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Idols – Day 14

1 Corinthians 5:11

But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

The Thought

Paul has much to say to the Corinthian church, and is genuinely concerned that they “stay on track”. His two letters to Corinth are the longest of all his epistles in our New Testament.

I often think of Paul as a father who, because of work commitments, has had to work a long way from home and is worried about his children’s behaviour while he is gone. He is concerned about the classmates his children are mixing with. He knows there are people in their groups who do not have the same standards of behaviour as he has for his own children.

We know that Paul never married, and was not a parent in the real sense of the word, but he considered those he taught as his children. To Timothy, my true son in the faith is the way he begins his first letter to this young apprentice (1 Timothy 1:2).

Paul was not saying that we must not associate with the people he describes (how else could we convert them?), but that we must not eat with them. Why do you suppose that was?

Ask yourself that question today. Maybe Paul was aware that eating and drinking together can mean that some will drink too much and the consequences of that can be disastrous.

Action

Think about the advice you would give (or have already given), to your offspring who are living away from home for the first time.

How can we convert those “offenders” if we don’t even associate with them?

Pray for wisdom and for revival among the youth of your country.

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We know that Paul never married, and was not a parent in the real sense of the word, but he considered those he taught as his children. To Timothy, my true son in the faith is the way he begins his first letter to this young apprentice (1 Timothy 1:2).