Improper Inclusiveness

By inclusiveness, I mean “no holds barred,” no exclusion. Today the word pluralism probably fits as well as any. I raise a question by the Holy Bible, Is anyone to be excluded from the church, or are all embraced as welcome? We often see on the church bulletin boards, “Everyone Welcome.” Now, what does that mean?

Are there any scriptural standards for membership in the church? How well are churches following those standards?

Some churches advertise their “open door” policy. They say, “You are welcome. Come as you are.”

The church at Corinth adopted the open door idea that Paul addressed in I Corinthians 5:1-8:

1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed,

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

To correct the IMPROPER INCLUSIVENESS in the church, the apostle outlines the necessary PROCEDURES every church must follow.

The first procedure is:

1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Paul said it was commonly known, widely broadcast, that in the church at Corinth was an incestuous man who had his father’s wife. Perhaps the Corinthians were lifted up. He said some of you “are puffed up.” Perhaps their motto was ‘We welcome everyone.’

“Fornication” translates the New Testament Greek word for improper sexual conduct. In its noun and verb forms, it is used 31 times in the New Testament, always describing improper sex.

The conduct the Corinthians allowed in their church was not even named among the pagan world, not so much as named among the Gentiles. The world judged the practice wrong. Though pagans were ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, they said such conduct was not right.

The church had this incestuous man among their membership. The conduct was condoned by some. Some even prided themselves with their tolerance, with their inclusiveness, with their pluralism. Instead, they should have been sorry. That man should have been excommunicated. They should have taken him off their membership list.

I am acquainted with some of the churches of West Africa. In one of the churches, the wife of a young pastor died. So he was eager, of course, to find another companion for his ministry. Then indiscreetly he started keeping company with a divorcee. The church leadership acted very quickly. I was informed that they put Elijah on the back seat in the congregation. He could not function as a pastor or even as an accepted member in the church until he corrected himself.

That is what the apostle Paul told the Corinthians they should do. Today the church that wishes to “keep house” is branded as bigoted and intolerant. But the apostle says, “Clean house. Get rid of this repulsive conduct in a member of your church.”

The second procedure is:

3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed,

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The apostle urges the Corinthians to make a definite decision. He said, “I have made a decision. I have already judged the case, and the man who is guilty of this kind of conduct must be set aside. Take action.” The apostle says, “I have already taken action. So long as this member is in the body, it is being defiled.” Or you might say, It is like the rotten apple in the barrel of apples.

The church, Paul said, is responsible. So you come together, and you take the action that is necessary. You take that remedial action. They should be united in purpose. It was a serious and an urgent matter. The apostle Paul was impressing upon their hearts to do what they knew should be done.

Sometimes we may think of ex-communication as being severe, but the apostle insisted that the action was remedial. It had a restorative function. To restore such a person, it was necessary to separate him from the body of Christ so he would understand the seriousness of his conduct. Thus he would be able to deliver his soul from severe judgment.

Now please also notice that the leadership is responsible. They are called into office. They are expected to deal carefully and fairly with the whole situation.

I grew up on a forty-acre farm near Midland, Michigan. We raised navy beans as a cash crop. After the last cultivation of the beans, it was then up to us to go through the fields and hoe out the weeds. What was not wanted, what was not useful, was chopped out.

Now it seems as though this situation in Corinth was like the weeds in the bean field. The offending party needed to be separated from the body of Christ. So the second procedure was Explain the Remedial Counsel.

The third procedure is:

6 Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Delay was detrimental because the longer the church delayed, the worse the situation became. The apostle likened it to leaven. That is yeast. Yeast put in the mixture for bread permeates the entire amount. So he said this would also do that to them. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Do you see that in verse 6? It affects the whole body.

Cleanse the body. Do as the Jews do at the time of their Passover. They search carefully with candlelight to make sure there is no leaven anywhere in their houses. They were instructed to do this when the Passover was established before they left Egypt.

The apostle Paul then tells us that Christ is our Pass over. He has been sacrificed for us, and therefore there should be a cleansing action in the body to get rid of the leaven of sin. He urges us to come clean to the feast.

When we had the prophecy conference in Jerusalem in 1971, we gathered on the Mount of Olives for a communion service early in the morning, under the clear sky of the Middle East. The pastor in charge made a very convincing statement. He said, “This table is for sinners.”

Well, of course, another thought needed to be included there. This table is for sinners that are born again, who have come to the Lord and have had a cleansing experience, those who have been renewed, and those who are not leavened.

The church is a body, you see, and each member is important. No one is an island. We are all connected together like the members of our bodies. Sometimes we hear the statement, “Let the church be the church.” Well, yes, of course. The church is not a club of any kind, a health club, a sports club, an academic club, or even a holy club. The church is not a club! The church is a community of called-out people, not of the world. The church is made up of a separated people.

So I observe from Paul’s comments that there are only two options. Leave the situation as it is and pollute the church, so the whole church will be leavened. Or purge out the leaven, the sinner, and be the body of Christ.

So the third procedure is Experience the Refined Conclusion. Get rid of this incestuous man. Change your mind about inclusiveness. The body of Christ is made up of born-again people.

If Paul were to write a letter to your church, what would he say? With the free and somewhat prideful ways some churches advertise, one might conclude they should hear Paul’s word about Improper Inclusiveness.

I want you to hear now the conclusion of the matter as someone else brings it to our attention:

The inaction and tolerance which were blamable in the congregation were inconsistent with their well-known duty. The Christian church is not a club, whose members are at liberty to receive and reject whomsoever they choose. It is a society in which Christ is the Head and Lord, and is bound to receive those who possess his Spirit and to reject those who openly and unmistakably grieve and outrage that Spirit. The members of the church were termed “the holy,” or “saints;” and although all were and still are in character far short of the designation they bear, there can be no question as to the inconsistency of a life of incest with a Christian profession.

The case called for the stern interference of the apostle, as an authority over the churches. His language was intended to quicken the conscience, to enlighten the judgment, to call forth the action, of those who were very negligent and culpable.

As in Paul’s day, so in our day. Where Improper Inclusiveness occurs, the procedures Paul outlined should be followed. Here they are again:

Then the Lord will have a pure church, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:27: “That he might present it [referring to the church] to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”