Author: missionspaul

God is here! How do we know?

Having focused on head coverings and the communion service Paul responds to the next on the list: spiritual gifts. (Now about)

“Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to dumb idols. Therefore I want you to know that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no-one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ 

In the opening introduction Paul says that they know themselves how their false worship had led them astray previously. 

But now as spirit-filled Christians they don’t stray like that. They are now Jesus followers. 

However is it possible that those who have spiritual gifts could stray? Is it possible that those who have seen healings, who prophesy and who speak in languages not learnt, stray?

The answer is YES.

So what’s the gauge?

Is Jesus being honoured? Are people’s thoughts centred on Jesus? Is Jesus being taught as Lord of our life? Are lives surrendered to His lordship? 

This was the most important and sure evidence that the Spirit was at work. It still is.

Jesus told us that when the Holy Spirit came He would not take the centre of attraction. Jesus would. The Holy Spirit would glorify, testify and take what is hidden in Christ and make it plain to us (John 15 and 16). So in any move of the Spirit that is what He will be doing. Jesus will be the centre and worshipped as King, no other name, this is the hallmark of the Spirit. Anything else isn’t. 

Paul concludes this section around the Eucharist which for the church was more of a love-feast than partaking a small piece of bread and wine in a short section within the church service. 

The love feast had become something it was never meant to be and perhaps at times the communion in our services have also.

“So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further instructions.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭

Church isn’t a place

• For people to be strangers. (But brothers and sisters)
• For individual worship. (Eat together)
• Where the primary reason for going is to have your needs met. (Eat before you come so that the focus is not on how much you can fill your stomach)
• Where the outcome is for judgment. (Let it not result in judgment).

These are shocking verses but nevertheless they are there for a reason.

“So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭27‬-‭32‬ ‭

Perhaps today you will be taking communion at church. It will certainly be done in a different way to this church and yet the principle is the same, in your worship you will be looking to what Christ has done on the cross. 

These verses have often been used in a way to keep people from the table and not draw them to it. 

So what does Paul teach us?

1. The unworthy manner is to have harmed a brother or sister in Christ in some way and still to go ahead and worship Christ, who gave grace to you.
2. When the Church comes together it enters into a fearful place of the presence of God. If we mock Him because we are hurting a member of the church then He may respond in hurting us. Shocking but it’s there!
3. Communion is not for those who are perfect but who recognise they are sinful but are doing something about it whether that be repentance or reconciliation.

Today don’t go to church flippantly. But approach with a deep respect for the grave and mercy that Christ has given to you and expects you also to give to others.

Paul is correcting them for their communion services. They have become a farce. Division, class warfare and self-serving attitudes should be no where near the Communion. 

“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.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ 

I wonder how many times you have heard these words as I wonder how many times I have said them. 

This morning it’s these words, ‘on the night’ that are striking a chord and causing me to ponder.

On the same night when Christ was attacked by outsiders and betrayed by insiders (and deserted also) He surrenders His life for us.

What are we doing if we are attacking one another and then going to Church to worship Christ for what He did on the cross for us?

What are we doing if we approach these times with bad thoughts regarding other people?

Are we not simply demonstrating what happened to Christ?

Are we no better than those who taunted, flogged and crucified Jesus? 

Are we no better than Judas?

Paul would say ‘We are just the same’. 

I have been moved recently by 2 friends who both contacted people they had fallen out with. One to apologise and one to reacquaint in some way. They felt led by the Holy Spirit to do so. Whatever happens, even if it makes no difference, their conscience is clear, they are not re-enacting what happened on the same night. 

Is there someone you need to go to also? 

It is hardly a surprise that this church which has political divides over leadership, taking people to court, sexuality and food sacrificed to idols are also divided when it comes to corporate worship.

Over the years I have witnessed people storm out of services, dogs escaping from the pew and running amok and I’ve seen people stand up to object about someone’s sermon. Recently on social media videos there are examples of Pastors shouting at members to ‘get out’ and members challenging pastors equally to get out. At first glance the response can be quite funny and then you realise this is God’s church.

So here we are at the communion service…..(oh and think far less of the use of those plastic communion cups with a wafer but that of a shared meal as a church where prayers and worship also took place).

“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. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭17‬-‭22‬ ‭

So what was happening?

Why was Paul (I think) being sarcastic when in v19 he says, “No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval”?

The centre of Christianity is the cross of Christ and there is no greater way of commemorating this than with the Communion service. It is what unites us. We are united around the broken body and the shed blood, the sacrifice of Christ, the total surrender of His life that we might be forgiven.

If in this moment we are behaving the opposite of what He did in that we are self-serving and focused solely on our pleasure or rights then it is not only that we are making a mockery but we ‘do more harm than good.’

Whatever was actually taking place it involved those who had were having more and those with less were not even being fed. There was excess in one section and hunger in another. This was not the church that was representing Christ on the cross. 

Paul told them it was far better to stay at home.

It is still the message today. We should remind Christians that if they cannot approach worship with hearts that are united and in recognising what Christ has done, they too lay their lives down for others, which includes not arguing over everything that divides, then, stay home. 

Don’t knock herd mentality because it can be the best protector for the Church,. The power of community is good.

The culture that you live in and in whatever generation speaks loudly to the Church. Wisdom is not running from it but embracing the good within it.

A shepherd needs to be able to bring correction and not just pats on the back.

“Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵ but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. ¹⁶ If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.” (1 Corinthians 11 v 13-16)

1. There are times when Christians should simply know the answer to their behaviours: ‘judge among yourselves’. It is the community that are the best judges of situations. Community.
2. The obvious within our culture can be the teaching points for the Church: ‘the very nature of things’. Not all that is found in culture is bad. Culture.
3. There are times we need to square up and tell people to stop being argumentative over things when we have laid out the practice of how we should behave beforehand, v16. Custom.

Paul seems to be calling for a return to the standard practice that he had drawn up for the churches. It seems he felt it to be tried and tested.

Christian men should be the best examples of being men and Christian women should be the best examples of being women in worship.

That’s what the churches of Paul – and of God – are like, according to Paul.

This church was in danger of moving away from this and it is still the case today.

Community, Culture and Custom. These 3 are crucial to Church worship.

I really don’t understand this passage. Paul just isn’t clear. But I’ve had a fresh thought which will come through at the end. 

“But I want you to realise 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 dishonours his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head – it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head. “A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord 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.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 -12 NIVUK

Is this about wearing a hat or how we have our hair?

Should men take their hats off to prophesy? 

Should women put theirs on to do so? 

What does Paul mean with the word ‘head’?

How can this be: ‘the head of Christ is God’? Christ is God.

How can this be: “the woman is the glory of man”? What about the glory of God?

What’s the role of angels in all this?

Is this still appropriate in 2025 to read these verses about man and woman?

Maybe you know exactly what all this means. The head of the woman is man because Paul says so. And with that you mean in a leadership position, the one who has authority. But following that thought, is Christ then not God? 

I can’t read this in the way that because man came first in the created order that women are somehow suppressed by God and are second. For both prophesy, both are bringing words from God. “Everything comes from God.” There is mutual dependence of both sexes.

In my travels in other cultures I do see head coverings for women not because of this scripture but because it is the culture. It’s what women do. It’s seen as the beauty of women. 

With the immorality creeping into this church maybe, just maybe, Paul is desiring men to be seen as men and women seen as women, especially as God uses them. Don’t mix it up. 

Maybe (again) this is one of the first rules of prophesying. Let God speak through your sex. It will be different to the opposite sex but be who you are, don’t change. For the sex that you are brings glory to God. 

Maybe.

These three aspects have been part of the sacred tradition since the days of Christ. They are still important today.

“I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.” (1 Corinthians 11 v 2)

It’s not sarcasm or simply being charming. This is an introduction to his answering of their question in the following section.

This is not just a complement. This is wisdom.

Wisdom

• If you are going to  bring correction it is good to bring a commendation first, but it has to be true.
• Calls for encouragement.
• Is passing on what has been passed to you without changing it.
  • From Christ to the apostles
  • From the apostles to the Churches
  • From the Churches to the following generations.

King Louie, the orangutan, in Disney’s 1967 animated film, which is based on Rudyard Kipling’s novel, The Jungle Book wants to be like Mowgli, the kidnapped man-cub. He wants Mowgli to teach him how to make fire though Mowgli hasn’t a clue because he was brought up in the jungle. Here’s the song for a Monday morning:-

Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
You’ll see it’s true
An ape like me
Can learn to be human too

It’s nice to start the day with a song. And here is the connection …!

 ^“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11 v 1)

This could be more connected to what Paul has just written in his summary of the food sacrificed to idols. Or it could be about what he is going to teach next regarding corporate worship.

What we can glean from this short verse is this:-

1. Discipleship is not only about compliance to rules but a journey of transformation. It is about following.
2. It flies in the face of ‘don’t follow me follow Jesus!’ It’s more ‘watch how I follow Jesus and then you will be able to follow Jesus even more closely.’ It is less about desiring to ‘wanna walk like you’ and more a journey to the same direction.
3. The ultimate end goal is Christ. We don’t become like each other as we might follow one another’s example but we do aim to become like Christ.
4. Leadership isn’t about authority it is about leading so that other people can follow your journey in your pursuit of Christ.
5. The Christian journey is not individualistic but set in a community.

I wanna walk like you is more about us being like Christ but for that to happen following others examples of doing so is a positive thing to do.

For 3 chapters Paul has been answering the questions about food sacrificed to idols.

It has been clear that Paul is concerned about two things: God and others.

The purpose of our lives isn’t about us. It is that others be saved and God be glorified.

Some people are not getting saved because of what they see in the lives of those who follow Christ.

We must address every area of our life because people are listening and watching.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ³² Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— ³³ even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10 v 31-33)

• Don’t wait for some grandiose moment to bring glory to God but do it in every mundane area of your life, v31.
• Don’t offend people by your own conduct, v32.
• Prioritise relationships over your own personal convenience, v32.
• Consider others especially people who are different to you, v33.
• Put their spiritual journey ahead of yours in importance, v33.