Friday, July 25, 2014

M-W-F Bible study: 1 Corinthians 11:17-22


I was reading these verses in 1 Corinthians and thinking, oh they don't really apply to our church. But I kept feeling like there must be more here than I was seeing. So I did a little more reading on the web and found this message from Pastor Keith Krell, pastor of Fourth Memorial Church in Spokane, WA (formerly at Emmanuel Bible Fellowship in Olympia, WA). (full message here) It was in this following paragraph that I understood how 1 Corinthians could apply to modern churches:

"I wish divisions and partiality were problems only in first-century Corinth, but I am sure they are alive and well in the 21st century at Emmanuel. Do we prefer certain people over others? Do we gravitate toward those who have money or are successful by the world’s standards? Do we only want to socialize with those who are like us? Why do we struggle so to reach out to those who are different than we are? Our prayer must be that we will not allow any kind of prejudice, whether social, racial, generational, or cultural, to control our attitudes toward anyone in the body of Christ. We must always remember that God is dead serious about His body." (Keith Krell)

So, do we do this? Do we ever behave on prejudice of any sort? I think prejudices do exist in modern churches, including my own. It's something to increase our awareness of.

So, here are today's verses.

 1 Corinthians 11:17-22


17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!

(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary -- www.christnotes.org)

"Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:17-22

The apostle rebukes the disorders in their partaking of the Lord's supper. The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be apt to make us worse. If the use of them does not mend, it will harden. Upon coming together, they fell into divisions, schisms. Christians may separate from each other's communion, yet be charitable one towards another; they may continue in the same communion, yet be uncharitable. This last is schism, rather than the former. There is a careless and irregular eating of the Lord's supper, which adds to guilt. Many rich Corinthians seem to have acted very wrong at the Lord's table, or at the love-feasts, which took place at the same time as the supper. The rich despised the poor, and ate and drank up the provisions they brought, before the poor were allowed to partake; thus some wanted, while others had more than enough. What should have been a bond of mutual love and affection, was made an instrument of discord and disunion. We should be careful that nothing in our behaviour at the Lord's table, appears to make light of that sacred institution. The Lord's supper is not now made an occasion for gluttony or revelling, but is it not often made the support of self-righteous pride, or a cloak for hypocrisy? Let us never rest in the outward forms of worship; but look to our hearts."
Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. KrisJuly 25, 2014 at 7:06 AM

    I'm sure we all have prejudices of which we are unaware. My church has a variety of income levels and professional levels in it, and it IS easy to hang out "with your own kind" and to avoid others. I find it's easy to give money/food to the food bank in our church, but maybe not so easy to interact with those who may use the food bank, especially people who repeatedly make poor choices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LiliJuly 25, 2014 at 8:13 AM

      I find myself operating on a reverse financial prejudice, at times. There are a lot of affluent people in our area, and sometimes I feel that we just don't fit with their lifestyle. Spiritually, we do have a lot in common with everyone who walks through the doors of our churches. And I think that is often forgotten.

      Delete
    2. KrisJuly 25, 2014 at 8:49 AM

      I struggle with affluent people as well. We just don't have a lot of them in our church. :) If someone in our church has a real need, then that's what the food pantry is for, and I know several to whom that applies. Where I struggle with showing love and mercy is with some young men in our church who don't display responsible behaviors (getting a job, staying out of jail ... ) and who mooch from their mothers (one of the mothers uses the food pantry so he's really also using it even though he is capable of providing for himself). I find it hard to balance the whole mercy and justice concept and am not always sure how it should be applied.

      Delete
    3. LiliJuly 25, 2014 at 9:19 AM

      I completely understand where you're coming from. Sometimes we just need to pray, for patience in ourselves, and for some maturity and growth in others.

      I don't understand it either, how a young adult would NOT want to be responsible for themselves. But then, I'm sure other people have looked on me and found themselves not understanding some of my past behaviors (and maybe even some of my present ones). I'm just so grateful that our God has given me second, third, fourth and more chances in this life.

      At least, with these young men in your church, they are coming to church or have come to church, and hopefully the seed of the message of God has been planted. Just keep praying for them.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)