The spring before I began high school I tried out for the dance/drill team. Our high school mascot was the panther, so we were appropriately called the Pantherettes. (This was in the 80’s when adding an –ette suffix automatically made a team feminine and alluring.) I paid very close attention to every move. Tilted my head just so, jazz hands when appropriate, and never let my smile fade. And over the next few years of dancing and marching and moving with various props to please the crowd, I mastered the art of following an example. Anyone who has been a part of a marching band knows the importance of following a good example. And the folly and potential danger of following a bad example. Supposed to end up on the 50-yard line during the half-time show? Then you’d better be sure the guy in front of you knows where he’s going.
The section of 1st Corinthians that we’re going to look at today underscores the importance of learning from someone else’s example. The chapter in my Bible is titled “Warnings From Israel’s History” and in it Paul lists stories from the books of Exodus and Numbers and how the Israelites responded to God’s activity in their midst. Not always well.
This is one of those passages that is as clear as it can be that it is describing events and people from the Old Testament and linking them specifically to a lesson modern believers years later can learn from. No wondering if this is culturally relevant or if it was meant for us. Verse 6 makes it obvious that it is. Knowing that, what are we supposed to learn so that we won’t “set our hearts on evil things as they did”?
There are four areas of disobedience that Paul highlights for his readers. They are idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God, and grumbling. All of these examples have a specific Old Testament precedents and Paul draws his lessons directly from them. The idolatry example is from Exodus 32, when Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God and the people left in the camp make a golden calf and worship it. The charge of sexual immorality comes from Numbers 25, when several Israelites were hooking up with Moabite women. The Hebrews tested the Lord in Numbers 21 by demanding food and water and questioning God’s ability to produce them. Finally, the grumbling that occurred in Numbers 16 (accusing Moses of killing rebels rather than seeing it as God’s just punishment for sin) resulted in a plague that killed over 14,000 people.
Let’s look at each of these areas and see why Paul mentions them here.
Idolatry – Idolatry is placing anything or anyone above God in affection or priority. In effect, it raises something or someone to a position that is equal to or greater than God.
Sexual Immorality – This includes anything –thought or action – outside the marital relationship. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and fantasizing fall into this category. Paul uses the example here of intimate dalliances with foreign women, but the category of sexual immorality encompasses a wide range of sin.
Testing the Lord – The warning against testing God here implies a lack of confidence or a certain amount of skepticism in approaching Him. There are places in Scripture that urge us to test God or each other, but the implication is different. Those places encourage testing in terms of discovering by experience the full goodness of God’s character. The sin Paul talks about here is one of motivation –making considerable demands on God in order to fulfill certain expectations.
Grumbling – This same passage is translated as “murmuring” in the King James Version of the Bible. It is complaining, protesting, or expressing discontent in subversive ways to incite dissension. It is not face-to-face confrontation with a hope of positive change and reconciliation. Rather, grumbling is often its own end, with no greater goal in mind.
Of all the sins from those strategic years in the desert, why does Paul choose these? I believe there’s something foundational in these areas of disobedience that unlocks the key to Pandora’s box of sin and rebellion in our lives. If we can get a handle on what the root issues are, we can move forward in our relationships with God and with each other.
Each of the actions Paul mentions has a distorted view of God at their core. Without addressing those distortions our subsequent views of ourselves, each other, and life’s circumstances will be exponentially twisted. Look at how each sin distorts our image of God:
Idolatry – When we raise something or someone to a position that is greater than God we diminish His greatness when, in fact, He cannot be changed or reduced. “I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) Even when the elevation is unintentional, the effect is the same – we reflect our priorities and affections in how we spend our money and our time. Allowing our hearts to chase passionately after something more than we do God is idolatry.
Sexual Immorality – “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18) By sinning sexually in our thoughts or actions we are discounting the intimate connection God intended for us to have only in the marriage relationship. I sin against myself when I do not maintain the purity God requires because this contradicts the value God places on me as a vibrant, sexual being and replaces it with the belief that my most cherished, inner workings aren’t connected to God. Sexual sin pursues false intimacy because I don’t believe strongly enough in the true intimacy God has promised me.
Testing God – By requiring God to perform at my discretion and in my timing as I express my skepticism of His character, I attempt to make Him do my bidding and perceive Him to be a being like me – which He is not. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8) When I am selfishly motivated and want God to prove Himself to my standards, I am trying to make God into my image instead of living as if I am made in His.
Grumbling – Complaining for the sake of complaining expresses fear of direct interaction with God or our fellow man. Is it easier to grumble under my breath or participate in a dialog that leads to solutions? Accusing others, expressing dissatisfaction, and snide comments under our breath reveal a belief in a powerless God who doesn’t care about our well being. On the other hand, speaking the truth in love, to God and to each other, leads to real understanding in community and allows God to move among us and transform us into His image.
Here’s an encouraging note in all of this talk of sin: not everyone was guilty. Each infraction is followed by “as some of them were/did”. This implies that some did not. In our community of faith there are those who are strong where we are weak, and we can learn from their lives how to keep from setting our hearts on evil things.
There is also encouragement in Romans 12:2, which says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” As we train ourselves to believe what is biblically true about God and ourselves, our behavior will take care of itself. The Holy Spirit will reveal truth to us, as well as sin patterns in our lives that God wants to address, if we are willing. We don’t have to keep making our own mistakes when we can learn from the examples of others – both good and bad – from long ago.
• In which areas of distorted thinking in this passage are you most susceptible? Where will you look for correct thinking and guidance?
• Who do you know that is strong in an area where you may be weak? How can you interact with them and follow their example?
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