Curses

There's something curious at the end of 1 Corinthians.

Paul does his usual thing, passing on greetings from various churches and people. "The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss." (1 Cor 16:19-20)

These greetings, standard as they are in the New Testament letters, are pleasant because they suggest a sense of community we don't have. Separated by days worth of travel, these churches still felt closer to each other than to the communities they lived in. In fact, many of those early Christians, separated by miles of rough geography, knew each other by name - Aquila and Priscilla, for example.

But then Paul writes something unexpected: "If anyone does not love the Lord –a curse be on him." (v22).

Wow, really? It's OK to curse people? Remember, Paul isn't cursing at these folks, like using bad language to let them know how unhappy he is. He's cursing them, as in the opposite of blessing. Putting a curse on someone was to make (if you believed in supernatural powers, which most people did back then) or at least want something bad to happen to that person. Maybe they would break a leg or get boils, maybe something worse.

To put a curse on someone seems vindictive and mean. To me, there's a connotation of vengefulness, as if Paul would like to get even with all those who stoned him and jailed him. But that would be completely out of character for Paul.

Knowing Paul, I'd bet he means people who have heard the gospel but still don't love God. And it seems likely, in the context of this book, that he has on his mind those who lead others astray with their divisiveness and false teaching. Even so, this whole curse business makes me uncomfortable, just like God's orders to the Israelites in the Old Testament to slaughter entire towns.

I don't claim to understand it, but it reminds me that sin is serious business, and that sinners deserve death. Jesus said that someone who causes a child to sin would be better off jumping in the ocean with an anchor around his neck. We have such a nice faith, one characterized by love, that we forget that the justice side of it calls for our blood.

Sobering, but if we forget that, the cross is of no use to us. Jesus blood only has meaning in the context of my sin. I dare not take that lightly.