ordinary christianity for the world.
Corinth, A Church Divided
Poetic Praise
Heresies
1 Corinthians 11:17-22
KLOVE, a Contemporary Christian radio station whose motto is "Positive and Encouraging" will never express the content of verse 17 — nor will KLOVE ever consider those aspects of the biblical message that disturb or offend anyone. They know that people want encouragement and do not want chastisement, so they pander to the former and ignore the latter. The problem with such "positive thinking" is that its criteria for evaluation is not the content of a thought or idea, but one's own feelings. It is based upon a purely subjective criteria and tends to eliminate any thought or idea with which one is uncomfortable. In short, positive thinking is not based upon objective reality, but upon one's own subjective desires and feelings.
In contrast, Paul tells the Corinthians that he will not praise them with regard to certain aspects of their coming together for worship. Inasmuch as they imitate Paul, he does praise them. However, in certain aspects of worship they have not imitated him but have indulged their own selfish concerns. Calvin hit the nail on the head when he said of this verse, "that they were not of one accord as becomes Christians, but every one was so much taken up with his own interests, that he was not prepared to accommodate himself to others".1
Paul went on to say that they did not gather "for the better but for the worse" (v. 17). The gathering together of selfishness magnifies selfishness, just as the gathering together of selflessness magnifies selflessness. In other words, their attitude — that complex union of beliefs, feelings and values that each of us bring to all that we do — was not in proper alignment with Christ. Something was wrong with their worship. An unchristian attitude was undermining their worship.
An instructive definition of the word attitude pertains to flying aircraft. The attitude of the plane is its position in three dimensional space relative to a frame of reference, usually the horizon. The point is that the attitude of the craft indicates its position regarding a frame of reference. Applied to people, a person's attitude is that complex union of beliefs, feelings and values that are derived from the person's frame of reference, from God who is our ultimate frame of reference. Thus, attitude is always an expression of one's faith, one's faithfulness or one's faithlessness, where faith is understood to be an expression of one's position with regard to Jesus Christ. Our attitude is a reflection of our beliefs, feelings, values and disposition to act in certain ways. The way that we act is the fruit of our attitude. Attitude is a spiritual matter.
Paul notes that when the Corinthians gathered together as the church there were divisions among them, or so Paul was told. Someone noted divisions among the Corinthians and reported that observation to Paul. Was it true? Paul thought that it was, at least in part. I would even speculate that Paul hoped that it was true because Paul knew that the Corinthians were guilty of immorality and apostasy — at least some of them were. So, if there were divisions among them, then perhaps all of them were not guilty. I imagine that some of the leaders had fallen from grace, but that a group of believers continued in faithfulness. Thus, the divisions in the church were for Paul a mark of hopefulness.
This insight comes from reading verse 19 back in to verse 18. Verse 19 reads, "there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." This is a very interesting verse because it suggests that, while Christians are to seek unity among believers, the churches will always have various kinds of divisions, schisms and heresies because God uses those divisions to grow and sanctify His people, to help them grow in faithfulness and understanding. This suggests that, while identifying schism and heresy are important matters, the process of such identification cannot — should not — be shut down by banning the discussion of various perspectives within the churches.
No one enters into Christian faith as an orthodox believer. We are all guilty of sin and are inadequate to the task that Christ has called us to. We cannot be Christians in and of ourselves, but must rely upon the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through regeneration and call upon the witnesses of history. In addition, no one reaches perfect sanctification in this life, which means that we continue to grow as Christians all our lives. And Christian growth is a double edged process. We grow "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:13-14). We grow in faith and obedience that leads to ever increasing maturity. Because life in Christ is eternal, growth in Christ is also eternal.
The other edge of Christian growth and maturity involves the process of disillusionment. In Christ we are increasingly disillusioned of our sins, errors and false ideas. J.C. Ryle said, "The man whose soul is 'growing,' feels his own sinfulness and unworthiness more every year. He is ready to say with Job, 'I am vile,' and with Abraham, I am 'dust and ashes,' and with Jacob, 'I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies,' and with David, 'I am a worm,' and with Isaiah, 'I am a man of unclean lips,' and with Peter, 'I am a sinful man, O Lord' (Job xl. 4; Gen. xviii. 27; xxxii. 10; Ps. xxii. 6; Isa. vi. 5; Luke v. 8.)."2 Growth in grace produces an increased sensitivity and repulsion to sin, particularly one's own sin. In other words, the more a person grows in grace, in faithfulness and obedience to Christ, the more s/he is aware of and disgusted by sin. I suspect that this is part of the generation gap that seems to exist perennially between the young and the old. The process of Christian growth is the process of stripping us of our illusions and false ideas until we come to full agreement with God's perfect knowledge.
Consequently, it is not enough to ban thinking, reading or discussion of aberrant theological views in the church. Everyone comes to Christ with all sorts of spiritual illusions and false ideas. It is not true that people are instantly stripped of all their false ideas upon regeneration. Rather that process begins with regeneration as we see that we have been wrong in various ways and willingly acknowledge our errors and repent of our sin. However, that is not the end of the process. It is the beginning.
The job of the elders, then, is to meet and further theological discussion in a way and manner that convinces people of God's truth, not merely tagging various arguments as schismatic or heretical, but by providing convincing arguments that eliminate lingering false ideas in the minds of believers. Those who cling to their false ideas and beliefs in the face of God's truth will leave the congregation either from a lack of support or from the suggestion or request of the elders. God's Word always draws the faithful and repels the unfaithful through theological clarification.
In other words, the process of sanctification through discussion and clarification plays an important role in the life of the church. A lively, healthy church will not refuse to discuss aberrant ideas and/or theologies among its members, but will eagerly engage and defeat such ideas — not by bullying those who believe wrongly, nor by the use of power politics to shut them down, but by the superior arguments of God's truth, and with patience, perseverance, discipline, wisdom, discernment and instruction (Psalm 86:11). The goal of reaching perfect sanctification in Christ cannot be reached apart from the process of growth that leads to it. To short-circuit the process for fear of where it may lead evidences a failure of faith in the power of Christ to persevere with His people and to bring them into all truth.
Thus, Paul said that various divisions in the church were normal because sin was both universal ("for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" — Romans 3:23) and lingering ("If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" — 1 John 1:8). There will be no perfect church this side of heaven, "for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized" (v. 19). In other words, the factions (heresies in the KJV, schisma in the Greek) are used as a foil to prove, sharpen and recognize genuine believers.
False beliefs "must be" in the churches, according to Paul, because "God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass" (WCF 3.1). God's purpose is unalterable, and since there were false prophets during Old Testament times, it must be expected that false teachers would arise in the Christian churches. Satan is always busy sowing the seeds and tares of false doctrine. And human nature, being both weak and wicked, is gullible to the lies of Satan, and is easily deceived. John Gill says that "it cannot be thought that it should be otherwise." Why would God allow falsehood to exist in His churches? For the teaching and training of the saints, for their sanctification and growth in grace, knowledge and understanding. Though God is not the author of evil, He uses evil as a backdrop from which to set apart holiness and to bring about its own destruction.
Verse 20 provides an example of how this process works. The example comes from the worship experience of the Corinthian church. "When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat" (v. 20). Interesting. They probably thought that they were eating the Lord's Supper, but Paul tells them otherwise. Here we learn that we are not always doing what we think we are doing, that we — human beings, and even Christians — are susceptible to self-delusion. Here we learn that it is possible to go through the motions of worship — eating the Lord's Supper — and still miss the point, purpose and experience of genuine worship. This same principle is found in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"
Paul continues, "For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk" ( v. 21). Notice that not only did Paul tell them that they were not eating the Lord's Supper, but here he told them that they were eating their own supper. Verse 21 repeats the same point, that they were substituting God's thoughts and desires with their own thoughts and desires. They were not worshiping God, they were projecting themselves.
The human mind is able to both perceive and to project. It can both perceive and organize patterns of information that exist objectively in its environment, and it can project organizational patterns that exist subjectively in itself onto its environment. We can read meaning from data, and we can read meaning into data. And it's not that one is right and one is wrong. Both are important. People do both all the time. Discerning order helps us understand. Projecting order helps us create. What is important is to know when to do the one and when to do the other.
The worship of the Corinthians, including their use of the Lord's Supper, failed to engage the objectivity of God's Word (thoughts and desires) in worship by projecting the subjectivity of their own words (thoughts and desires) in worship. Worship is one place we want to discern God's order and not project our own.
Young's Literal Version helps, "For each one takes his own supper first in the eating; and one is hungry, and another drunken" (v. 21). It is a difficult verse, but at root Paul alludes to three problems with what they were doing in their celebration of the Lord's Supper.
First, there was a kind of selfishness where each worshiper focused on "taking" rather than "receiving." By taking the Lord's Supper the central actor was the taker. By receiving the Lord's Supper the central actor is the Giver. Do we take what is ours? Or do we receive what is given? It's an attitude thing.
Secondly, they were neglecting those who were hungry in their midst. It's another example of the wrong attitude, of self-concern and the neglect of others.
And thirdly, some were drunk. All three problems were the result of their focus in worship being on themselves and not on God. The focus was subjective, not objective. They were self-concerned and self-focused when they should have been God-concerned and God-focused. They were more interested in getting than in giving.
Paul exploded in anger and frustration, "What! Do you not have houses 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 commend you in this? No, I will not" (v. 22). Paul was not against eating and drinking. He was not opposed to feasting or wine. Rather, he was interested in the sanctification of the Lord's Supper — separating the Lord's Supper from common eating. The Lord's Supper had a special purpose and was to be differentiated from other eating and drinking. And secondly, it was a church ordinance not a household ordinance. It was officiated by the elders of the church, not simply the head of the household. It was a communal meal that was centered around the church community, not merely the household community.
To miss the church-centered aspects of the Lord's Supper was equivalent to despising the church of God because it failed to provide proper honor to the structures of authority established by Jesus Christ. Part of true worship involved caring for God's people, and when the needs of poor and hungry worshipers were ignored the poor and hungry were shamed by their lack in the face of the abundance of God's provision in the midst of the community. Poor people often feel out of place in a wealthy congregation, and the Corinthian church was wealthy.
God is not against wealth, but insists that wealth be used according to His dictates. God cares for His people. He provides for them by insisting that His people provide for their own, for God's people. God's church is not a place for the wealthy to hobnob. Rather, it is a place for service, for everyone's service, including — and perhaps even, especially — the wealthy.
Jesus' instructions to the rich young ruler are pertinent: "When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.' When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'" (Matthew 19:22-26).
What have we learned in this section? First, Paul was not always encouraging, but would chastise people when they needed it.
Second, that God uses people who think differently to sharpen each other; "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17). Thus, theological discussion is not about winning arguments, but about learning God's truth. And when we are committed to God's truth, we are free to learn in every circumstance. The wisest Christian is never so wise that he cannot learn something from the dullest Christian. Paul's teaching about factions in the churches is about the distance between wise Christians and dull Christians, and growing in corporate unity through personal sanctification.
Thirdly, that true worship is not about the worshipers who gather together, but about the God who gathers them.
And fourthly, that we are all in continual need of God's grace and mercy because we continually get things wrong on our way towards perfect sanctification.
"Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge" (Psalm 57:1).
