LEADERS ARE PROBLEM-SOLVERSliterally become more tolerant than the people of Corinth! He said that
the degree of sexual immorality they were tolerating in their midst was
“...of a kind that does not occur even among pagans” (I Cor. 5:1)! He
well knew that spiritual infidelity and sexual infidelity always walk hand-
in-hand in the life of an individual or in a church. Sexual compromises always
follow spiritual compromises. When a church compromises her spiritual authority,
she soon compromises moral authority. Paul would not ignore either spiritual
or sexual infidelity. As a wise leader, he knew that every problem had the
potential to produce either growth and maturity or division and disaster, in
the local church. Paul instructed them to exercise church discipline with
this disobedient brother – even to the extreme degree of excommunication
if necessary. Even though he could not be present with them personally,
he exhorts them to “...put out of your fellowship the man who did this.”
Paul carefully gives them the procedure for exercising church discipline
to this extreme degree. However, he does not stop there. He goes on to
explain to them the reasons why it must be carried out for their sake...
for the man’s sake...for the sake of the name of Christ.
“Even though I am not physically present, I am with you
in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one
who did this, just as if I were present. When you are
assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with
you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature
may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the
Lord Jesus. Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know
that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get
rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without
yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed” (I Cor. 5:3-8).The Apostle Paul would go to any degree necessary to deal with a problem
in the local church. In this case, he well knew that immorality was really
an idolatry of the flesh. If this sin were left unchecked, it would quickly
leaven the whole church there – and effectively destroy the integrity of
their witness to the wider Corinthian community. Most of all, it would
profane the Name of the Lord. But carefully note that the whole purpose
of church discipline was to bring repentance and restoration in the life of
the disobedient brother. If he would not repent, they must excommunicate
him from Christian worship and fellowship so that the leaven of his