Rooted in the Word
Pastor Dan Palomino, Lomita South Bay FMC (CA)

[Editor's Note: They’re “Rooted in the Word” at South Bay FMC (Lomita, CA), where the congregation is journeying through the Bible together this year. Pastor Dan Palomino’s sermons tie in with the week’s reading assignments, and his daily e-mail to everyone contains his personal reflections on the current passage.The following is one of his e-mails. Click Here for information on South Bay's program which appeared in the News Section of the March/April 2005 issue of Light & Life magazine.]

Greetings!

I hope you're doing well. I'm praying for you as we travel through Scripture together. I'm praying for your time, that you're able to prioritize the Word into your day's schedule, and that you really enjoy meeting with the Lord this way. I pray that his Spirit anoints you and speaks to you through his precious Word.

May the Lord bless you in your "travels."

As I mentioned the other day, I wanted to send you my reflections on 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 and v. 6 (with reference to Joshua 7).

Paul addresses sexual sin within the church, that when someone is steeped in it, they must be confronted, for the good of the person as well as the Body, the church. Paul tells us we are to judge such people. (Were you surprised by this?)

This whole chapter deals with the fact that we must judge a brother or sister when it comes to sin, espcially sin of this gravity.

We often use Jesus' statement, "Do not judge or you, too, will be judged ... take the log out of your own eye before attempting to remove the speck out of your brother's eye," as an excuse for non-confrontation.

However, Paul says that we must confront such issues or it will infect the whole church. Verse 6 says, "if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected." That last word could almost say, "infected."

In other words, sin affects the whole Body, just like having a cold or flu can put you out of commission until you recover. But if a flu is allowed to run a full course without 'confronting' it, it can potentially kill.

In Joshua 7, Achan steals some things that are set apart for the Lord and the result was the entire house of Israel was cursed, not just Achan. When the issue of this sin was addressed and confronted, the Lord revealed the source of the curse — Achan. Not just him, but his whole family had to be executed and burned in order to cleanse all of Israel.

When there is sin within the Body of Christ, it must be confronted. We must be willing to "judge" or else we may all die. We are not to judge those outside the fellowship — only those who are within the church, who call themselves Christian and are, therefore, held responsible to live up to God's standard.

These are tough issues that Paul brings up. What do you think about this? I'd love to hear from you.

Blessings,
Dan