Keeping clear of the abyss

1 Corinthians 6:8-9

8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.

The chapters of 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 are actually an incredible indictment against the church - or then the community of believers.  Paul speaks loudly and clearly to the body of believers, and he points out that we should not tolerate sin within the camp, nor should we be as hypocritical to think that we are better than others because we scandalously and shamelessly sin against God, and our brothers within the community of believers.  In verse 8-9 he says WE do wrong, and cheat AND we do it to each other, and then comes the warning - we should not let ourselves be deceived.  When we do wrong it is unrighteousness - and the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.  Point made, and yes, I know we have many arguments about what is sin and what is not.  We have a way of thinking how far we can push the boundary before we move into sin and unrighteousness.  We have rights.  We can do whatever we like because we are not under the law, etc. etc.

The picture I have in my mind about this is one of a bus driving down a steep mountain pass, but, the driver tries to see how close he can drive to the abyss before the bus will fall off the edge.    

(Have a look at this short video:  Driving a bus in Peru)

This is what we do - we try to see how close we can come to the boundary before we fall into the abyss of sin.  Would it not be better to ask a different question?  Should the driver's attitude not rather be "how far can I stay away from the edge of the abyss so that I can ensure my own and others' safety"?  I think each and every one of us will agree that we would expect the bus driver to do that if we were a passenger on that bus.  Yet, when we drive the bus of our life, we constantly want to know how far we can go before we fall into the abyss of sin, instead of rather asking the question, "How far can I stay away from sin?"   Should it not be as simple as that? 

Point to ponder:  Paul uses the word "flee" in verse 18. The word means to seek safety by flight.  He admonishes us to seek safety by fleeing from sin.  Thus, the point to ponder for this week is - what sin or unrighteousness should we seek safety from by fleeing, rather than entertaining it?  

I Speak Jesus - Charity Gayle