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Sex
sells. If there is a product that you want to market, the best way to get
people to purchase it is to work on the packaging. We hear the words
enticing, alluring, eye-catching, sensual, provocative, et al. These words
are all meant to grab our attention. They are meant to seduce. Packaging
the product properly means that a need is created in the consumer – a
need the consumer may have been unaware of until that time.
In
fact, I purposely opened the sermon with the statement "Sex
sells" as a means of grabbing your attention. My desire was to be
provocative. My hope was to titillate, to arouse your interest. Now,
before I get into trouble, let me move to the issue.
In
the USA, we are free to choose how we are to live. We are free to speak
what is on our minds, and that freedom is protected. However, the freedom
to speak has boundaries. It is understood that you cannot yell
"Fire" in a crowded room when there is no fire. Words we speak
or write that are considered "hate crimes" are also not
protected by free speech. How do we establish boundaries that protect our
First Amendment rights?
There is certainly some debate over this, but my understanding of this is
that we determine free speech rights based on the mores of the society in
which we live. As society evolves/changes, we find that our mores
evolve/change. As this occurs, we will find that the amendments (or,
rather, their interpretation into law) evolves/changes as well. If I
understand this correctly, there is no standard of freedom throughout the
ages, it is to be reinterpreted with each generation.
I
say all this as a preface to the issues that Paul raised in this letter
with the people in Corinth. The Corinthians believed that they were wise
in the things of God, as they were wise in the ways of the world. They
believed that they had a spiritual maturity that exceeded many. They were
a people that had grown so much in their knowledge of the things of God
that they could not get their knowledge through the door (because of their
swelled heads). They believed that they had moved beyond the teaching of
the Apostle Paul – what did this "weak" man have to offer such
as them – at least that was a part of the attitude of these
"mature" Christians.
Paul brought them
up short in this letter. He couldn’t believe that these people that
called themselves Christian could continue to live by the standard of the
world. Let me describe what motivated the people of Corinth – you may
find that it has a correlation to where we are today. The people were
committed to "self" focused agenda. Paul, in this letter,
derided the Corinthians saying that they were puffed up, arrogant
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