Church Abuse, Part 5

Corinth

24^th August 2013

Not all church abuse originates with the leader or leaders. In Corinth it seems that a whole section of the church was abusing the other members:

1 Corinthians 11v17-22
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 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. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God-s approval.
When you come together, it is not the Lord-s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 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!

Unity is not just about being together; it's about sharing together. Whenever a church comes together to eat, it should be a truly shared meal, not just a bunch of people eating their own, separate meals in the same building. Sharing our food is one way that we can proclaim and celebrate our unity in Christ, and it's one way that the wealthier members can bless the poorer members.

In Corinth, however, it seems that the wealthier church members ate better food - and more food - than the poorer membes. This desire to satisfy their own gastronomic preferences, while neglecting other believers at the same event, was an insult to the poor and a division of the body of Christ. The very purpose of a shared meal was not just ignored, the reverse was happening. What should have brought the church together was making it more divided.

This is caused partly by selfishness - wanting to eat what I want to eat, even if others can't afford it. It's partly caused by undervaluing other believers - thinking they don't deserve to eat what I eat. But mostly, it's caused by failing to recognise that the church is one family:

Galatians 3v26-29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham-s seed, and heirs according to the promie.

In the church, there should be no division between slaves or free men, and there should be no division between rich people and poor people. Of course, some church members will have more money that others. And how they use their money is up to them (Acts 5v4). The church is built on love, not communism. But it's deeply unloving to eat better food than our brother can afford, in front of him and his family. As Paul asks rhetorically, Don-t you have homes to eat and drink in?

And this was happening when they came together for the Breaking of Bread (often called Holy Communion)! Paul makes it clear that when we act selfishly and unthinkingly, and humiliate our brothers, then it is not the Lord-s Supper you eat. We cannot celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord, by which He won salvation for all who repent and believe, if we act unlovingly towards some of those He has saved. We cannot celebrate the love of God while despising our brothers and sistersin Christ.

After reminding the Corinthians of what Jesus had told him about the Lord's Supper, Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 11v27-30
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Whatever else this means, it must surely also mean that:

• To eat a better meal than our brothers in Christ can afford, and to make them aware that we're doing so, is unworthy of Christ's sacrifice for us.
• Before we break bread, we should ensure that we do not despise our brothers by flaunting our wealth while ignoring their needs.
• To proclaim the Lord's death while despising the Lord's people will make you ill, and may cause you to die.

This is serious stuff. But it's only one example of how the privileged members of a church (by wealth, or race, or education, or class, or anything else) can demonstrate that they really don't have brotherly love for their brothers in Christ. God hates that. And we should hate it too.