1 Corinthians 5 is an assault on the secular mind (and the Christians who have imported it into the church). It “figures” morality from the perspective of God’s holiness and the church’s full surrender to it. It assumes we accept/embrace the Biblical standard, “You be holy because I am holy”. (1 Peter 1:16) We may fail this standard but we NEVER challenge it. As we read Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians (withdraw fellowship from the man who is living in blatant and unrepented sin) we squirm under the not-so-subtle- challenge to our modern substitute virtue, “Mind your own business”. Is someone else’s sin my business? Yes, if he is my brother! “If your brother sins. . .go to him” (Matthew 18:15) Ultimately the secular and the scriptural viewpoints are irreconcilable. Either we are autonomous with the right to privacy(secular outlook), or we are family with shared responsibility and destiny(scripture outlook). Only one of these two options can be true. Which is it? Are we family or should I MYOB?
