DANGER, DO NOT ENTER!

DANGER, DO NOT ENTER!

Land mines became accepted weapons of war in WWII. In the last 70 years, millions of land mines have been used in conflict to kill and maim the enemy. Armies use land mines in specific areas and then as the conflict moves on, often the land mines are left in place.

Mines are indiscriminate in their destruction. Once they are put down, it doesn’t matter to the device who gets killed or maimed: an enemy, a friend, an adult, a child — whoever triggers the device has to cope with the resulting explosion.

It is estimated that over 100 million land mines have been left in areas of previous conflict. Portions of Afghanistan, Iraq, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Balkans have tens of millions of unexploded mines that have yet to be discovered. Hundreds of innocents are killed and maimed every year because they accidentally step on one of the explosive devices.

When a left-over land mine is discovered and before it is removed, a warning sign goes up to keep everyone away. The sign is a reasonable and appropriate way to let all know: “DANGER! DO NOT ENTER THIS AREA!”

Paul tells the church, “I am writing to warn you of some things that can totally ruin your journey of faith. We were taught these by studying the exodus of the children of Israel and learning from their example” (see 1 Corinthians 10:6 and 11). Paul likens the exodus from Egypt to our journey of faith and suggests that we can totally mess up our life in Him if we don’t pay attention to the warning signs that have been planted by the Holy Spirit. He lists five things that will blow up in our face if we trigger them.

 Here is the danger list:

     1.      Lust

This is not primarily sexual lust; it is selfishness and attempting to gratify oneself at the expense of someone else. In other places, Paul refers to this as coveting (Romans 7:7), which is to desire something that belongs to someone else. In the context of Paul’s Corinthian letter, he is speaking of the intense craving of the Jews in the wilderness to return to the pleasures of Egypt (1 Corinthians 10:6).

Lust is a “spiritual land mine” and if you step on it, it will trigger a response!

     2.      Idolatry

Idolatry means that we have replaced God as primary in our lives and put something else in His place. Idolatry can take the form of material things (home, business, money); it can be another person, or it can be a fantasy, such as television, the movies or pornography. Education, intellectual pursuits or one’s place in society also can become idolatrous (10:7).

     3.      Sexual Immorality

Immorality is so rampant in our society that I know this paragraph will not be well received by many in the church. In an attempt to “modernize” the Scriptures, recently there has come an argument that says, “Paul and the other New Testament writers were writing from a first century perspective and what they have to say has to be translated into the cultural language of the twenty-first century.” Okay, let’s do that! Here is what the Scripture has to say about immorality in the twenty-first century: “All sex outside of marriage is sin! Homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle—it is sin!”

To suggest that God’s Word is outdated is not an attack on the Word, it is an attack on the Lord God Almighty who is eternal. His Word, as we have it in written form, does not come from a first century perspective but from the heart of our God who speaks to us from eternity and, therefore, His truths are timeless (10:8).

     4.      Testing The Lord

Testing the Lord is demanding that God do what is contrary to His will or inconsistent with His character. The person who lies and cheats in a relationship or in business and then demands that God bless him is “testing the Lord.” Positive confession in the extreme is dangerously close to “testing the Lord.” Testing the Lord is pushing the boundaries to see just how far you can go, to see how far God’s longsuffering reaches (10:9).

     5.      Grumbling/Murmuring

Complaining about God’s plan and the leaders God has raised up is nothing less than an act of rebellion, and stepping on this will trigger a response.

Sowing discord among the brethren is a sin. The children of Israel in the wilderness were complaining/grumbling because instead of being taken immediately into the “Promised Land,” they were taken through the wilderness and like spoiled, rebellious children they wanted to go back to Egypt. Murmuring has its roots in unbelief and is a denial of the goodness and mercy of God (10:10).

When the children of Israel ignored the warning signs and stepped into these forbidden areas on their way to Canaan, a response from God was triggered.

Paul wrote these verses in 1 Corinthians to alert us to an existing minefield. His words are a giant warning sign that says, “DANGER! DO NOT STEP HERE!”