Week 4 Optional Bible Prep

Deep Dive into Commentary


The Cross’ Invitation to Integrity + Deep Fulfillment 

(The Hidden Problem of Sex, Money, and Fulfillment)

1 Cor. 5, 6:9–20, 7

 

Summary:

 Paul’s discussion of sex and sexuality in 1 Cor. 6 is controversial in our modern culture. But the topic of sex and Paul’s remarks upon it in 1 Corinthians 5–7 were more controversial in Corinth than they are in our modern time. Greece is a country of angular peninsulas and right in the center was Corinth. Anyone who wanted to go from Northern Greece to Southern Greece, or East to West by sea, has to pass through a 4-mile isthmus, in the middle of which was Corinth. Either you go several miles and weeks around Greece, or you can just unload your cargo in that isthmus, cart it across four miles and then continue on your way, saving yourself hundreds of miles and a nice chunk of cash.

Everyone had to go through Corinth, and that made Corinth a tremendous place to make money; it was a huge commercial center, a mega-city. Most of the people who lived in Corinth were not actually from there, it was not the sort of place you stayed long-term to raise a family. It was a place you went to make it big, or make a ton of money. Almost everyone who came to Corinth came from far away, leaving their family behind and all of the accountability in family structures. Most of Corinth’s 500,000 residents were young, detached from family accountability, under pressure to make it big economically, and at the peak of their sexual passions in life. As a result, there was an enormous sexual appetite among the people who lived there. 

There was so much sexual activity in Corinth that the word “Corinth” became a verb in the ancient world: “to Corinthianize” was to have sex with anything you could get your hands on. There was a ridged skyline on the way up to Corinth with an elevated structure, the Acrocorinth, which held a Temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess of sex and erotic love, Aphrodite. Every night in Corinth, over 1,000 temple prostitutes would descend the Acrocorinth to have sex all over the city. If this sounds a little like the dark side of Vegas, we’re starting to get the picture, but in some ways it’s even darker. When we think of ‘prostitutes’ we commonly think of adult women. But in Corinth it was both males and females, many of whom were teens or even younger, and all of whom were sex slaves owned by the Temple. Now you know what that extra chunk of cash saved was used for. Corinth was a culture of money and sex first and foremost, and as such, it was also a culture of financial exploitation and sexual exploitation, both of which Paul calls to account.

Key Passages:

  • 1 Cor. 5–6:8, the Greco-Roman view of sex

    • Promiscuous with body, only money is sacred

  • 1. Cor 6:9–20, Christian view of sex

    • Promiscuous with sharing money, body is sacred

  • 1 Cor. 7, Prudish view of sex

    • Sex is bad because the human body is bad

Preaching Passage: 1 Cor. 6:9–20

 

Bible Background:

The ancient Greco-Roman view of sex is not the same as our modern views. A Roman man could have sex with a woman and a man, and yet not be considered ‘bi-sexual.’ What mattered in Greco-Roman perceptions was whether one was the active participant or the passive participant. Knowing more of this background helps understand why Paul writes his list (1 Cor. 6:9–10) the way he writes it.

The Corinthians wrote several letters to Paul. In both 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, Paul cites some of their letters back to them when arguing his point. This is why scholars refer to the letters as “The Corinthian Correspondence,” as Paul cites the Corinthian letters to him more often than he uses citations of others in any of his surviving letters. Knowing more of this background helps us understand the Apostle’s teaching much more clearly.

Paul takes up the Corinthian argument directly by citing their letter to him. “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food” was the Corinthian argument to justify satisfying whatever physical and personal desires one wished. ‘I have certain desires that arise from my embodiment, like hunger, and there are things in the world that can satisfy that appetite, like food. God made the one for the other, so I can satisfy myself just as I please.’ This connects directly to the individualistic values of American culture. Which of the following affirms the axiom, “Nothing and no one should impede my private choices nor the satisfaction of my personal desires”:

  • Libertarians

  • Conservatives

  • Liberals

  • Progressives

  • All of the above

The answer is “All of the above,” because American culture since the ‘50s has insisted that every American should be able to pursue the satisfaction of their personal desires to their fullest extent possible. The difference between these groups is what they use this justification to legitimize. For some, it is a justification for issues related to sex, sexuality, or sexual expression; for others, it is a justification for exploitative business practices, excessive commodification of the natural world, or the cronyism of corrupt corporations. “Consenting adults” can defend poverty wages and disenfranchised minorities just as well as it can defend sexual promiscuity. This is a point at which the message of the cross comes into direct conflict with American individualism, and it is also a point that modern psychological and sociological data proves Paul’s claim is true: What we do with our bodies (and what is done to them) makes a difference to who we are psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. And second, contemporary Philosophy departments agree with Paul: There is a moral reality to what we do with our money. Paul beat modern Psychology and modern Philosophy by 2,000 years because he understood how the message of the cross applied to sex, money, and personal fulfillment.

Key Idea:

        While American culture often reduces biblical ethics and instruction to political talking points, Paul’s explanation of the cross’ message about sex, money, and personal fulfillment is not reducible to political parties. Sexual immorality is usually regarded as a ‘right-wing’ talking point, and corrupt business practices is usually regarded as a ‘left-wing’ talking point. Paul’s message is reducible to neither, for he calls both to account in the exact same text and argument. Whether exploitation, coercion, or licentiousness through money or through sex, he calls out both. In doing so, Paul shows that Christian faith has the highest view of sex, of the human body, and the dignity due to God’s image (as a worker, a person, a spouse) that has ever been stated in human history.