I Corinthians 7:29-40, Avoid complications

I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God. I’m trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.

If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to marry, having decided to serve God as a “single,” and then changes his mind, deciding he should marry her, he should go ahead and marry. It’s no sin; it’s not even a “step down” from celibacy, as some say. On the other hand, if a man is comfortable in his decision for a single life in service to God and it’s entirely his own conviction and not imposed on him by others, he ought to stick with it. Marriage is spiritually and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I indicated earlier, because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for encouraging singleness.

A wife must stay with her husband as long as he lives. If he dies, she is free to marry anyone she chooses. She will, of course, want to marry a believer and have the blessing of the Master. By now you know that I think she’ll be better off staying single. The Master, in my opinion, thinks so, too. – The Message-

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“This world as we see it is on its way out”. Well, that’s encouraging! My nice house, my new car, my giant flat-screen TV…I wish somebody had told me. Of course, Paul did…nearly 2,000 years ago.

Which, of course, is why few people take this seriously: 2,000 years later this world is still kicking along. So, we don’t worry about being encumbered…because we miss the point.

1.      First, I suggest, Paul’s warning isn’t a Pompeii type warning that soon our world will erupt into oblivion (of course, it may).

2.      Also, we can’t look at this as 2,000 years to adapt to the warning. We need to look at it in the frame of our own brief lifetimes. We have one life…one opportunity…to get it right.

The interests and commitments in the world are like last year’s fashion. They are “so yesterday!” By the time we get to Glory we wouldn’t be caught dead in them. So…what’s “right”? Paul says our lives are to become whole and holy instruments of God. It’s an arduous task that takes a lifetime of energy and focus. It’s possible to do it while dealing with other distractions but it’s easier to do if we live as free of complications as possible.

We think we have decades remaining to put this together. What if we have months…or weeks…or days? When Paul says the world is on its way out I assure you it will be gone before we know it. When that happens, what do we have to show God? Our marriages will be gone…along with everything else. That will be the unexpected moment when we find ourselves saying “I wish I would have paid more attention to God than I did to my life”.  

It occurs to me that spouses are not neutral factors in this. They will either help us in our quest to be holy instruments of God or they will hinder. So, what do we want most…a great looking spouse who enhances our own status? Or, a spouse who’s greatest ambition is to help me become a whole and holy instrument of God?

Hmmm…what sort of spouse am I?

Live boldly out there today…

 

1 Corinthians 7:17-28, Be Careful what you wish for…

And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches. Were you Jewish at the time God called you? Don’t try to remove the evidence. Were you non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don’t become a Jew. Being Jewish isn’t the point. The really important thing is obeying God’s call, following his commands.

Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? Slavery is no roadblock to obeying and believing. I don’t mean you’re stuck and can’t leave. If you have a chance at freedom, go ahead and take it. I’m simply trying to point out that under your new Master you’re going to experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of. On the other hand, if you were free when Christ called you, you’ll experience a delightful “enslavement to God” you would never have dreamed of.

All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.

The Master did not give explicit direction regarding virgins, but as one much experienced in the mercy of the Master and loyal to him all the way, you can trust my counsel. Because of the current pressures on us from all sides, I think it would probably be best to stay just as you are. Are you married? Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don’t get married. But there’s certainly no sin in getting married, whether you’re a virgin or not. All I am saying is that when you marry, you take on additional stress in an already stressful time, and I want to spare you if possible. - The Message -

My experience tells me many believing spouses say “I want them gone…I don’t want them back”.  Paul says “And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else”.

Oops…

As Bob Dylan says..."You've got to serve somebody".

But, it’s not just marriage. Paul’s admonition applies to every situation in life. Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? Slavery is no roadblock to obeying and believing. I don’t mean you’re stuck and can’t leave. If you have a chance at freedom, go ahead and take it. I’m simply trying to point out that under your new Master you’re going to experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of.

On the other hand, if you were free when Christ called you, you’ll experience a delightful “enslavement to God” you would never have dreamed of.

Of course, the “Barbarians at the gate” use (and have used) this text to proclaim Christianity condones things as ugly as slavery. Some of these barbarians even dwell (and have dwelt) within our own congregations. Shame on us! We should recognize poor exegesis when we see it. This text is no more about slavery than it is about the Super Bowl. The call of Christ calls us to freedom from sin and its consequences, not freedom from our lot in life. Freedom in Christ has nothing to do with financial, social, cultural or relational freedom…or Bronco victories.

Except that all other freedoms pale in comparison to freedom in Christ…

If we truly understand this we will spend a great deal more time being thankful for our future than we spend complaining about our present. A modification of the old saying holds true: “Rearranging our circumstances in life is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”.  It will do nothing to alter the final outcome.

The sooner we understand this, the sooner we will find contentment. But, it doesn’t mean we should settle.  Paul says “when we have the opportunity to improve our lot in life we should take it”.  I suggest this is also true for our opportunity to improve the lot of others. We must, however, be careful that we don’t lose sight of what’s truly important to God.

So here’s the question.  What motivates our daily lives…gratitude toward God or bitterness toward our circumstances?

Live boldly out there today…

1 Corinthians 7:12-16, Unequally Yoked

For the rest of you who are in mixed marriages—Christian married to non-Christian—we have no explicit command from the Master. So this is what you must do. If you are a man with a wife who is not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her. If you are a woman with a husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to him. The unbelieving husband shares to an extent in the holiness of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is likewise touched by the holiness of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be left out; as it is, they also are included in the spiritual purposes of God.

On the other hand, if the unbelieving spouse walks out, you’ve got to let him or her go. You don’t have to hold on desperately. God has called us to make the best of it, as peacefully as we can. You never know, wife: The way you handle this might bring your husband not only back to you but to God. You never know, husband: The way you handle this might bring your wife not only back to you but to God. (The Message)

It’s not uncommon for believers to find themselves married to unbelievers. The cause doesn’t interest Paul. The resolution interests him a great deal.

First, “if you are a man (or, a woman) with a wife (or, husband) who is not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her (or, him).

This isn’t complicated… 

The idea advanced, by Paul, is ”the unbelieving husband (wife) shares to an extent in the holiness of his (her) wife (husband). The original language, hä-gē-ä'-zō, means “to declare sacred, or consecrate”. A lot of ink has been spilled asking whether, or not, Paul is suggesting a spouse can become “born again” simply by being married to a believer. The answer, of course, is a resounding “YES!” An unbelieving spouse “CAN” become born again through marriage to a believer. In fact, I’d suggest, that spouse appreciates a far greater likelihood of redemption as a result of the marriage. But, not a guarantee…

The same concept of hä-gē-ä'-zō is our reason for dedicating our children before the Lord and the congregation. We declare them “set apart” for God and trust this ritual will be honored by God and increase the likelihood our children will become believers when they grow older.

Or…why would we do it at all?

The Epistles of James (5:16) says “the effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much”. So, implicit in Paul’s command is the idea that a believing spouse would pray fervently for the salvation of their unbelieving spouse.  Just as we do for our unbelieving children.

And, God does answer prayer…

On the other hand, Paul says, the way we handle these things is critical. If the unbelieving spouse walks out, you’ve got to let him or her go. This concession isn’t simply to make our lives easier as believers. It’s intended to help us understand the way [we] handle this might bring [our spouse] not only back to [us] but to God.

Live boldly out there today…

1 Corinthians 7:7-11, Managing our pain

Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can’t manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single.

And if you are married, stay married. This is the Master’s command, not mine. If a wife should leave her husband, she must either remain single or else come back and make things right with him. And a husband has no right to get rid of his wife.

Instead of behaving we look for change…as though that’s the answer. We get rid of our spouses and find another. We walk away from our churches in search of one more to our liking. We switch jobs. Not only is it silly…it’s pointless. Changing our situation will not make our lives more manageable. Only changing our hearts and minds can do that.

While Paul says he wishes we all could live a simpler life he recognizes even a simple life has its demands…that all of us are not prepared to meet. Like celibacy vs. Marriage. Again, this isn’t only about sex. Sex is a metaphor for the powerful temptation to disobey God..

But, of course, it “is” about sex…because that’s the context in the Corinthian church. My point is, if we recognize the specific teaching here but fail to see its application in other areas of our lives we merely become celibate sinners. On the other hand, if we only focus on the general teaching we never actually apply it to our lives and we become Pharisees.

Paul doesn’t prohibit change. He only reminds us change should not be our default response when we face turmoil or trouble. Our circumstances, specifically our marriages, are not the problem God created them adequate for our need. Unfortunately, few of us are willing to stand up and admit we’re the problem.

Remember Adam? “But Lord, the woman you gave me…”

Which is why Paul says, about marriage, this isn’t his idea…this is God’s idea. So, the reservoir of our marriage is bouncing around wildly and lots of things are spilling over. It’s messy and embarrassing. We’d like to move on. Well, don’t. God says we have no right to.

Live boldly out there today…

1 Corinthians 7:1-6, Watch out for spills

Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, is it a good thing to have sexual relations?

 Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I’m not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them.

Isn’t this curious: “Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them”

Sexual passion may be the strongest impulse we face. In documented cases it is even stronger than the desire to breathe…and live. It’s part of the reason we find every conceivable reason to excuse bad behavior. Except, Paul says marriage is strong enough to tame this passion…

I know what you want to say: “but, Paul wasn’t married to my spouse!” Let’s just be honest.

Imagine our marriages are vast reservoirs (containers) for life events…one category being sex. Paul says God has created our marriage reservoirs big enough to contain every event without any spilling over. When our sexual desires are in danger of spilling over, or actually spill over, it’s not because the reservoir was too small. It’s because we are no longer “eating to live”, but we are “living to eat”. My brother in law once opined, “I wish I could get that monkey off my back”.

I understand…

This is why marriage partners need to be thoughtful and generous with each other (and, not only with sex). The reservoir may be big enough but it’s not always stable enough. If our marriage doesn’t have some equilibrium about it the bumping and bouncing will surely result in spills. None of us…as Christians…want this to happen. So, I need to be more careful and listen carefully to my partner’s needs, whatever they are. If I don’t, she might satisfy them elsewhere.

It makes me an “accessory”…a person who assists in the commission of a sin, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the sin. An accessory is directly responsible for the sin, and can be charged as a joint principal. I’ll bet this is one place where God might agree with our temporal court.

I don’t want that…and neither does she.

Live boldly out there today…

1 Corinthians 6:12-20, “Eat to live, don't live to eat"

Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.
You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!

God honored the Master’s body by raising it from the grave. He’ll treat yours with the same resurrection power. Until that time, remember that your bodies are created with the same dignity as the Master’s body. You wouldn’t take the Master’s body off to a whorehouse, would you? I should hope not.

There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others.

In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

Sexual sin has been around since...forever. I don't really believe that's the central point of this passage. I believe this is a continuation of Paul's injucntion against taking other christians to court.

And, of course, here’s the point against Christians going to court against one another: Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. So…I can take my brother/sister to court and the court will bless me with a ruling in my favor while ruling against God. Do I really want to put myself in that briar patch?

So, an earthly court will gladly affirm our right to homosexual conduct or abortion or extramarital sex with great zeal and passion because it is an individual right. It’s no coincidence that Paul speaks about the power (and danger) of sex while sex seems to be the court’s favorite subject. It’s also no coincidence that our Christian community’s struggle with sexual sin seems directly related to the court-ordained sexual freedom existing all around us. It’s addictive.

But, it's all legal...

Courts have no ability to discern the nuances of living an obedient spiritual life. The courts focus on flesh and bone. What do they care whether God approves? Paul offers an interesting point that would have knocked Dred Scott right out of Court. He says the physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you.

We can "eat to live", or we can "live to eat".  The former describes God's design for nourishment. The latter describes human design. I doubt God's design is responsible for one third of Americans being obese. Sex is no different. I'm confident we can't lay the epidemic of STD's (50% of Americans) on God's design.   

So, we can can rest on the authority of the court but…does God?

Live boldly out there today…

1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Who's to judge?

And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we’re even going to judge angels! So why not these everyday affairs? As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgment of people you don’t trust in any other way?

 I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice?

The Supreme Court is our highest court…supposedly the wisest. Allow me to educate you.

Dred Scott (1857): Scott, an African American born in the United States, had lived as a slave in both free and slave states. When he tried to sue for his family’s freedom, and was turned down, he took his case to federal court. In one of the most infamous cases in history, the Court ruled Scott could not sue because people of African descent were not protected by the Constitution and not U.S. citizens.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965): In rejecting a Connecticut law prohibiting the use of contraceptives, the Court created a Right to Privacy previously unnoticed in the Bill of Rights. The main fault in Griswold is not that it struck down a rather onerous and unenforceable law, but that it did so by inventing a new right out of whole cloth, Instead of basing its decision on principles limiting government power, it instead created a vague new right that would supersede state authority. The privacy right led directly to the far more controversial Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

Citizens United (2010): The court reaffirmed earlier declarations that money is speech. Disingenuously waving the flag of the First Amendment, the court’s majority has paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to win elections.”

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I’m not a legal scholar but…do we Christians really want these folks getting in the middle of our disputes? Paul says  These court cases(Christian vs. Christian) are an ugly blot on your community. Wouldn’t it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it?

These courts (in general) are not even a part of God’s Kingdom. How can we…as citizens of God’s Kingdom…ask them to arbitrate our disputes? When we do, the results are predictable.

But then…that’s just Paul speaking.
Live boldly out there today…