Sloppy Church

Let’s face it: church life is sloppy!  Not because our Lord is sloppy but because life is sloppy.  It has always been that way.  Paul famously said, “Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom”  (1 Cor. 6: 9 – 10).  Had he stopped right there we might make an argument that there are a whole lot of non-sloppy churches.  Permit Paul to finish his thought: “And some of you used to be like this” (1 Cor. 6: 11).  Imagine that – a church full of formerly flagrant sinners!  The very idea!

Arguably the sloppiest church and city in New Testament times, Corinth was a cesspool of every imaginable sin and a number of unimaginable ones.  In Paul’s time they had coined the term “to Corinthinize” which meant to engage in public acts of the most degrading sins. You name the embarrassing sin and it was found in abundance on the streets of Corinth.  Any church in Corinth doing anything approaching real life ministry was bound to be populated with these morally awkward people.  When Paul came “announcing the testimony of God….with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2: 1, 4) many were pulled from the pit dripping with the raw sewage of sensual sin.

There are two kinds of churches, not “Sloppy” and “Non-sloppy” but “I Admit We Are Sloppy” and “I Pretend We Are Not Sloppy.”   Every church is sloppy.  Some are sloppy by design; others are sloppy by default.  Some churches are strategically seeking to reach the lost and the least and are knowingly filling their building with souls broken hard by deep, devastating sins.  Other churches are just as passionate about steering clear of any and all social and spiritual rejects in an effort to insure a membership of the “right kind of people.”

Problem is: The mystery of iniquity works everywhere and as long as you have people you will have sin.  In fact the more people you have the more types of sin you have.  One church admits it wants said people while the other church hides the fact it already has such people.

Give me Church A that openly acknowledges the power of God to lift the depraved and damaged over Church B that pretends no such critters are found among their number when people about town know otherwise.

In our drifting and soon to be drowning culture, Paul’s list of “undesirables” is becoming the new normal.  My mantra for such a sensual season is C. T. Studd’s:  “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

Lest we become disheartened over the predicament of the church let’s tack on the exciting finish of Paul’s Corinthian thought: “But you were washed… sanctified… justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6: 11). Yes!