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Buried in the eleventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, in Paul's
discussion of the Lord's supper, is a little phrase that holds
a wealth of truth for the church today, and perhaps may provide
one clue as to why the church itself seems at times to be weak
and sickly.
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup
of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body
and the 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 ("discerning" in the
King James Version) 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." (I Corinthians 11:27-
30, NIV)
The Communion service is central to Christianity. In every tradition
with which I am familiar, there is some provision made for its
observance. The frequency of observance varies with the particular
tradition, but if it is a Christian church, it is observed at
some time on a regular basis.
there may be some variations as to who may partake, and in the
manner of the partaking. But the central focus remains; it is
an observance, a Sacrament, which calls to remembrance the atoning
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In varying ways and to varying
degrees, the two elements call to mind or represent the broken
body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The importance of this observance is frequently underestimated,
and too often it is conducted in a perfunctory manner. Sometimes
viewed as "mere" tradition, this sacred act may lose
its impact and power to impact us as it should. Yet, it can be
shown that this was a defining part of the worship of the early
church.
The question is, then, "what is it to recognize the Lord's
body?" The term recognize (NIV) is in the King James discern,
from the Greek diakrino, "to be discriminating, to
judge a thing."
The Corinthian church was an enigma. On the one hand, Paul says,
they "come behind in no gift' (1 Corinthians 1:7). On the
other, he says they are, "carnal, even babes in Christ."
(1 Corinthians 3:1). The problem which Paul addresses in discussing
the Lord's Supper is one important manifestation of a larger problem
within the Corinthian church. Beginning in the very first chapter,
verse 10, Paul confronts the issue of divisions in the church;
divisions which split the congregation many ways. There were parties
centered around leaders, around legal issues, around moral issues,
around religious customs, and between rich and poor.
It was the latter, in particular, that Paul addresses in chapter
eleven. They came together for their "love feasts",
but instead of showing agape love, the wealthy gathered around
tables laden with rich food and wine while the poor made do with
scraps of food and water! This violation of the agape, the love-feast,
made the observance of the koinonia, the communion, impossible
for them. The American Standard Version makes this abundantly
clear:
When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible
to eat the Lord's supper: for in your eating each one taketh before
other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in ? or despise ye
the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall
I say to you ? shall I praise you ? In this I praise you not.
(I Corinthians 11:20-22, ASV).
With callous disregard, the well-to-do spread their feast, indulged
themselves to excess, and brought embarrassment to the poor among
them. "Shall I praise you in this?" he asks, and then
emphatically answers the question, "I praise you not."
"Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry
one for another," Paul admonishes them in verse 33. In other
words, be courteous and considerate of others in your love feast.
In verse 34 he cautions, if any man hunger, let him eat at home;
that ye come not together unto condemnation."
The rich had violated the spirit of communion, of koinonia. Their
carnal, cliquish attitude violated the unity of the body of Christ,
and Paul addresses that as the sin that made it impossible for
them to truly observe the Lord' s supper. It was that sin that
not only brought sickness among them, but hindered healing.
What Does the Term "Body" Mean in This Context?
The phrase "not discerning the Lord's body" (King James
Version) is frequently taken to mean "not understanding the
nature of the bread, that it is the Lord's body," or "not
discriminating between ordinary bread and the bread of the sacrament
"
Those traditions that hold to the doctrine of transubstantiation
(that the wafer is in reality the literal body of Christ) or consubstantiation
(that the body of Christ is really and substantially present in,
with and under the supper) interpret the term "body"
to mean the "body present in the Communion." In this
light, the unworthiness is a failure to discern between ordinary
bread and this "sacred" bread. Such an interpretation
places an unnecessary burden of theological understanding on the
communicant. We do not believe that the bread itself becomes holy;
rather, that it is an emblem of something infinitely holy. The
bread may, by faith, become to us as the body of Christ, but it
never becomes the body of Christ.
There is something unique about the use of the term body in verse
29.
As you read this entire passage in 1 Corinthians 11, there is
frequent reference to "the bread and cup" of the Lord,
and in verse 27 he speaks of "body and blood", showing
that this is what the bread and cup represent.
In verse 29, however, "body of the Lord" stands
alone, with no reference to cup. Is Paul speaking of the broken
bread of Communion, or of some other use of the term body? Let
us look at this term, body, in some other passages:
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation
(communion, KJV) in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread
which we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because
there is one loaf, we who are many are one body: for we all partake
of the one loaf. (I Corinthians 10:16-17 (NIV))
The loaf we break is the communion (koinonia) in the body of Christ;
we are one loaf, one body, the church, made one in the unity of
the Spirit. The bread of communion is identified with the one
body of Christ. The emphasis is upon the fellowship of the body,
partaking together not only of the elements, but of one another
in the process.
"Koinonia," variously translated "communion"
and 'Fellowship," has the meaning of "having in common."
The root term, "koinos" is the term found in Acts when
we are told that the early believers "had all things common."
It is more than having a relationship on a superficial level.
As someone has said, fellowship is "two fellows in the same
boat." The church is a fellowship. We are members of one
body, and members of one another.
The passage 1 Corinthians 11:20-22 reinforces the meaning of the
term "body" as having reference to the church. In their
abuse of the supper, they are showing contempt for the church
of God; "or despise ye (disdain, think little or nothing
of) the church of God?" Paul asks.
This church, Paul teaches, is nothing less than the body of Christ.
In despising or disdaining the church (assembly of believers)
they are disdaining Christ.
"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one
members one of another." Romans 12:5
The Berkeley Translation has a footnote to 1 Corinthians 11:29
saying "the body of the Lord is composed of all believers."
If we accept this interpretation, which is supported by the other
passages quoted, we have a clear understanding of what it is to
partake in an unworthy manner: It is to fail to perceive that
we are all members one of another, and to understand what
that truth means in its fullness.
In an article entitled "Members of His Body," originally
appearing in the Pentecostal Evangel of October 11, 1941 (reprinted
July 18, 1993), the late Flem van Meter says:
"We are not a part of His body that was broken; it served
its purpose. But we are a part of a body that is formed by the
Holy Ghost. God's purpose is that we discern this body. Many have
failed to discern it, so they are sickly and suffering, and many
sleep. As we discern this body, we must look beyond appearances
and see the grace of God.
"We must examine our own hearts to see if anything there
mars the fellowship and the communion with our brothers and sisters
in the Lord."
Gordon Fee, Phd, is the author of the First Epistle to the Corinthians
in The New International Commentary on the New Testament,
(Wm. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids Mich.) Dr. Fee discusses at length
the various abuses of the Corinthian church. In his comments on
the phrase "not discerning the Lord's Body," p559) he
states:
"The 'unworthy' eating of verse 27 that brings judgment is
here described as eating 'without discerning the body,' meaning
the church (as in 10:16-17; this, after all, is the point of the
whole section). This is followed by prophetic pronouncements (v.
30) that some current illnesses and deaths are present expressions
of such judgment, brought about by their failure to discern the
body."
Peter H. Davids, Ph.D, in Wrestling With Dark Angels (Regal
Books, Ventura, CA) writes, "in 1 Corinthians. 11:30, Paul
argues that some in Corinth are weak and sick because of their
sin with respect to the unity of the Body at the Lord's Supper."
(Page 218).
As we transition from this phrase in 1 Corinthians 11:29 into
chapter 12, the term body takes wholly the meaning of the church,
the body of Christ.
It is right here, in our understanding of the reality of the Body
of Christ, that we fall short of experiencing the kind of koinonia
that frees our prayer life. This is especially true here in the
western world with our emphasis upon individualism. Few, if any,
of us have a true sense of community as an innate part of our
cultural heritage. We have very little concept of community and
even of family. We are essentially rootless, and take great pride
in our individualism. The present generation, more than ever before,
lacks any strong commitment to anything other than themselves
and their own "rights." The sense of "body"
within the church today is virtually restricted to our gatherings
when we occasionally hold hands and sing "we are one in the
bonds of love." The bonds do not extend beyond the walls.
All week long, a member may suffer physical and emotional pain
in isolation from the body without any sense of vital connection.
Far too often, healing and love are limited to the altar service.
Those who can't make it to the altar are left out.
What does it mean to discern the body of Christ?
To "discern" goes beyond the mere act of recognition.
It is to so comprehend the reality as to make a critical judgment
about it. A "gourmet" might be said to have a "discriminating"
taste. His acquaintance with food allows him to discern the subtle
flavors that the glutton misses! To "discern" is to
be able to get to the heart, the core, the crux of this reality.
It is to understand not only that the church is the body
of Christ, but what it means to be the body of Christ.
First of all, it means to understand the reality of the
church as the Body of Christ. We must see that this is not a figure
of speech, a metaphor, an illustration. We may indeed find certain
comparisons illustrative, but it is not "mere" metaphor.
The church as the Body of Christ performs the functions that the
human body of Christ did in His incarnation. While here on the
earth, the eternal Christ, Second Person of the Divine Trinity,
occupied a distinctly human body. It was not, as some heretics
supposed, the mere semblance of a body. It was a human body subject
to the strengths and weaknesses of a human body.
It served as the vehicle of His expression of God's love and mercy
to man. His physical feet took him where the Spirit led Him; His
hands reached out to touch and heal. His voice spoke words of
comfort or of judgment. His ears were attuned to the cry of the
helpless. His internal organs functioned to keep his body healthy.
His mind was attuned to the mind of the Father.
In just the same way, we may see the church, the Body of Christ,
functioning to complete the earthly ministry He began. Luke, having
given us a description of much of that earthly ministry in that
earthly body, begins the "sequel" to the first chapter
of Christ's biography by saying;
"In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus
began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to
heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the
apostles he had chosen." Acts 1:1,2, NIV.
That which He began in the days of His flesh must be continued
in the days of His ascension by those whom he had chosen, the
infant church. He commands them to extend the reach of the Gospel
he brought to the uttermost parts of the earth.
While it was left to the Apostle Paul to be the vehicle of the
revelation of the nature of the church, he commanded His first
followers to perform the functions of body from the beginning.
This we must discern. We must discern that the church was not
called only to be a gathering of believers. It was not called
to be only a building where believers gather. It was not called
to be an organization with a hierarchy of leadership, a two (or
more) tiered corporation. It was called to be not an organization,
but a living organism; not a corporation, but a corporate body.
At this late date, how can we possibly achieve that discernment?
When the general usages dictate that we build buildings and call
them churches? When we go to gatherings of believers and call
it going to church? When we engage in worship and study, and call
it having church? When we speak in terms of "serving the
Lord" only as something we do within the four walls of the
building we call church? Do you want to get saved? Go to church,
and go down to the altar. Do you want healing?: Go to the church,
and go down to the altar? Are you seeking a closer walk with the
Lord? Go to the church, and go down to the altar. Do you want
to minister to children? Go to the church, and teach a Sunday
School class, or midweek youth program.
If we are body, are we only body when gathered? What then
are we all week long, between "going to church?"
The answer to the question "how" lies, first of all,
in a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Paul declares his desire
in the opening verse of Chapter 12 that his readers should not
be ignorant of spiritual things. The term "gifts"in
several translations is supplied by the translators. It would
be more correct to say "spiritual things," or "spiritual
matters" as some translators put it. He then launches into
a discussion of the church as the body of Christ; this is a supremely
spiritual matter, and one of which we should not remain ignorant.
The Holy Spirit will work through His own giftings to bring us
to a place of functioning as the Body of Christ.
We cannot, however, escape the conclusion that something has been
lacking in our teaching and preaching., or else the general understanding
of this truth would be more clear and more widespread Our vision
has been extremely narrow. Since the earliest days, the understanding
of what it is to be the church of he Lord Jesus Christ has been
defined more by the culture than by the Word!
For instance, as the church gained power and acceptance in the
Roman Empire, she began to adopt the trappings of empire. She
established a hierarchy of bishops, archbishops, cardinals and
a supreme pontiff. She adopted priestly garments to denote the
rankings, and exercised her authority not only to guard the truth,
but to punish those who differed. Soon, factions within the church
were at war with one another. Sectarianism supplanted koinonia,
and each faction asserted itself as the sole "Body of Christ"
to the exclusion of others.