archaic and “Puritan.” Many would think that these are impossible ideals, or even fanciful sentiments of bygone eras. Yet as a community of faith, we believe in many things the non-faith community simply cannot or will not. We believe that the sexual ethic of Christianity is there specifically because it is deeply related to how we are designed as humans. Because it is intrinsic to our design structure, when we engage in sexual activity contrary to the biblical stipulations, we begin to destroy the harmony of relationships.
First and foremost, when it is contrary to God’s instruction, we violate the “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength” command. By violating his instruction, we are not putting him at the forefront of our lives. We are placing either a person or our own sexual desires at the forefront.
Second, when we follow our own desires when the go against the Lord’s instruction, we will harm other people. Take the Father/son menage a trois at the beginning of Ch. 5 for example. The church was hailing it as an OK practice, but what does an action like that communicate to the woman in the mix? Does it tell her that she is loved unconditionally? Does it say she is worthy to be devoted to a man who will love and protect her from physical and emotional harm? Or does it communicate to her that she is only there to please the sexual appetites of the men in the home? Do the actions tell her that her value is in her ability to please sexually rather than as someone created in God’s image and worthy of dignity and respect?
Sure, the Christian sexual ethic may seem “Puritan” in our day. Yet in the end, it is a means of protecting healthy relationships both between us and God and with each other.
Violating Biblical Sexual Ethics Profanes the Temple of God
At the beginning of chapter 6, Paul veers into the issue of lawsuits, but returns the the sexual morality issue. He brings out a very important point about sexual activity in regards to being part of the faith community. As Christians, we belong to Christ. We were bought/redeemed by the blood He shed on the cross. That means if we wish to remain as God’s children, we are not free agents to act as we will. We can choose to obey God’s instructions or not. Retaining our redemption is wholly contingent upon living towards obeying His instructions. Having said that, from as far back as Genesis, a very grounded and serious theological point has been made: Humans were designed to Host the presence of God. Even in Paul’s day, the only place where a god could be hosted was a consecrated area. Either the sacred grove of Dodona where Zeus consecrated, or the temple to Diana in Ephesus, the area had to be consecrated (made holy). According to Genesis, God originally designed humanity to host his presence. We see that initially instituted with the establishment of Israel as God’s holy nation. It is further fulfilled in Christianity by the Holy Spirit indwelling the believers. As Paul makes clear in 6:18-19, our bodies are temples of God’s presence. We have a holy ordinance to fulfill in keeping our bodies pure so we can continually host his presence. Violating Biblical Sexual ethics does more than fracture relationship (though that is bad enough), it also profanes God’s temple. We make a wreck of his holy dwelling. Profaning something Holy unto the Lord is just about the worst thing someone can do. When we are sexually unethical, we defile our bodies. When we defile our bodies, we make it so that God cannot dwell there, thus isolating us from His presence.
As we conclude this week’s blog post, I’ll admit that there are some heavy words above. It could be enough to exacerbate anyone who’s tried to live a holy life and failed. Romans 6 tells us that no one can do it. That is why Christ is working in us. We don’t strive to earn our salvation. We strive to excel in our relationship with Him. We acknowledge the impossible standards of the Bible, and shoot for them with our best efforts. We celebrate our successes and repent of our failures. An Orthodox Priest friend of mine recently made a post that really struck home to me. My paraphrase is:
We as believers must be intolerant in our standards of behavior. But in doing so, we are to be extremely tolerant toward others with love. The world is the opposite. They are extremely tolerant in their standards of behavior. But in doing so they are extremely intolerant toward others and without love.
The Bible holds us to a standard of absolute holiness which is largely expressed in right relationship. It is a long slow cultivation that leads to a holy life. However, it is a cultivation that we are to put our hands to constantly, because it is a cultivation of right relationship and relationships take time.
Looking at the guiding principles above, I can only pray that the UMC will exhibit a wisdom that embodies our Lord’s love of the world and His call to obedient lifestyles.
I hope this week’s post helps you experience God’s