Discipline

The message today was out of 1 Corinthians 5. In this passage, Paul rebukes the church of Corinth for not dealing with sin in the proper way. The church of Corinth was proud of their lack of action, probably because they thought they were being loving.

Sin needs to be dealt with in the churh to cleanse the church:

1 Cor 5:6-7
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump {of dough} 7 Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are {in fact} unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.(NAS)

Sin also needs to be dealt with so that the sinner might repent and change their ways:

1 Cor 5:5 {I have decided} to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.(NAS)

It seems that one of the biggest problems in the church of America today is "being loving." Accepting someone as a person and accepting their sin are not the same thing. In fact, if we really want to be loving, we should bring discipline on a brother in sin in the hope that he will be restored. We are not to judge those outside of the church, but major sin does not belong in the church.