Wednesday 10th May
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:6b-8
“The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (NIVUK)
Many people I know, both in and out of the church, disagree fundamentally with the idea that ‘illicit sexual activity’ or ‘porneia’ is even a sin. Let alone worthy of judgement. Culture and science has moved on. The church, and God, have been left behind as old-fashioned and outdated.
Unfortunately Paul doesn’t have a nuanced and subtle argument to explain why some sexual sins are culturally acceptable today. He is simply not tolerant in this area. I can imagine him being ‘cancelled’ very quickly and many folk in the church looking a little uncomfortable when asked what they think on those issues. ‘Oh, it is not that serious, that is just Paul, don’t mind him – he has some good things to say too, but I don’t agree with everything’.
Perhaps we feel we can pick and mix from the ‘Paul menu’ because Jesus died on the cross and bore the penalty for all our sins? Even if it turns out we were wrong to disagree with Paul on these issues, it is all covered. We can still have our culturally nuanced views on sexuality and be tolerant and not risk being cancelled.
And then we read these words again. ‘The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins’ (Ah, but that is not Christians is it? We are sweet with Jesus) ‘,as we told you and warned you before’ (Hang on, Paul is writing to a church isn’t he?). ‘Anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, (so, this is not a ‘Paul menu’ thing? These are not just human ideas we can judge the merit of ourselves?), ‘the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.’ (This is getting a little real here, is Paul arguing that compromise on these issues is the same as rejecting the Holy Spirit?).
“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”
I wonder, deep down, if we really believe these strong, clear, disturbingly uncompromising, words.
