What did Paul really mean when he wrote to the Corinthian church saying that they should 'examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves..." 1 Cor 11:28-29?
Well, first of all, I don’t know because I wasn’t there. So we should always proceed cautiously before making sweeping statements from a letter written to specific audience in a specific place in a specific time.
Yet … a quick read of the surrounding passages should alert us to the tragic extent that these verses are (usually) taken completely out of context in church.
Did Paul really mean, (as many a well-meaning yet misleading preacher has put it) that one must search their hearts for unconfessed or unrepentant sin before approaching Communion with Christ, and if not they should refrain from participating?
To you, O well-meaning preacher imploring for our self-examination, haven’t you heard the maxim that ‘one pointed finger means there are three pointing back at you?
But if you won’t examine yourself, at least examine the passage.
I heard a brilliant line recently: "If you take the text out of context what are you left with?" Did you work it out? If not hang in there: I'll tell ya at the end.
The heading to this passage (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) in the NIV says, "Correcting an Abuse of the Lord's Supper."
What Abuse Is To Be Corrected At The Lord's Supper?
Is it that sinners are being welcomed to the table? Well … that would put us at odds with many other key passages in the Bible. What about the prophet Isaiah who cried out, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” Or the Spirit Himself who declares in one of the Bible’s great closing statements: “Come! And let the one who hears say ‘come!’Let the one who is thirsty say ‘come’; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev 22:17).
Are we then to stop sinners partaking in Communion? Should we change Isaiah’s words to “come all you who are perfect,” and the Spirit’s to “let the one who is sinless say ‘come’?!
Without trekking around the rest of the Bible, the present passage alone tells us that this is precisely the abuse that both Paul is warning against, and that our well-meaning preacher mentioned above is perpetrating: drawing boundary lines of distinction within the people of God.
Let me explain.
Paul is speaking into an issue in the early church which led to conflict between himself and Peter and the church in Jerusalem. The issue was to do with how to blend Jewish and non-Jewish believers together into a new family of God. Did the non-Jewish converts to the Christian faith also have to become Jewish converts? And if they didn’t were they to be considered “less Christian” in some way? Paul's answer was a resounding ‘no!’, and so when Peter began eating at a separate table from the Gentile converts to make a distinction between them, a sort of elitism crept into the church. You can read the story in Acts 15 where Paul confronts Peter about this very issue.
So when Paul says they should “examine themselves”, he's talking about whether or not they are opening up their table to everyone, or whether they are making people eat separately and thereby creating elitist circles in the church.
Paul’s advocating for radical inclusivity and lavish hospitality, not closing the table to people who are not perfect.
Just read his conclusion: "so then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together" (1 Cor 11:33).
Is it possible then that to discern 'the body of Christ' is to discern which people comprise it? I.e Who is part of the corporate “Body of Christ” and who is not?
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes about those who make up the church being "his (Jesus') body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." In other words he uses the phrase 'the body of Christ' (here and elsewhere) to refer to Jesus' followers.
In this 1 Corinthians passage he is raising (again—as in Galatians and elsewhere) the issue of the Jewish/Gentile equality in the Messiah Jesus.
He's saying in effect, “Look, if you're still going to put divisions between Jewish and Gentile Christians, it's like you're saying Jesus died for nothing. And if you say that you are not accepting the sacrifice and Lordship of Christ and therefore are damning yourselves..."
Again, a good hermeneutical principal is to let Paul interpret Paul. In his letter to the Ephesians he says: "He himself (Jesus) is our peace, who has made us both one and broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, so making peace, and reconciling us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility" (Ephesians 2:14-16).
Jews and Gentiles, coming together through the atoning work of Christ on the cross, creating one new redeemed humanity. Old distinctions done away with, all equal in the Lord. This is Pauline theology at its core.
So back to the question: what happens when you take the text out of context?
That's right, you're left with a con.
Okay, I'm sure its unintentional on the preacher's behalf, but still...
If someone uses this passage to say "examine yourself to see if you are sinning and if you are, then don't come to the table because you are unworthy..." they are saying the very opposite of what Paul intended.
This particular passage aside, this instruction doesn't even stand up to basic Evangelical theology.
For if Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, you are saved by grace through faith, and your sin has nothing to do with it. We all sin, saved or not! Should the one who recognises their sin withdraw from fellowship at the table? Nay! They should rather identify with the humble sinner who beats his chest and says, "God have mercy on me a sinner" (Luke 18:13-14), and of whom Jesus said, "I tell you, this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God." Who was the other man? The Pharisee who said proudly, “God I thank you that I’m not like other people…” In other words, who considered himself pretty good in the eyes of God thank-you-very-much!
I have spoken with those who stay seated, yearning for Communion with their Risen Lord, as they should, yet withheld from His healing presence by misleading theology. Some do it for months on end, until they feel like they performed well enough that week to deserve it. One person told me through tears that has not had communion for six months, because they weren’t “pure enough”(!).
I must admit, this ruffles my feathers.
Also, as a church leader I would not want to be the one coming between our Lord and His precious redeemed.
This is not to say that one shouldn't examine themselves for unconfessed or unrecognised sin before approaching the table of the Lord. It's just not what this passage is about. And to that premise I simply offer a different conclusion: if you find sin (and you should) then approach the throne boldly through grace, with tears of repentance and a heart of worship for your Lord and Saviour who has redeemed you from it, and partake in fellowship with your fellow redeemed sinners with joy and humility.
And for the preacher who continues to draw boundary lines within the community of the people of God —examine yourself! It’s for reasons like this that James writes: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 1:1).
Read these verses (1 Cor 11) again in their full severity, but this time in the context that you are one they are addressed to, church leader, not the people in the pews, and you are doing precisely the thing Paul is warning against: not correctly discerning the body of Christ. The passage threatens you with judgment and condemnation. Geez. You're welcome.
In the meantime, let us practise lavish hospitality, and celebrate the equality of our uselessness in our own strength and ability to save ourselves, and each of us approach the communion table with a heart of joy for our Lord who has forgiven us all, and set us free to together comprise the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Amen and amen.
But hey, just my two-bob’s worth as usual.
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