August 8
________________________________________
ON DIVISIONS & PREPARATION FOR THE LORD’S SUPPER
17 Now in giving this next instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there also have to be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you come together it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for when you eat, each one takes his own supper first; and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What am I to say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you. – 1 Corinthians 11:17-22
________________________________________
According to Oxford University Press, Corinth was a port city: Along with grand economic gain and philosophical exchange came some questionable interpersonal behavior. Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth show that the problems of the city also affected the Christian community. Among the myriad problems in the Corinthian church were: claims of spiritual superiority over one another, suing one another in public courts, abusing the communal meal, and sexual misbehavior. Paul wrote to demand higher ethical and moral standards. In this letter, Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers on two things. First, he addresses the conflicts and divisions currently ongoing in the church and second, he reproves them of their conduct and attitude regarding the Lord’s supper.
Like a father scolding a child when they are misbehaving, Paul addresses the worldly ways of the Corinthian believers. He confronts and evaluates the way the believers were acting. He wasn’t pleased that divisions occur in the church, but also points out a good thing about the presence of factions in verse 19. He says that the conflicts will highlight those who are approved worker of God’s kingdom. Those who are approved by God will always expose the lies so that the truth will surface. Without the factions, the lies will not be exposed. In verses 20-22, he focuses on the unruly way that they handle the Lord’s Supper. He rebukes their attitude when they come to the Lord’s Supper. They are still thinking that they are in their own houses, where they can eat and drink to their hearts’ delight. They were not preparing their hearts to receive the Lord, but they want to continue to extend satisfying their own cravings. He chastised their attitude that isn’t honoring to God.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why is it necessary to prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper?