Get Back Here...

Hmmm... Michael, I think Paul was right to kick the guy out of the church at Corinth - but for probably radically different reasons than the kid you talked to. See, things were WAY different when Paul was writing. Becoming part of the Church meant possible persecution. There was a whole different level of commitment and a whole different level of community. To get kicked out of a church today simply means that I'll church shop for a couple of weeks till I find one that "feels good" and then I can settle in and if I have to leave there, well there's a hundred others within a twenty minute drive...

When Paul said that guy was out of the church at Corinth - well, there wasn't anywhere else to go. Yes, the believers probably met in houses, but that letter got around and everyone in Corinth knew that THIS GUY was out of the church. Have you ever been excluded from something that you know is life-giving, hope-sustaining and absolutely, undeniably the very truth of our existence?

Me either.

But I bet it really sucks. Might even make you stop and wonder if this sin thing is really worth it.

I have been a sinner from day one (there's a whole bunch of Bible and tradition to affirm that - but I've experienced, so trust me...it's true) but I haven't been an UNREPENTANT sinner the whole time. When I know I am sinning, I struggle with it, I pray and fail and cry and beat myself up and try harder and fail and pray and repent... But I repent. That's the difference. There is a difference between someone saying, "The Bible says this is wrong and the Church says this is wrong and I don't want it to be wrong but I'm trying to change because I believe the Bible and the Church" and someone saying "The Bible says this is wrong and the Church says this is wrong but I don't care. I'm going to do it anyway."

Nobody kicks anybody out of church today because, really, what would the point be? So we've needed to really change our tactics - to really try to teach and model the love of God AND a Godly lifestyle. We fail pretty consistently on both counts, I agree. And the change has prompted the whole Crazy Conservative movement that drives you nuts...but it's also prompted the liberal side of the fence you're trying to stand on...

So that's my opinion - and that and two bucks will buy you a cuppa coffee...