Ps. 149-150
There are several Psalms, as well as a couple of other books in the Bible, that tell us to “sing to the LORD a new song”. It does so here in Psalm 149:1. I wondered as I read it this morning, “What does that really mean?”. Without doing any kind of deep word study or anything of the sort, what I think it means to “sing a new song” is for us to be creative in our praise to God.
God is clearly a creative being, and He made us in His image. So it stands to reason that we are creative beings as well. I think it’s safe to say that history testifies to the truth of that thought. Whether or not you feel like you are creative, you really are. Being creative in praise to God isn’t something that has to be super complex or professional. It just has to be personal. Make the praise yours.
The Psalms are great for giving us inspiration and a good starting point. Over time, though, we learn to put our own spin on it. Now we are singing a new song. Don’t worry if you think your song isn’t good enough. Verse 4 assures us, “for the LORD takes pleasure in His people”. Ask any mother who proudly displays childish art in a prominent place in her home how God might feel about our personalized gifts of praise.
So look around you. Think about what God has done – for you, for those around you, or in stories you have heard or read. Then do your part in the exhortation of the last verse of the book of Psalms. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” (Ps 150:6).
1 Cor. 5
Judging others…that sounds like a hot topic in the Church! There is plenty of fodder for the argument that we should not judge others at all. Paul himself stated in this same letter that he does not even judge himself. But now here he is, adamantly saying that, even in his absence, he has pronounced judgment on this sexually immoral person. I think the confusion is in semantics. To me, “judging” can mean several different things. Earlier in this letter to the Corinthians, Paul was talking about being found faithful in ministry. He made the point that it is for God alone to make that determination. It doesn’t matter what others think or even what we think of ourselves in that regard. Human opinions have no impact on our salvation or reward from God. So not the same issue at all as what Paul is addressing here.
But what about Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1? “Judge not, that you be not judged.” This type of judging is condemning others as something less than ourselves. It is self-righteousness, as demonstrated so clearly by the Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders. Paul addresses it here by clarifying that his comments in this part of his letter are referring to how we deal with fellow Christians. How we deal with those “of this world”, as he puts it, is another matter.
So what kind of judgment is Paul talking about, then? I believe he is talking about discernment. As brothers and sisters in Christ – members of the same body – we have a close fellowship and a tight bond with one another through Christ. Is it good for us to have such a deep connection with someone who is living in blatant disregard for Christ, who is the very one through whom we have our bond in the first place? To stay connected to one who is moving away from God is to go with them. So if we choose to overlook such blatant disobedience and allow such a person to remain in the fellowship, we are putting the whole body back into slavery to sin and moving away from fellowship with God. Not good!
This adds light to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5, where He says to cut off and throw away a hand or an eye that causes you to sin. “For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matt 5:29). This is why Paul said, “Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.” (1 Cor 5:2b). But note that such a one is not to be cast out in the spirit of self-righteousness. Paul says, “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (1 Cor 5:5). It is not about condemning that person at all. It is about doing what is best both for the person in question and for the body of the Church.
This is a difficult passage, to be sure. Many of us don’t like the thought of “kicking someone out”. It doesn’t seem compassionate to kick someone to the curb when they are down. But we need to understand, that isn’t what this is. If someone professes Christ but lives under sin, something is wrong. Overlooking it not only encourages that person to stay in a bad place, but it puts the rest of the body in jeopardy as well. It’s called enabling, and it isn’t good for anyone involved.
I believe this is a large part of what is wrong with the Church today. The doors have been flung open wide to sinful behavior, which moves the Church as a whole farther and farther away from fellowship with God. If we cannot encourage such a person to repentance, we must treat them as any other unsaved person. And that is the most compassionate thing we could possibly do.