I know I wrote on judgment last week, but I couldn't help but be put on alert by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5. It's the chapter that focuses on sexual immorality within the church (A big favorite to preach, I know!). In it, Paul is encouraging the church to be extremely harsh with those guilty of sexual immorality. It's worth nothing, however, that the point of it is not in the hopes of condemnation--Paul encourages them to deliver the guilty to Satan, in hopes that their soul might be saved. I think Paul is hoping that kicking folks out of the church might encourage them to change their ways.
What caught my attention, however, was the final few verses. Here, Paul tells the Corinthians that they are to judge only the people in the church. Their job is not to judge the people outside the church--Paul says in verse 13 that God will take care of them. When they judge, they are to judge within, and those who are outside are to be entrusted to God's judgment (which, I might add, tends to be far more gracious and merciful than ours would be).
This chapter could easily be read in such a way that it could lead a church community out into the world to condemn them for their actions. A closer reading, in my opinion, ought to encourage the church not to do that. Rather, it should lead the church to examine closely its own sins, and to live rightly as the church is called to live. The judging of the greater community will come from God, and in the meantime, we ought to engage with the outside world (Paul says in verse 10 that we would have to leave the planet in order to engage with someone who is not sinful.) in a way that encourages them to come in to the church community and join with us. In this way, perhaps, we better live into the model of Romans 2:4 that tells us that God's kindness leads to repentance. Exposure to the love and grace of God should naturally cause us to turn from anything that is sinful.
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