FOLLOW THE LEADERignore them, deny them, or run away from them – he dealt with them
swiftly and decisively. Whenever possible, Paul took the personal approach
to problem-solving. He would always try go and deal with the issue
personally. When he could not trouble-shoot personally by going and being
there, he would send in one of his young associates, or ministry partners
to deal with the issue. As we saw above, this method of trouble-shooting
through the mediation of a trusted emissary also taught them the art of
problem-solving. When it was not possible for either him or them to go,
Paul wrote personal letters to address the problem. He knew that to ignore
a problem would only make it worse. The longer it was ignored, the more
it would grow – and the more people would become ensnared by it. Like
the powerful “black holes” in the galaxies, unsolved problems continue to
suck people deeper and deeper into their darkness!
Whatever its nature, Paul clearly understood that a problem not faced
would only fester. He wrote to aggressively and decisively deal with the
problem of immorality in the Corinthian Church: “Don’t you know,”
Paul questioned, “that a little yeast works through the whole batch
of dough?” (I Cor. 5:6). The immature Corinthian Christians wanted
to be tolerant of a disobedient sinful brother who was a part of their
fellowship – even though he was living in blatant sexual immorality.
Like so many churches today, they wanted to “turn a blind eye” to his
sin. Because there were so many “alternative lifestyles” in Corinth, they
operated by the social policy of “live and let live.” The Corinthians boasted
about their plurality – and worshipped at the “altar of toleration.” Any
lifestyle was “socially acceptable” and “politically correct.” To be called a
“Corinthian” was the same thing as saying that one was a “worldly wise
person.” Unfortunately, that tolerant attitude had crept into the young
church at Corinth. They had already begun to be leavened by the highly
pluralistic Corinthian society around them. As a result, it was Paul’s most
immature and carnal church (I Cor. 3:1)!
The Apostle Paul had to force the Corinthian church to face a problem
that they wanted to ignore. He wrote to remind them that the sin that
is tolerated in the world around them must never be tolerated in the
church! Paul would not let them ignore the leaven of immorality working
in and through the life of this disobedient brother – who was living in
sexual immorality with his father’s wife! In tolerating this, Paul says that
the church had “out-worlded the world!” The Christians in Corinth had