1 Corinthians 5-8: As we get ready for Thanksgiving there are many that will be making homemade rolls and cinnamon rolls. If you are the cook you know you will use a few cups of flour. You will use milk and oil measured in cups as well. One of the few things measured in teaspoons is usually yeast. Why? Because a little yeast worked through a pound of dough will cause the entire batch to rise. That small portions affects the whole.
That is exactly what Paul is saying in our reading today about sin. Though it may just be a small sin, or it may just be one person in a whole bunch of people doing it, it truly does affect the entire group. You have probably seen this in families where one spouse has an extra marital affair, but it affects everyone in the family. You may have seen it in Business where one person in the office steals or does something that is illegal and it affects the whole business. You may have even seen it in the church where the ungodliness of one can take an entire church down. My heart hurts even writing that.
We are not the first nor the last generation that has seen the affects of this. Think about Israel’s fall at Ai. Think about even some of our great patriarchs of the faith like David. None of us is perfect, but before choosing a sinful path we must all consider everyone it will affect. Sin is never a private issue. It wasn’t in Paul’s day and it isn’t in ours. Consider the cost before making an ungodly choice.