.
• 1Cor 5:6b . . Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump
of dough?
The first few chapters of the book of Revelation list several of Jesus'
complaints about specific churches. It's unlikely that every member of those
churches deserved criticism, but Jesus slammed them all as corporate bodies
rather than individuals. So then if, and/or when, those churches failed to
correct their shortcomings; the whole church-- the good and the bad --went
to the gallows, so to speak.
"Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in
fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us
therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
. . . I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not
at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and
swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world.
. . . But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if
he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or
a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. For what have I
to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the
church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man
from among yourselves." (1Cor 5:7-13)
This is a good argument against church expansion. The bigger a
congregation gets, the more difficult it is to keep an eye on everyone's
conduct.
However; it's unreasonable to expect a perfectly sinless congregation, so we
should probably limit this culling business to outrageous insolence; for
example:
"For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech
and their actions are against The Lord, to rebel against His glorious
presence. The expression of their faces bears witness against them, and
they display their sin like Sodom; they do not even conceal it." (Isa 3:8-9)
NOTE: If there's an old leaven, then there must be a new leaven; which, I
believe, requires an explanation.
Well; biblical leaven has practically nothing to do with yeast; after all, even
freshly milled flour contains an amount of naturally-occurring fungi so it's
just about impossible to find flour that doesn't contain some. But the
presence of fungi isn't the focus in leaven. It's all about age rather than
ingredients.
Naturally-occurring fungi will, in time, spoil even the very freshest lump of
dough. Old leaven then, probably speaks of dough that has been allowed to
spoil. Prior to cultured yeast; cooks would set aside some of their spoiled
dough as a starter for the next baking. (cf. Matt 13:33 & Luke 13:20-21)
_
• 1Cor 5:6b . . Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump
of dough?
The first few chapters of the book of Revelation list several of Jesus'
complaints about specific churches. It's unlikely that every member of those
churches deserved criticism, but Jesus slammed them all as corporate bodies
rather than individuals. So then if, and/or when, those churches failed to
correct their shortcomings; the whole church-- the good and the bad --went
to the gallows, so to speak.
"Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in
fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us
therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
. . . I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not
at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and
swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world.
. . . But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if
he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or
a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. For what have I
to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the
church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man
from among yourselves." (1Cor 5:7-13)
This is a good argument against church expansion. The bigger a
congregation gets, the more difficult it is to keep an eye on everyone's
conduct.
However; it's unreasonable to expect a perfectly sinless congregation, so we
should probably limit this culling business to outrageous insolence; for
example:
"For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech
and their actions are against The Lord, to rebel against His glorious
presence. The expression of their faces bears witness against them, and
they display their sin like Sodom; they do not even conceal it." (Isa 3:8-9)
NOTE: If there's an old leaven, then there must be a new leaven; which, I
believe, requires an explanation.
Well; biblical leaven has practically nothing to do with yeast; after all, even
freshly milled flour contains an amount of naturally-occurring fungi so it's
just about impossible to find flour that doesn't contain some. But the
presence of fungi isn't the focus in leaven. It's all about age rather than
ingredients.
Naturally-occurring fungi will, in time, spoil even the very freshest lump of
dough. Old leaven then, probably speaks of dough that has been allowed to
spoil. Prior to cultured yeast; cooks would set aside some of their spoiled
dough as a starter for the next baking. (cf. Matt 13:33 & Luke 13:20-21)
_
