When the Church Gets Messy: Paul’s Hard Conversation About Church Scandal
What’s 1 Corinthians 5 about?
Paul addresses a shocking case of sexual immorality in the Corinthian church – a man sleeping with his stepmother – and the community’s troubling response of doing absolutely nothing about it. This isn’t just about one person’s sin; it’s about how a community handles brokenness when it threatens to destroy everyone.
The Full Context
Picture this: You’re part of a brand-new religious movement in one of the Roman Empire’s most sexually permissive cities. Corinth was Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and Bangkok rolled into one – a port city where anything goes and everything’s for sale. Into this environment, Paul planted a church filled with former pagans, ex-prostitutes, recovered addicts, and people from every walk of life imaginable. Then he left them to figure out how to live as followers of Jesus in a culture that celebrated exactly what they were supposed to leave behind.
The specific crisis in 1 Corinthians 5 reveals just how challenging this transition was. A member of the church was having an ongoing sexual relationship with his stepmother – something so scandalous that even pagans found it disgusting. But instead of addressing it, the Corinthian church was actually proud of their “tolerance.” They saw their acceptance of this behavior as evidence of their spiritual maturity and freedom in Christ. Paul’s response cuts straight to the heart of what it means to be a holy community in an unholy world.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
When Paul opens with porneia in verse 1, he’s not being delicate. This Greek word covers the whole spectrum of sexual immorality, but the specific situation he describes – a man “having” (echein) his father’s wife – uses language that implies an ongoing relationship, not a one-time mistake. The verb tense suggests this isn’t something that happened; it’s something that is happening.
But here’s what makes this even more shocking: Paul says this behavior is “not even named among the Gentiles.” The word onomazetai means it’s not even talked about – it’s so taboo that pagans won’t mention it in polite company. We’re talking about a culture where temple prostitution was normal, where sexual freedom was celebrated, where almost anything went. And yet this situation crossed even their lines.
Grammar Geeks
The phrase “such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles” uses a present passive construction that emphasizes ongoing social disgust. Paul isn’t just saying pagans don’t do this – he’s saying they won’t even discuss it because it violates fundamental social boundaries.
The most devastating word comes in verse 2: pephysiōmenoi – “puffed up” or “inflated.” This isn’t righteous anger or holy grief. The Corinthians are proud of their tolerance. They’ve convinced themselves that accepting this behavior proves their spiritual sophistication, their freedom from legalistic judgment.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
To understand the full impact of Paul’s words, we need to grasp just how radical the concept of church discipline was in the ancient world. Religious communities didn’t typically police their members’ private behavior – that was between individuals and their gods. Roman religion was transactional: perform the right rituals, and you’re in good standing. Personal morality was largely a matter of social status and family honor, not religious obligation.
But Paul is describing something entirely different – a community where everyone’s behavior affects everyone else. When he talks about “handing over to Satan” in verse 5, he’s using language his audience would recognize from the magical papyri and curse tablets of their culture. This isn’t some abstract theological concept – it’s the terrifying reality of being cut off from the protective community of God’s people and exposed to the spiritual dangers of the pagan world.
Did You Know?
Corinth was famous for its temple of Aphrodite, which allegedly employed over 1,000 sacred prostitutes. Archaeological evidence suggests the city’s economy was built around sexual commerce, making Paul’s call for sexual purity incredibly countercultural and economically disruptive.
The imagery of “leaven” in verses 6-8 would have been especially powerful during Passover season, when every Jewish household meticulously removed every trace of yeast from their homes. Paul is saying that tolerating this sin is like finding a moldy piece of bread during Passover and deciding to keep it because throwing it out seems “unloving.”
Wrestling with the Text
Here’s where this passage gets genuinely difficult for modern readers: Paul seems to be advocating for what we might call “cancel culture” – cutting someone off from the community because of their behavior. How do we reconcile this with Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness and acceptance?
The key lies in understanding the purpose behind Paul’s harsh directive. This isn’t punishment for punishment’s sake – it’s a desperate surgical procedure to save both the individual and the community. The phrase “so that his spirit may be saved” in verse 5 reveals the ultimate goal: restoration, not destruction.
But why such extreme measures? Paul’s concern isn’t just moral – it’s practical. In verses 6-7, he uses the image of leaven spreading through dough. Sin, especially sexual sin, doesn’t stay contained. It affects relationships, breaks trust, creates factions, and ultimately destroys the community’s ability to function as a witness to God’s holiness.
Wait, That’s Strange…
Paul makes a sharp distinction between judging those “inside” the church versus those “outside” in verses 12-13. Why is the church supposed to hold believers to a higher standard than unbelievers? Isn’t that backwards from how we usually think about grace and judgment?
The answer reveals something profound about Paul’s understanding of the gospel. Those “outside” the church are already under God’s judgment – they don’t need the church to condemn them. But those “inside” have been called to a new way of life, and the community has both the right and responsibility to help each other live up to that calling.
How This Changes Everything
This passage fundamentally challenges our modern assumptions about tolerance, love, and community. We’ve been taught that the most loving thing we can do is accept people exactly as they are, never challenging their choices or suggesting they need to change. Paul presents a radically different vision: sometimes the most loving thing we can do is refuse to enable destructive behavior.
The Corinthians thought they were being loving by overlooking this man’s sin. But Paul shows them they were actually being selfish – protecting their own comfort while allowing someone they claimed to love to destroy himself and damage others. Real love sometimes requires difficult conversations, clear boundaries, and yes, even separation when restoration becomes impossible.
This doesn’t mean we become harsh or judgmental. Notice that Paul’s instructions are wrapped in grief (verse 2) and motivated by hope for restoration (verse 5). The goal is never to destroy someone but to shock them back to their senses and ultimately welcome them home.
“Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is refuse to enable destructive behavior – not because we don’t care, but because we care too much to watch someone we love destroy themselves.”
For modern churches struggling with how to address sin while maintaining grace, Paul offers a third way between harsh legalism and permissive tolerance. We can hold high standards while extending deep compassion. We can refuse to compromise on truth while never giving up on people. We can create communities that are both holy and welcoming – not by lowering our expectations, but by raising our commitment to walk alongside each other in the messy process of transformation.
Key Takeaway
True love sometimes requires us to risk relationship for the sake of restoration. The church that refuses to address destructive behavior isn’t being loving – it’s being cowardly.
Further Reading
Internal Links:
External Scholarly Resources:
- The Letters to the Corinthians by Gordon Fee
- 1 Corinthians by Anthony Thiselton
- Paul and the Corinthians by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor
- Corinth in the First Century by James Wiseman
Tags
1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:12, church discipline, sexual immorality, community accountability, restoration, holiness, grace, judgment, Corinth, Paul
