Doesn’t handing a fellow church member over to Satan because of their private sexual practices sound harsh?  This kind of thing is what has got Christians into hot water for the past decade.  As sexual orientation and practices have been made more and more a question of personal choice rather than universal moral imperative, Christians have been seen as more and more repressive and out of touch.  However, if a man has an affair it still makes tabloid news.  If a senator sleeps with his intern we are concerned.  I believe that intuitively many still know that there are moral guidelines that say, for example, sex with an animal, a minor, or an unwilling person is wrong.  The church has found itself in trouble for not expelling people with those tendencies.  Here we have a situation more akin to the Catholic priest scandal rather than the question of gay sexual orientation.  We have a situation where members of the church thought they were free to engage in practices even the society around them didn’t condone.  This was in a society like Corinth which was arguably more liberal than our present one.  Where would you draw the line?  How should a universal moral code be enforced?

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. ²And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? ³Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. ⁴When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature^[a] may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

Questions

1. What has the sexually immoral person done?
2. What should be done with him?
3. Where is the line between sexually moral and immoral?
4. Have you crossed the line that you have drawn in the sand?  When and how?
5. How do you think the church should handle sexual immorality and deviancy?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. How did Paul find out about immorality in the church?
2. What is the attitude of the members of the church regarding this sexual immorality?
3. What should the Corinthian church have felt like?
4. What has Paul done as though he were present?
5. To whom should the immoral brother be handed to and why?

Interpretation

1. In what circumstances might it be right to tell church leadership about the conduct of one of its members?
2. When does someone visiting a church become a member who the church is responsible for?
3. Who has the authority in the church to carry out discipline?
4. What does it mean to hand over to Satan?
5. Is it possible for a person who willingly sins to lose their salvation?

Application

1. Would you ‘snitch’ on someone who was being sexually immoral?
2. What is the right course of action for restoring someone who is habitually engaged in sexual immorality?
3. Are you sexually immoral?  What would be the right course of action if you were?
4. How should Christians handle homosexuality?
5. How should Christians talk about sex?