|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
July 30
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
Yesterday we saw in verses 20-21 that the Corinthian church members had incorporated a Love Feast into the Lord's Supper. There is nothing wrong with having a Love Feast. In our church we call it the Fellowship Lunch, and we have it every Sunday following the morning service. Everyone brings what they can, and everyone is welcome to participate whether they brought any food or not. We know that the first century churches practiced this because Jude 1:12 refers to "feasts of charity", and II Peter 2:13 warns the believers about false prophets who "feast with you". So there is nothing inherently wrong with the feast. It would not necessarily be wrong to partake of the Lord's Supper at the conclusion of the feast, for we know that the Last Supper took place at the conclusion of the Passover feast celebration. However, caution must be taken so as to not destroy the meaning of the Lord's Supper. There are two ways that the Corinthians seem to have done this.
First the Corinthians were behaving selfishly at the feast. The rich and powerful were taking for themselves and excluding the poor. They were hurrying to get in line first so that they could get the food that they wanted rather than showing love and deference to others. Some, probably those church members who were slaves or servants, wound up going away from the meal hungry. Apparently alcohol had become a part of the feast, and some were actually getting drunk. Keith Krell wrote,
"The cliquish behavior of the Corinthians reflected significant social and economic differences. What should have been an inclusive community meal had become an occasion for simultaneously private meals. This was an affront to Christ and His gospel."
Remember that the Lord's Supper is referred to as "communion" (I Corinthians 10:16). It represents the church members' communion with God, but also their communion with each other. The Corinthian love feast was in direct contradiction to the concept of "Communion". They had no communion with each other, and their selfishness revealed that they really had no communion with the Lord either.
Second, the feast overshadowed the Lord's Supper. Rather than having a meal which happened to precede the more-important ordinance, the meal became the important thing and the ordinance became insignificant. Paul speaks to this in verse 22 when he asks if they don't have houses to eat in. What they were calling the Lord's Supper had been turned into an extravagant meal, and nothing more. So Paul says in verse 34,
"And if any man hunger, let him eat at home".
Again, the problem was not that a meal was being served. The problem was that the meal had replaced the ordinance, and Paul says that if all that mattered to the church was the food, then they should stay at home and eat there. Paul says that by their selfish behavior they were "despising the church". The Greek word translated "despising" literally means "to think against". The focus of these believers was so much upon themselves that they wound up thinking against the church body as a whole. When a person's thoughts are all about himself, then he is no longer thinking about others, or the "big picture" of what the church is supposed to be about, and thus he stops caring about what happens to it. In addition, the wealthy were shaming those who were poor. The word "shame" carries the idea of "disfigure". They were humiliating the "have nots" by flaunting their own wealth and importance. Albert Barnes commented,
"It is hard enough, the idea is, to be poor, and to be destitute of a home. But it greatly aggravates the matter to be publicly treated in that manner; to be exposed publicly to the contempt which such a situation implies. Their treatment of the poor in this manner would be a public exposing them to shame; and the apostle regarded this as particularly dishonourable, and especially in a Christian church, where all were professedly on an equality."
Is "church" all about you, or is it all about the Lord? How do you treat the less fortunate members of your congregation?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
