MDB 35: I Cor 6

In this chapter, Paul addresses issues of lawsuits among believers and (again) sexual immorality.  At the heart of both lies the notion that Christians are meant to walk to the beat of a different drum.  As they are to reject worldly criteria for judging their leaders, so they are also to reject worldly ways of proceeding against each other with grievances, and of using their own  bodies.  Of particular interest is the way in which sexual sin is singled out by Paul as particularly serious: it is a sin against the body like no other.  When a man sleeps with a prostitute, the mystical union that is inextricably connected to the physical union takes place; and terrible, terrible damage is done.

The application is obvious: in a sex saturated society, the church needs to be exceptionally vigilant in this area. I have been struck in the last few years at the blasé way in which Christians speak of watching sexually explicit movies in the name of `cultural relevance.'  Cultural relevance - being all things to all men - does not seem to trump Paul's concern for sexual purity, in this passage or anywhere else for that matter. So next time you watch a movie with a nude scene, or a gay scene, ask yourself: has this really helped me witness to my neighbour, to be all things to all men?  Or has it simply made me indistinguishable from them, to the point where I have nothing distinctive left to say?