Paul turns his attention toward another problem within the church that the Corinthians are creating for themselves because of their refusal to see themselves as one and to seek one another’s betterment. 

Paul would ask each Christian why he or she gathers with others around Christ’s table. He criticizes the Corinthians because they come “to eat the Lord’s Supper” not for sake of unity but for the sake of distinguishing themselves one from the other. Remember that this church has become factionalized: “I am of Paul…of Apollos…of Cephas…of Christ…” Some feel comfortable eating food sacrificed to idols because they “know better,” and others, it seems, want to ignore the fact that in Christ Jesus there is no male or female. It should come as no surprise, then, to discover that the reason for the Corinthians’ coming to the Lord’s Table for communion is as selfish and self-centered. Paul cannot understand why the Corinthians are acting this way. “Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink?”

“For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!” They have the bread and the wine, but communion has ceased to be that and has become, instead, an individual affair; its purpose as a means of creating a new community in Christ’s body and blood lost. 

“Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you?” he asks. Here, Paul starts meddling in the lives of modern, Western Christians. In these Corinthian’s zeal to prove how strong their faith is, how in tune with God their lives have become that they can take care of their own communing with Christ—each attempting to walk closer to Christ on his or her own—they prove that they have to idea what the church of God and, in fact, may be demonstrating that they hate it. 

Their Christianity has become a work of individual merit lacking all empathy and compassion. Based on Paul’s response—“What should I say to you? Should I praise you?”—I can only reckon that these Corinthians were expecting an double thumbs-up for their efforts toward becoming righteous. No, Paul tells them, he will not praise them because what they are doing around the Lord’s Table is anything but righteous! 

Paul continues:

These Corinthians have done the opposite of what Jesus commands here regarding His Table: They have forgotten Christ. The purpose of communion is to remind us of what Christ has done for us and empower and motivate Christians to be willing to do the same for others. It’s not, “Jesus died for me, so I must be awesome,” but, “Jesus died for me so that I can lay down my life for you.” Paul will return to this in his letter to the Philippians. Ask not what the Church can do for you, but what you can do for the Church. The Corinthians, and even we, can do this because in communion we place ourselves spiritually with the other disciples around the table in that upper room so long ago. 

Deuteronomy 26:5-9a states: “’And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God: “My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place…” (NKJV)

This passage plays an important part in the Passover celebration in Judaism. In reciting it, Jews identify themselves with those who have gone before and lay claim to the blessings, attention, and promises that God bestowed upon them. In this act, they become the child Jacob’s child; they become the victim of oppression; they are liberated by God and brought into the Promised Land. Paul’s point to the Corinthians is that it is the same for them around the Christ Jesus’ Table in communion. The same blessings that the disciples and first apostles received they do, too, when they place themselves at that table spiritually. 

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” This sacrifice is ongoing, not in the sense that Jesus dies again and again, but, rather, that we receive from Him forgiveness and ongoing sustenance to continue our journey and the mission that we have received. Jesus died to free us from the power of Adam’s sin, and Jesus lives so that we might have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

When the Corinthians take part in communion in a way that causes division—for the purpose of elevating and distinguishing themselves one from another—when they forget the reason why it was given to them by the Lord, when they ignore the fact that it proclaims Christ’s sacrifice to establish a relationship with God for the sake of those unworthy to have one, they commit sin and make a mockery of the very Church that Jesus has established through His death and His new life. 

Of course, Paul is not talking about physical but spiritual sickness and death. Visit the podcast’s series on James to dive into the topic of spiritual sickness. Here, he is calling on the Corinthians to practice of critical self-evaluation: “If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged [by the Lord]”. How often do we do this, if at all?

I guess things don’t change that much. In most churches today—both conservative and progressive—rarely do we experience the sentiment of “How have I contributed to this problem?” We judge ourselves worthy and, gosh darn it, okey-dokey. We, like the Corinthians, have made Christianity about ourselves: why we are ok as we are or why we are right or why we, ourselves, or others should accept who we are—rather than about taking hold of the life of Christ, ourselves, and sharing it with other. And as he has just said, that divine life is defined by His death on the cross and the empty tomb—both of which the Savior experienced for our sakes. 

We must make every effort to make our faith about Christ’s work—about others. How different would our communities be if our churches would focus on others and not ourselves—if we promoted their closer walk with Jesus rather than practicing our faith in order to feel good about ourselves?