Thursday, July 14, 2011

Becoming Complacent

What really stood out to me in 1 Corinth 6 was the subject matter.  What's with all the talk about sexual immorality?  It wasn't a very long chapter, but it was a little surprising that Paul had to say the things that he did to the people of Corinth.  But after reading a little more about it, I learned that during that time the Christians were trying to live during an age that supported different beliefs...primarily the people living in that area who worshipped at the temple of Apollo.  The "male prostitutes" referred to in verse 9 was directed at the men who were employed at the temple to fulfill the sexual desires of the male and female worshipers.  The temple of Aphrodite was also in Corinth...and I learned that this temple employed more than 1,000 prostitutes as priestesses, and sex was a part of worship rituals.  All this talk about immorality was necessary because it was acceptable and popular in the culture at that time...and these believers in Christ were starting to become complacent.
That's the word that catches my attention.  When I wrote it I thought it meant something along the lines of getting bored, or just used to the same old thing.  But here's the definition of "Complacent": marked by self-satisfaction with oneself or one's merits, advantages, situation, etc., especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.

No wonder Paul was so direct in his teaching on this subject.  Sexual immorality was as pervasive in society way back then as it is today!  And how easy is it for us to accept the culture around us as normal...to become complacent.    What a tricky way for Satan to render Christians ineffective for the Church.  Makes me think how often we sit back and rely on others, or just don't think about a certain problem going on around us, and how the enemy can easily use this to keep us from our purpose in Christ. 

2 comments:

  1. good thoughts/post - makes you think and totally had no clue all that other "stuff" was going on!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's why I loooove my study bible...I basically read the chapter for the day, then I read the notes at the bottom of the page and they break down verse by verse...so it really helps me understand everything so much more.

    ReplyDelete