We Are Living in Modern-Day Corinth
Posted on June 6, 2023
Our culture has deemed June “Pride Month,” in which they celebrate gay marriage, transgenderism, and any other kind of deviant and sinful lifestyle. Both the Old Testament (Lev. 18:22) and New Testament (Rom. 1:26-27) condemn these lifestyles, and yet it should not surprise us that the culture pushes forward in their anti-God agenda. What’s clear is that it’s getting worse as the culture becomes more brazen in their celebration of sin. But the real problem is that corporations and churches are bowing to the LGBTQ movement and kids are being targeted amidst the chaos of transgenderism and drag queen story time.
Our culture is resembling the ancient city of Corinth, a place of great wickedness back in the first century. Let’s look at three parallels between ancient Corinth and our own nation, and then end with the answer to the biggest question of all, What can we do?
Prosperity
Due to its ideal location in Achaia, Corinth prospered as a major trade city for Greece, North Africa, Italy, and Asia Minor. Ships would often dock at Corinth to rest, trade, get supplies, and continue on their voyage. The Isthmian games, one of the most famous athletic events of that day, was hosted by Corinth, causing even more people-traffic. The city was culturally diverse due to the influence of both Greek and Roman customs. It was also one of the most beautiful cities of the ancient world with its long thoroughfares and magnificent temples. Many people enjoyed the luxuries that Corinth had to offer.
Here in the United States, we have prospered greatly. The Middle Class is far wealthier than most of the world’s “wealthy” class, and we have enjoyed many luxuries. Our country is also culturally diverse. However, with all of this prosperity comes a dependance on money and materialism. When this dependance increases, our dependance on God diminishes. Churches in America are struggling. In fact, many people don’t even want to attend church anymore, and it’s probably because in their prosperity, they don’t see their need for God. The book of Jeremiah accurately describes this dilemma: “I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear” (Jer. 22:21a).
Perverseness
Corinth was known for its sexual perverseness. In fact, a term was created due to its infamy: to “corinthianize” came to represent gross immorality and drunken debauchery. One of the most famous structures found in Corinth was the temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility and sexual love. This grand temple employed one thousand temple prostitutes. This means that the city was so overrun with sexual perversion that it became commonplace.
The parallel here should be obvious. “Pride Month” in our nation is all about celebrating sexual perversion. The Left is pushing sex education in public schools so that the young and innocent minds of children can be perverted with both pictures and demonstrations of sexual intercourse. Drag queens (men dressed as gaudy women) have infiltrated libraries in order to indoctrinate children with their perverse sexual ideology. More and more movies and TV shows are having gay couples so as to make these “marriages” seem normal and commonplace.
Make no mistake: our culture is just as perverse as ancient Corinth! The LGBTQ movement is our temple of Aphrodite, and the drag queens, gay actors, and transgender spokespeople (such as Dylan Mulvaney) are the temple prostitutes that are infecting our schools, churches, and homes. This perverse “religion” is nearly everywhere you look.
Paganism
The ancient city of Corinth was a religious place. The citizens worshipped Asclepius, the god of medicine, and offered votive offerings in gratitude for healings. There were temples to other Greek gods, such as Poseidon (god of the sea) and Demeter and Kore (goddesses of an ancient Greek fertility cult). There were also places of worship for foreign gods, such as a shrine to the Egyptian god Isis. So we could say that it was a “religiously diverse” place.
So is our nation today, but I’m not referring to traditional religions. Our culture is steeped in paganism. New Agism is quickly accepted today in common practices like Yoga. Occultism and Spiritism are both gaining ground as many people are fascinated with spiritualism, but not with God and the Bible. And make no mistake, “Climate Change” is a religion as its proponents are more concerned with the planet’s life than human life (this is nothing more than the worship or nature).
The United States used to be called a Christian nation, but unfortunately, we more closely resemble a pagan nation now. We have fallen into darkness.
What Can We Do?
First of all, don’t lose hope. Revival is still possible, no matter how wicked our nation becomes. So pray for revival across this land! But secondly, we can do exactly what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:58). The church must continue to stand for the truth of God’s Word and preach the gospel. We as individual Christians must continue to let our light shine (Matt. 5:16), and to tell others that Jesus saves.
While the culture celebrates sin, we must turn their gaze to the cross. We must NOT cave to the culture, as so many have already done. We must NOT turn a blind eye to what is happening in our schools and communities. We MUST preach the truth, even if it is not popular or accepted. This is what the first century Christians in Corinth had to do, and so do we. We must abound in the work of the Lord, and don’t grow discouraged, because your labor is not in vain. May we be faithful to the work of Christ in these last days.