Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 17

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6 (NRSV)

Paul continues to fight against the cultural norms of the day in Corinth.  This city, as an important port for Greece, saw a lot of cultural traffic through the Mediterranean world.  How does the Christian behave in the midst of all the activity going on around them?

Paul is trying to walk a fine line.  He doesn't want to lift up adherence to the Law necessarily with regards to the dietary restrictions.  But at the same time he wants those in Christ to adhere to the boundaries that move us to respect ourselves and one another.

We may have similar behavior at times.

He starts with lawsuits between church members.  I can't imagine today having two members of our congregation suing each other.  I know that this would disrupt the congregational life as people began to choose sides between the two.  How easy would it be to preach love thy neighbor or forgive your brother or sister in Christ?  Okay, I'll do that.  Right after I put them in jail.  Paul is trying to get them to work out grievances within the congregation.

Paul lists behavior that stands outside of the kingdom of God.  All of these cross the boundaries of self-respect and respect of others.  As we see a continuance of sins dealing with a sexual nature: fornicators, adulterers, male prostitutes, and sodomites, it is important that we see Paul also inject idolaters into this mix.  There was a culture of temple prostitution where priests and priestesses engaged in all kinds of sexual behavior with their worshipping community.  This included pederasty where an older man would engage a teenage (or younger) boy in a relationship.  So the male prostitutes of which Paul referred would have been young people who were likely sold into this line of work.  The sodomites would have been the older men engaging the younger boys.  

In today's culture, we still see issues with sex trafficking of minors.  It is clear to us that this is wrong but it can be argued that the notion of respecting each other really began its spread across culture with Paul's writings within Christianity.

Some readings of this chapter have led even married couples to feel like engaging in sexuality is somehow sinful and not to be enjoyed.  This unfortunately swings the pendulum of what Paul is trying to accomplish too far the other way.  Remember, in his day, he was trying to carve out a different way of living amid a dominate culture that had lots of temporary pleasures for enticing worshippers.  

Today, we may balk at going to Church X where they allow drinks or popcorn in worship.  How can we compete with that?!  Well, in Paul's day, the alternative to their worship included temple prostitution.  He recognized that this was ultimately demeaning to both of those involved as well as God.  

So when he speaks of "the body was not meant for fornication but for the Lord" he is referring to things that ultimately provide self-respect for God's creation.  Anything can become addictive and Paul reminds us, "I will not be dominated by anything."

How do we respect ourselves and others within the relationships we have today?

Paul seems to be asking us this question by saying, "What freedoms do you need to curtail so that you find your behavior beneficial to yourself and others?"

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, we are thankful for the forgiveness and mercy we receive in Jesus Christ.  Help this grace give us the desire to be Christ-like in our relationships.  Help us to be happy with who we are.  Help us to extend this same joy to others we know - and be happy with who they are as well.  May this joy sow greater respect in the world today.  We pray this for Jesus' sake.  Amen.

Photo by smerikal via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.