I turned in with a heavy heart last night. I felt as though I’d lost something precious, or experienced something traumatic. I felt a layer of seething anger.

Just after lunch yesterday, I packed my wonderful children and wife into our 12-seat Transit (“our little car”, as I say to my 2 year daughter), and drove for 30 minutes to attend a wedding. The bride was 60’ish, the groom similar. Both had lost their first marriage partners to death. Both were Christians. Both attended their local church. As I sat listening to the first few minutes of the service, and then stood in the foyer with my restless daughter and listened to the rest, there was all of the normal marriage things: songs asking for God’s blessing, prayers seeking His favor, invokations of God’s blessing, and more. So what was the problem you ask?

The couple had openly been living together for the last 6 months or so. Or, as it was put when I was growing up, “living in sin”. Where is the fear of the Lord evidenced in the lives of these people? Doesn’t God’s Word say that pre-marital sex is wrong? Where is the gut-wrenching vision of God’s absolute holiness that compels us to cry out as Isaiah did, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I have seen the Lord” (Isaiah 6:5)? Is “sin” relevant anymore?

Perhaps one would answer that “sin is an individual matter”. The Scriptures disagree with you. It’s a matter that impacts on the community … 1 Corinthians 5:6 says that “a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough“. Think of Achan in the Old Testament … he (individually) took some stuff that he wasn’t supposed to take, but God’s view was that “the Israelites acted unfaithfully” (Joshua 7) … that is it was “corporate” sin. With respect to yesterday, think of the young teenagers sitting in the congregation. They’ve got to make their own decisions about how to live, whether to save themselves for their marriage partner, where sex before marriage is a good idea or a bad one. And here’s two people getting married, starting their marriage vows with, “I have lived with you, and loved you” (yeast given). Teenager reaction: Hey, if it’s okay for them, it’s okay for me (yeast working it’s way through).

Perhaps another would answer “but I enjoyed sex before marriage and it’s had no consequences for me”. Hear this: sin always has consequences. Sin always has consequences. Sin ALWAYS has consequences. Perhaps those consequences aren’t immediately felt, but there is a day of consequences coming up. And isn’t the assertion wrong in the first place? It’s an answer centered on the individual and their decisions, rather than an answer focused on God and His glory / holiness / righteousness. If the great God of heaven says it’s bad, it’s bad, and his children should run from it. I so love the story of Joseph in Genesis … when his master’s wife made sexual advances, he didn’t stop and consider whether he could get away with it: he turned tail and ran, a decision which cost him many years in jail.

Perhaps yet another would answer “but it’s not the business of the church to judge”. Doesn’t the Bible tell us not to judge others? Yes … Matthew 7:1, “do not judge” … and *no*. It also says that “we [believers] will judge angels” (1 Corinthians 6:3). And specifically in this regard, the Apostle Paul writes:

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

Why should we not “associate”, not “even eat” with such people? Because by doing so we implicitly give our approval and support of their decisions. Again, this is targeted toward believers who have put their faith in God through Christ … it’s not an instruction on how to live with respect to those outside of God’s church.

So I’m left with many, many questions: Why did they choose this? Does sin not matter once you reach 50? Is sin irrelevant in 2007? Is sexual holiness and purity … irrelevant? Why did the minister of their church not call for repentence and a turning away? Why did the church apparently delight and rejoice in this couple, even though the decisions they were making were so fundamentally against clear direction in Scripture? Why did she move in? How can he do this? Is there no fear of God before their eyes?

Well, enough sharing of my (broken) heart for this Sunday morning. I still feel wounded. I still feel grieved for God’s sake. And … honestly … I still feel scared out of my wits that I too am capable of sinning against God and defiling his holiness. So as this Sunday February 11 starts down here in New Zealand (and progressively back around the world) … the cry of my heart is … Lord, give me, give my family, give those that call on your name a fresh revelation of your Holiness, that we would walk in holiness, uprightness and the fear of You all the days of our lives.

Grace be with you this day.