17 But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. 18 First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. 19 But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

20-21 When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. 22 What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this! 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 New Living Translation (English Standard Version link)

We've seen in this letter by Paul that many Christians in the Church at Corinth were the sort of people who 'did their own thing' and took little notice of the feelings of others. They were self-centred. This was even obvious when they met for what became known as 'The Lord's supper'. It seems that Christians in those early years of the Church would meet together for a communal evening meal. At the meal they would likely have repeated the words Jesus said about the bread being a symbol of his body, and the wine a symbol of his blood. So they were remembering that Christ had died on the cross for their sins. But what was happening at these meals? (vs 20-21)

Some came with lots of food (and guzzled it themselves) while poorer believers came with little and were embarrassed – and hungry. Some even drank too much of the wine! It's hard to believe that that they could behave like that at a time when they were remembering how much Jesus Christ had given for them. No wonder Paul says that when it came to talking about the subject of the Lord's supper, he could not praise their behaviour! They were a divided self-centred bunch. What is the sad truth of vs 19.

The quarrels and divisions Christians have amongst themselves eventually reveal which ones were seeking to please God, and which ones just wanted to please themselves.

But we must be careful of looking with scorn on that Church in Corinth. A reading like this ought to make us examine our own hearts and ask God if there are ways in which we may be guilty of similar attitudes. Do we have cliques in our Church? Do we look out for the needs of people outside of our friendship circle – especially those who may not be as easy to get along with? Do we share what we are able to afford if we see a fellow believer in genuine need?

It's interesting to remember that this Church boasted about how knowledgeable and Spirit-filled they were. Their behaviour at the Lord's Supper certainly wasn't showing that. In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he said that when our sinful nature controls us there will be things such as quarrelling, jealousy, selfish ambition, division, envy and drunkenness! But if we are truly led by the Holy Spirit there would be things such as love – joy – peace – patience – kindness – goodness – faithfulness - gentleness - and self-control. (Galatians 5:19-22) That's the very opposite of a self-centred lifestyle.

Paul put an important question to the Christians at Corinth when he said “do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor?” May God work in our hearts so that when we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us, we won't want to bring any disgrace on the Church by the way we behave – but our desire will be to help other believers who may be struggling in whatever way we can. May our behaviour help the Church to which we belong, to be a Church that has God's approval.