1 Corinthians 5: Tough Love

There is sin occurring within the church of Corinth and news of this sin had reached Paul. The sin is one that would even be considered wrong by the world’s standards. As a matter of fact there were Roman laws that prohibited such actions, and yet we find this immorality within the church; A man engaged in a sexual relationship with his Father’s wife.

Paul’s reaction is different than what we may suspect. While he is clear in his condemnation of this sin, he comes down even harder on the lack of action taken by the church. Is that true of us today? Why is it that we back away from the thought of discipline? I suspect there are many reasons we tolerate such sin. We love peace and harmony and confronting sinful behavior could jeopardize this harmony. We like the idea of freedom and who am I to challenge someone else’s choices? We back away from tough conversations for our own comfort, yet we all know the benefit of discipline. Any parent knows the effects of not disciplining a child. The destructive actions of a child not only continue, but they become worse. A parent disciplines a child because they love them and want what’s best for them.

In the same way we need to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ accountable. What do we love: harmony, friendship, and comfort, or do we love the person? If we truly love our brother or sister in Christ we will sacrifice our own comfort level to have a tough conversation. We may even lose a friend, but is that friend more important than the friendship? Tough love may even require severing a relationship in extreme situations, but only when it is merciful to do so.

Enter into a covenant relationship with a few trusted friends. Give a couple of Christian brothers in your life full access to all your decisions. Allow them to challenge you in all aspects of your life and commit to do the same for them. Commit to love them so much that you are willing to have the tough conversations.

Posted by Jim