Reports of Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV

 

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

 

“For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.”

 

The Situation Today

 

Covenanteyes.com reports that “1 in 5 youth pastors and 1 in 7 senior pastors use porn on a regular basis. 43% of senior pastors and youth pastors say they have struggled with pornography in the past. 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month.” And the statistics are high for teenagers, too.

 

And this is just what people are admitting to the people who collect these statistics. And this is mostly just about internet porn use and sex texting. This doesn’t include all the private romantic conversations and flirtations, extra-marital affairs, homosexuality, the use of prostitutes and self-gratification, and sexual abuse of minors, peeping toms, and flashers, etc.

 

This also doesn’t include the viewing of PG13 or R rated (I assume they are still doing these ratings) movies or TV shows with sexually suggestive or with sexually explicit material in them, or which glorify sex outside of marriage or which romanticize adulterous relationships. And included in this are many video games, too, and probably much more I don’t know about.

 

This is a picture of much of today’s church. We aren’t talking about just a worldly church, though, but we are talking about the church at large steeped in sexual immorality, including among the church leadership. And then added to that is that most churches are now teaching a cheap grace gospel.

 

It used to be that they taught a very diluted half-truth gospel which did not demand obedience, repentance, or submission to the Lordship of Christ. It was more like you could pray a prayer and now you “got saved,” and now you were told that your sins were forgiven, and that heaven is your eternal destiny, guaranteed, no matter how you lived your life from then on.

 

But now they are teaching that it is sinful to obey the Lord, to repent of your sins, and to submit to his Lordship. They call that “works-based salvation” or “lordship salvation,” which they say is wrong. So, they teach that we can believe in Jesus and be guaranteed eternal life with God while we continue living in willful, deliberate, and often premeditated sin against God.

 

So, is it any wonder that today’s church, for the most part, is in the condition that it is in? This goes way beyond one man sleeping with his father’s wife. This is a total and blatant disregard for the holiness of God and for his moral standards which are taught in the New Testament.

 

And now some children are viewing porn, and some are acting out what they see with each other. The statistics are getting higher for children viewing porn, too, the last that I checked. And then we have so many parents just handing children internet devices unsupervised, often with no guards on them, or with guards that could be gotten around. Children are very smart. Don’t think they can’t find ways around some of these guards.

 

And children are reading books and they are watching videos, or cartoons, or they are playing video games containing extreme violence, some sexually suggestive material, some bad language, and some (or much) occult and Satanic material, which includes witchcraft and demonic material. And some (or many) parents are using these as babysitters for their children to keep them entertained. And this is heartbreaking.

 

I do not have statistics for everything I shared here, but I have read much and have observed much over the years which has led me to believe that scenarios such as these are a serious threat to the minds, hearts and spiritual lives of children, teens, and adults, especially to those professing faith in Jesus Christ, and within the gatherings of the church.

 

Shouldn’t You Mourn?

 

The church overall, though not including every congregation, is on a massive spiritual and moral nosedive. And yet they go on as though everything is fine and good, and they work hard at providing good music, entertainment, activities (not so much since the big C), social events, and preaching that is often for entertainment purposes, too.

 

And since they are mostly teaching this cheap grace gospel, and since so much of the leadership is also steeped in sexual immorality, not much is being done at all to stop this madness and to bring people to true repentance and obedient faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Some congregations do have “Addiction Recovery” groups, but most or much of them appear to be just babysitters for addicts, often allowing them to continue in their addictions, confessing the same sins over again, while they avoid confronting anyone with their sins or giving them godly counsel, because they don’t want to offend anyone.

 

Instead of teaching them that Jesus died on that cross to free them from their addiction to sin, they convince them that they will always be recovering addicts, always needing support groups to help them stay “sober.” Still, some of these groups are helping people, but I see much that is not helping at all, because they are not dealing with the sins of these people biblically.

 

But if a large number of our pastors and our elders and bible teachers in the church are “struggling” with (regularly giving in to) sexual sin, who is going to lead the charge for removing those within the church who are practicing sexual immorality and who will not repent?

 

And please know that repentance is not the same as sin, confess, sin, confess, sin, confess, and so on and so forth, while continuing to commit the same habitual and deliberate and premediated sins over again. And repentance is not the same as “a recovering addict” who can be recovering for many years to come, but who will never be free.

 

So much of today’s church has bought into this lie that says we are not to confront people in their sins, for that might offend them, or that we need to be tolerant of blatant, willful, deliberate, and habitual sin, which isn’t just against God, but is against spouses and children and neighbors and fellow Christians. Do they not care that spouses and children are being abused?

 

Do you see the gravity of the situation here? While the church is so concerned about not stepping on toes and about keeping people coming back to their gatherings, spouses and children are being neglected and abused and sinned against, and husbands or wives are living in adultery, and marriages are falling apart and families are being destroyed, too.

 

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV

 

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

 

The church overall, at least here in America, needs to be cleansed of all this filth, and of all the lies, and the false gospels, and so on. For, when sin such as this is allowed to continue, it impacts the whole congregation. And it spreads much like gangrene.

 

But I don’t foresee this cleansing happening at the hands of church leadership. I believe God is going to have to do this cleansing. And it will be painful. And I have a sense that some of that has already begun. For the Lord is jealous for his people and he wants them to repent and to return to him as their ONLY LORD.

 

More Than Words

 

Nuno Bettencourt / Gary F. Cherone

 

Saying I love you

Is not the words I want to hear from you

It's not that I want you

Not to say, but if you only knew

How easy it would be to show me how you feel…

 

Hold me close don't ever let me go

More than words is all you have to do to make it real

Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me

Cos I'd already know