不闻不问的罪
哥林多前书五章1至13节
1风闻在你们中间有淫乱的事。这样的淫乱连外邦人中也没有，就是有人收了他的继母。
2你们还是自高自大，并不哀痛，把行这事的人从你们中间赶出去。
3我身子虽不在你们那里，心却在你们那里，好像我亲自与你们同在，已经判断了行这事的人。
4就是你们聚会的时候，我的心也同在。奉我们主耶稣的名，并用我们主耶稣的权能，
5要把这样的人交给撒但，败坏他的肉体，使他的灵魂在主耶稣的日子可以得救。
6你们这自夸是不好的。岂不知一点面酵能使全团发起来么？
7你们既是无酵的面，应当把旧酵除净，好使你们成为新团；因为我们逾越节的羔羊基督已经被杀献祭了。
8所以，我们守这节不可用旧酵，也不可用恶毒（或作：阴毒）、邪恶的酵，只用诚实真正的无酵饼。
9我先前写信给你们说，不可与淫乱的人相交。
10此话不是指这世上一概行淫乱的，或贪婪的，勒索的，或拜偶像的；若是这样，你们除非离开世界方可。
11但如今我写信给你们说，若有称为弟兄是行淫乱的，或贪婪的，或拜偶像的，或辱骂的，或醉酒的，或勒索的，这样的人不可与他相交，就是与他吃饭都不可。
12因为审判教外的人与我何干？教内的人岂不是你们审判的么？
13至于外人有神审判他们。你们应当把那恶人从你们中间赶出去。
信息分享
我们读完今天的经文，一定会感到十分心痛。没有人会喜欢听见教会里面有人犯罪──撒但和他的仆役当然是例外。当教会知道信徒犯了罪，就必须正视和处理罪的问题，执行我们称之为的「教会纪律」，这也是没有人会喜欢看见的。然而，神要教会成为圣洁的教会，因此，在执行教会纪律的时候，我们通常会面对两难的情况：一方面要处理信徒生命中的罪，另一方面却不希望他脱离教会的生活。
教会若有罪，又怎能吸引未信的人加入教会呢？教会经常出现纷争，若被教外人知道，必对传福音的使命予以沉重的打击。教会若出现彼此争竞，甚至容让淫乱的行为出现，试问世人又怎会尊重教会呢？一个饶舌的基督徒，也不会获得别人的赞赏。
不过，有一种态度可能比上述的恶行更惹人反感；那就是教会明知有信徒犯罪，却完全不闻不问，不予正视和处理。哥林多教会似乎正处于这种光景，所以才引起保罗的极大关注。据保罗所知，哥林多教会有一名信徒，明知自己的行为是犯罪，但他却依然故我。教会本应指责他的行为和执行纪律的处分，但教会并没有这样做，好像任凭他继续犯罪一般。
保罗对教会的态度极之关注，他说：「罪就像面酵或癌细胞一样，会不断膨胀和扩大，必须完全清除，否则便会影响整体教会。」保罗继续劝告他们说：「立即正视和处理问题吧！你们要用爱心去处理，但绝对不可以坐视不理。」结果，哥林多教会听从保罗的劝戒去做，并且感谢神，我们在哥林多后书更看到那人已经从罪中挽回。
这段经文是否提醒我们要时常省察自己呢？我们有没有纵容自己犯罪，不去正视和处理自己的罪？我们岂不应该祈求主说：「神啊，求你鉴察我，知道我的心思，试炼我，知道我的意念，看在我里面有甚么恶行没有，引导我走永生的道路。」(诗一三九23-24)
祷告：
「神啊，求你为我造一个清洁的心。」
THE SIN OF NOT CARING ABOUT SIN
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!
2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
Message
This is a very painful story. No-one likes to discover that there is sin in a church, except of course Satan and his followers. When sin appears it must be dealt with. We call this church discipline and no-one likes that either. But God wants a pure church. Therefore we are faced with this difficult problem of how to deal with sin in the life of a church member and .yet not lose him from the life of the church.
The world outside is not impressed when there is sin in a church. It is very often disgusted and it causes great harm to the cause of Christ when such a situation becomes known.
The world is never impressed with fighting in a church. It does not think very highly of a church that allows immorality within it. It doesn't think very much of a Christian who can't control his tongue.
But perhaps there is something worse than all of this. That is when there is sin in a church and the church doesn't care anything about the fact. That seems to have been the position in Corinth and Paul was greatly concerned about it. There was a man in the church who was doing wrong and he knew it. He had apparently continued in his sin. The only thing for the church to do was to let him go on along the pathway he had chosen. But the church could not walk that path with him. It had to take a stand against what he was doing.
However, the church had not done this, so Paul was very concerned. Paul said 'This sin will be like yeast or like a cancer. It must be rooted out or it will effect the whole church.' 'Do it now', said Paul. 'Do it in love, but do it. Don't just let it go on without doing something about it'. The church obeyed Paul's instructions and, praise God, in 2 Corinthians we find the man being restored to fellowship.
What does all this say to us? Could we pray this prayer personally? 'Search me, O God, and try my heart today. See if there is any sinful thing in my life that should be dealt with. Lord, help me to deal with it, now'.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY:
'Create in me a clean heart, O God.'