1 Corinthians 1:10

NASB	NLT	VOICE
10 Now I urge you, brother and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.	10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.	10 My brothers and sisters, I urge you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, to come together in agreement. Do not allow anything or anyone to create division among you. Instead, be restored, completely fastened together with one mind and shared judgment.

Paul created this church in Corinth on his second missionary journey. Eighteen months after he left, arguments and division crept in, and some members of that community slipped back into an immoral lifestyle. Paul wrote this letter to address the problems and clear up the confusion about what is right and wrong so that they could remove the immorality planted among them. The Corinthians were trend-hoppers – and Paul wanted to keep Christianity from being the latest social media trend. Paul is talking to all people here, every person God has created and welcomed into God’s family.

Notice the key word that I mentioned here: immoral. What is immoral? According to my concordance, immoral means “actions, behaviors, or thoughts that are contrary to the moral standards set forth by God.” It’s represented by a deviation, or a wandering, from God’s righteous path that God wants to his creation walk down. In the Old Testament, the legal foundation for the Christians at this time was around idolatry, sexual sin, and injustice. The Ten Commandments were the righteous path God set for them: honor God, put nothing before him, don’t misuse God’s name, keep a time of holy rest, honor your elders, don’t kill, cheat, steal, lie, or be jealous. This was the moral path, and anything that deviated from this was immoral. This feels very rational and easy to understand. Idolatry violated the first 3 commandments, sexual sin violated 2 commandments, injustice violated 6 commandments.

In the New Testament, the focus of immorality shifts. It’s addressed with a focus on the transformative power of God’s teachings. His teachings expanded the understanding of immorality to not just be actions, but also thoughts and intentions. Thinking about cheating on your significant other is immoral. Thinking about causing harm to someone that hurts you is immoral. Paul mentions it here to encourage his church to be holy (set apart for God.)

For us, we must live a moral life with this foundation. Our morality needs to be rooted in love for God and neighbor. Remember, Jesus’ said the two greatest commands are to love God with all parts of our being and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It’s not just something YOU must do, but ALL of us are. We are called to hold each other accountable. It’s why we see a push in churches to join a small group – because we need to have a core group of people that we can do life with that reminds us of the good and is there for us in the bad. It’s easy, unfortunately, for this accountability to be done with harm. We are bold in what we say. We are not delicate about how to tell someone when something’s wrong. Remember – our morality needs to be rooted in LOVE. Live it out. Offer it always. Vary it per person. Exemplify it every day.

Next slice of manna: Manna for the Mind #216