I Corinthians 8-11 continued...

1 Corinthians 11

God wants order within his Church. God is a God of order. Nature is full of order. The universe is full of order. Why is there a movement toward disorder within many churches? God wants order in church services so we can represent God properly to the world. Remember when Moses misrepresented the Lord when he beat the rock and gave his angry little speech to the children of Israel? God didn't take that lightly. He didn't allow Moses to enter the Promised Land as a result.

In verses 1-2 we find the Corinthian church remembering the practices of the church, and Paul praises them for this, but as things unfold in the chapter we'll find they were forgetting Jesus. The church was in a period where their focus was on the rituals, ordinances and practices while they were forgetting their relationship with Christ. Today, we see a revival taking place where people want the joyful relationship with Jesus restored, but they are now throwing away the proper order and rituals--creating disorder. The balance is what Paul was pointing to. We need both--proper order and rituals and a restored joyful experience with Jesus Christ. In verses 3 and 17 Paul focuses on the structure of authority. In Galatians it says we're all equal in Christ. In society we recognize the need for authority and the Church itself has levels of authority within it. [Complementary to this vital subject of order within church services is Hank Hanegraaf's new book "Counterfeit REVIVAL", available on http://www.amazon.com .]

Verses 1-2, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you."

This teaching only appears once, in verses 3-16. Things of great importance God inspires to be written two or three times. Paul shows women do pray and prophesy within the church. But historically in the temple of Aphrodite the temple prostitutes had their head shaved. It is a potential theory that Paul was addressing them in this matter. It could be a historical reason more than anything. Also, in the Middle East women wore veils in public to show they were unavailable. Verses 8-9 show the woman is the glory of the man. In the 90's the feminization of man and the masculinization of woman has taken place. This goes against the Godly established order Paul was stressing here. Verse 10 potentially indicates the angels assigned to us like this order. This shows there is heavenly emphasis pointing towards order in our families and within the Church. God even divided up his mental/psychological gifts to men and women. There is a complementary created order here, even in the way our minds are hardwired and in the mental software. Men and women are not the same mentally, but complement each other. The trinity even reflects the order and authority structure. Verse 14 is the controversial "hair-length" scripture. If you're a man and like to have long hair, you have to search your own conscience with the Lord. Also what one person considers long is not considered long by another. We mustn't be judgmental of others. This is a personal matter. Verse 14 could also be the modifier for the previous verses about being covered and uncovered--being covered referring to having long hair and uncovered referring to having short hair. We just don't know for sure. You have to search your conscience and follow what you believe is right, for what is not of faith, as Paul says in Romans, is sin. Paul leans more on our exercising and using our Christian conscience in matters than in adhering strictly to firmly established do's and don'ts as legalists try to do. There is a balance. Legal authority and order within church services and government is needed so God and Christ are properly represented to the world. But many matters are left up to individual Christian conscience.

Verses 3-16, "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For the man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.

In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. [verses 13-15] Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice--nor do the churches of God."

The Lord's Supper, Communion Ordinance

Paul points out a divisive attitude they were showing during their observances of the Lord's Supper. They were having agape feasts, big pot lucks at which they were eating and getting drunk. They've remembered the ordinance, but had forgotten the passion. There are four reasons the passion dies.

1. We become overly familiar,
2. We seek man's approval in front of others,
3. Our environment around us absorbs us (Corinth did this to the Corinthians),
4. We can get distracted by the details, vs. 24, 'Do this in remembrance of me.' Don't forget the purpose--to remember Jesus and his sacrifice.

Paul was saying, 'The way you guys have been doing this is totally wrong. He then goes on to share a warning with them, 27-32. Verses 17-32, "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 [the name of the first century Church Jesus founded] and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. [Some fellowships and denominations call this Communion or Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper, and observe it on a regular basis, sometimes twice a month, while some few chose to observe this once a year as a true memorial, kept on the 14 Nisan as John, Polycarp and Policrates did. The Bible doesn't say either way is right or wrong. It is one of those matters left up to the individual conscience.]

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner [without proper respect or reverence for what the ceremony represents] 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 recognizing 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 [died]. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world."

In verse 33 Paul reminds them to come together with a right heart. In these first two elements of Church order they were dishonoring God. Verse 33, "So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat [and by context here, he's talking about eating the Lord's Supper, Communion], wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions."