Is the whole batch ruined with just a little poo?

       My pastor preached a sermon recently on 1 Corinthians 5:6. Paul is addressing the church in Corinth about allowing sinful people to exist within their fellowship. Paul uses bread dough to illustrate this point.
       Paul asks "Don't you realize that sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?" His thought is quite profound, and I think we need to sit up and pay attention. Too many churches have "yeast" or sin, running wild throughout our congregations, but most of us defer responsibility to do something about it to someone else. Before we know it the "yeast" has consumed the group and we've all become sour.
       My pastor asked this question. Suppose you have a batch of chocolate brownies, and somehow a little doggie poo fell into the batter. Is the whole batch ruined? It's not like it was a lot, maybe just a pinch. Isn't it still edible? Suppose it was just in one corner of the pan, couldn't you eat around it?
       If you answered NO to these questions, then you would agree with Paul. Sin, no matter how small, if allowed to exist in our congregations, will infiltrate the whole.
       Please don't hear me saying the church should be filled with self-righteous, condescending, holier-than-thou, people; for we all sin and fall short of God's glorious standard (Romans 3:23).
But, I believe if we are all working toward the goal of abiding in Christ, surrendering ourselves to the Holy Spirit, and straining toward the goal of sanctification; we are getting rid of the poo.
It would be easy to just insulate ourselves from sinful people, and live sanctified lives separate from the outside world. In fact many early churches practiced this behavior. Some religions today still behave this way.
       In Luke 5:32 Jesus tells us the reason he wanted to establish his church:

"I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”

       So if Jesus came to save the lost, then why do we continue to orbit within our church meetings? We spend more time praying for ourselves and the needs of our friends than we ever spend praying for those outside our social orbit. Why?
Don't worry you are not alone, Paul addresses the church in Corinth on this issue in vs. 9 of chapter 5:

 ^"When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin."

No problem, right? I can avoid people who dress sexy, talk dirty, and flirt uncontrollably. What Paul says next gets to the core of our conversation:

 ^10 "But I wasn’t talking about UNBELIEVERS who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. ¹¹ I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a BELIEVER^[a] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people."

     Seems pretty harsh, but this goes back to a little poo among believers. Paul is not saying one or two believers who indulge in sin are okay, as long as the rest are strong Christians. No he says we aren't to "even eat with such people."
If we open our doors to sinful BELIEVERS and lower the entrance fee so all BELIEVERS can come in, then we have muted the Good News. We must be set apart from the things of this world, but not insulated from it. What should we do then? Paul answers that question in vs. 12-13 of chapter 5:

^12 "It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the CHURCH(the people of God, not the meeting) who are sinning. ¹³ God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”"^[a]

      So why do we spend most of our lives avoiding unbelievers? Why do we condemn them for being lost and doing only what lost people do?
When I was a student in high school we were always told to avoid parties and people who acted lost, because they might influence us to sin and stumble. Besides we don't want to do anything that might "ruin your witness." What I think we were being told, is don't do anything that might ruin what self-righteous people might think of you. Maybe we were never modeled on how to "not be of the world, but in the world."

'For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.' John 3:17

If we don't spend time with unbelievers, how will they ever hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
      Interesting fact about the early church: God's people never claimed the name Christian for themselves. They were given that name by people on the outside of the faith because they saw Christ's teachings being lived out. When was the last time someone said that about you?

You were meant for more....

         In the spring of 2012, the mission began to take shape. Promotional videos and speaking opportunities came throughout the winter months in preparation for the summer Olympic games.
We were commissioned to recruit a team to come alongside a group of churches in London to help capture the momentum building around the games that would be hosted in London, England.
        At a commissioning ceremony and missions banquet, I found myself leading a team of 20 people from central Missouri to totally displace themselves from the context in which they live. God was stirring in each of us a fire that could only be fanned by surrendering to the mission. It all seemed surreal. Just 8 months ago, I was wondering if my life had any purpose, and now I am trying to just hang on. I felt insecure and even doubtful that my role had any significance, but then I heard my friend speak about Gideon.
        In Judges chapter 6, we find Gideon at the bottom of a winepress threshing wheat, because he was afraid the Midianites would find him and take the grain. In verse 12, the angel of the Lord appears to him and calls him "Mighty Warrior!" and tells him "the Lord is with you!"
The question Gideon asks next is one that I find myself wrestling with daily. He asks, "If the Lord is with us, then why has he allowed circumstance to happen to us?" Then the Lord tells Gideon to go with the strength he has and rescue Israel. Naturally, Gideon answers like most of us would. "How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest and I am the least of my clan." Already, Gideon has disqualified himself from being obedient to what the Lord told him to do. Have you ever been there?
       We finish chapter 6 and we see Gideon asking for miraculous signs to prove what he had heard. Not only did he doubt the angel was the Lord, but then he asked God, "If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel, could you prove it to me?"
I feel, I have seen this before in my own life. It's not enough to trust God in what he says, but we try to trust our understanding of what God says before we act.
       Jump over to chapter 7, and we find Gideon rattled in his trust of God again. In verse 2 Gideon has prepared an army to "rescue Israel" and God comes and tells Gideon that he has too many warriors.
What I find interesting, is that when we finally convince ourselves God will deliver us, we take his promise and figure out how to logically execute it.
God tells Gideon to reduce his army because he didn't want the people of Israel to boast that they saved themselves by their own strength.
First of all, this is typical of us. We allow circumstance to wreak havoc over us day in and day out, but when God tells us to take action against our circumstance, we find ways to defeat it on our own power. Then we rest in the fact that WE earned the victory.
         In verse 7 we find that God had whittled the army from 32,000 down to 300 men. We find out later Gideon's men would face the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people from the east; which were like "grains of sand on the seashore-too many to count!"
God sorted the men by different ways, but what he wanted were those who had FOCUS on the promise, not FEAR of the unknown.

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."  2 Chronicles 16:9

       What I learned that spring day, was God sees in YOU what you didn't see yourself. A dream he placed in you long before you were "knitted in your mother's womb." He wants you to trust him with your very life.

"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him."  Colossians 1:16

       Your life is waiting to be activated by God, so that you may truly live. He wants you to have life and more abundantly than you could ever imagine.
God is looking for a crowd to "rescue his children", but he always starts with one. Don't get lost in the crowd and become another face. Don't disqualify yourself because the world has told you that you have no worth. A wildfire only needs a spark to ignite the forest. Live your life as a spark or as a smoldering ember. Never count yourself as worthless to God, for his Word tells us:

  ^"I can do all this through him who gives me strength."  Philippians 4:13