Steven Furtick — Conflict of Interest
As we study this passage today, we want to talk one more time about the Bible's best keep secrets about sex, marriage, and being single. But this week, I think will bring us to the heart of the matter.
So listen closely. I will read the scripture. I will make a few comments and then, I just want to pull out a few ideas in our remaining time. 1 Corinthians 7:25, Paul starts off saying, "Now, about virgins...", isn't that always an awkward way to open a conversation? If you don't think that's awkward, try it this week in a conversation just as an ice breaker.
Now, about virgins... and then, just look them. I have, he says, "I have no command from the Lord but I give a judgment as one who, by the Lord's mercy, is trustworthy". Here's what I take from that. Paul says, there's not a chapter and verse for the advice I'm about to give you but if you have the spirit of God inside of you, you don't always need the Bible to tell you everything to do and not to do.
A lot of the questions we get, and I looked over some questions this week so I could work them into my sermon, that people in the church had been asking. And a lot of them are, like, well, how far can I go if we're not married and can we do this and can we do that? And they almost want: is there a Bible verse saying that I can't do this?
And it's, like, well, you don't always need a verse to tell what's right and what's wrong. I mean, sometimes you just got to know on the inside what God is telling you. There's not a Bible verse for everything. There's not always a clear scriptural command but God's given you his spirit and he's given you a conscious and he's given you the ability to know sometimes this is not right. And when we ignore that, we do it to our own detriment.
So Paul said, "That by the Lord's mercy I have some advice to give you because...", verse 26, "of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to...", love this verse, "remain as he is". That's not what culture is preaching. Culture is preaching, you know, newest, bigger, better, faster. Paul says, "Right where you are...", right where you are, "God is there".
Wherever you are, God is there. And there may be things he wants to do in your life and new places he wants to take you. But in the meantime, be where you are. Be where you are. Because there was some kind of crisis he's referring to in Corinth. A crisis of morality to be sure that maybe something else was going on.
But he says, "It's good for a man to remain as he is". Verse 27, "Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released". Uh oh. Some of y'all can't get God to bless your marriage because all your focus is on escaping it. And God can't bless it until you commit to it. And how is he going to bless it with your hand all up on the back door looking for the fire escape all the time? But when you embrace where you are, God can bless it.
He says, don't seek to be released. Marriage is not a prison that you're trying to get out of. Time out for good behavior. He says, "Be blessed where you are". And then, he says, "Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife". And single people right here, you know, you may take issue with that, but, he's going to build some logic that's pretty hard to argue with and he's going to say that singleness is an advantage in serving God.
And so, let me read it. I didn't say that, Paul did. He said, "But if you do marry you have not sinned and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned but those who marry will face many troubles in this life". And all the married men said? You better not say anything.
If she's here sitting next to you, you better look confused at this point, huh? Trouble? "Those who marry will face many troubles in this life". And Paul's almost like the single dude who's just really negative about married people. He said, and I want to spare you this. And almost as if he can feel our confusion register and he sees that Elevation Church is highly confused by this line of thinking because it's so different than anything we're ever thought and heard.
He said, all right, verse 29, "What I mean, brothers and sisters...", let me break it down, "is that the time is short". I got fascinated studying different interpretations of this. Some scholars say that Paul thought that Jesus was about to come back any minute and he didn't think that he would even live long enough to die because Jesus would come back first.
And so, maybe, he thought that or maybe, he was just referring to the fact that even if you live a hundred years, in comparison to eternity if you believe in the concept that your soul lives on forever and this life is not all there is, in comparison to that, time is short.
It's funny how many people give me parenting advice. I don't know if it's because I sound like a horrible father from the sermon illustrations I share. That's possible, but, maybe they're just trying to help me out. And especially if they have kids that are a little older and they say, you know, it flies by. That's what they usually say.
And I actually preached about this in a series called, Times and Season. And I used a quote that helped me a lot where they say, "The days are long but the years are short". And what they're saying is when you're in the middle of these days where, you know, you don't want to be a dad or mom, you just, kind of, want to do your own thing.
It feels like, man, this day is never going to end. It feels like this stage is never... we're never going to get out of this stage. But you'll look back on it one day and go, where did it go?
And so, people are trying help me. They're, like, "Hey, don't miss recitals and don't check out and give it your all because it's flying. I know it doesn't feel like it's flying but it's flying". And so, Paul wants us to have that perspective. You'll see why in a moment.
He says, "Time is short. From on, those have wives should live as if they do not. Those who mourn as if they did not. Those who are happy as though they were not. Those who buy something as if it were not theirs keep. Those who use the things of the world as if not engrossed in them for this world, in it's present form is passing away and I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs, how he can please the Lord but a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife", or at least he better be concerned about that.
He needs to be. He should be. "And his interests...", verse 34, "are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs. Her aim," I love the archery term right in the middle of the passage. He's, like, quit living your life just shooting in all these directions and then, draw a target after you shoot.
He's, like, put something on the wall and aim for the center. And he said, like, your aim should be, and he defines it single or married but here he's talking about singleness. He said, "Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit".
See, the worst thing in the world is not to be single. The worst thing in the world is to be aimless. To not even know what am I getting up for? What's this all about? And you can have an aimless marriage. You can raise a family aimlessly, but, not if you come to this church because I'm going to preach about hitting that target and aiming straight.
And he says, "Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit but a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world". Listen, Holly. "How she can please her husband". And he said, verse 35, we'll stop with this one, not stop the sermon just stop reading. "I am saying this for your own good".
Now, what if you just believed that? That what God says, he says for your own good. If you just believe that about relationships, about sex, about marriage, about life, man, if you just believe that it would be a framework of favor that would make it so much easier for you to trust God. It's hard to trust somebody when you're not convinced of their motives.
He says, I'm saying this, God is speaking this through me for your own good not to restrict you but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.