You wouldn’t think such a simple subject could be so complex and controversial. But leave it to us to make things complicated. What’s the topic? Communion. The Lord’s Supper. The Love Feast / Agape Meal.

Depending on where you’ve been to church and what denominations or branches of Christianity you’ve been a part of, you’ve likely had very different experiences. This is what I’ve seen based on different services I’ve attended:

• For Catholics, this is the central aspect of the service. It is very formal. It is very exclusive: Catholi-church member only. It is very limited to a tiny cracker and a 1/10 of a shot of grape juice or wine. Everyone gets up, goes in a line, and does their thing, before coming back to their pew.
• For Methodists, this is also formal and a bit more inclusive. You don’t have to be a “member of the church” but you are supposed to be a believer. But instead of a morsel, you grab a chunk off a loaf of bread and you dip your chunk of bread into a large goblet to soak it with juice or wine. Everyone is up in line, does their thing, and comes back to the pew.
• For Baptists, still formal but a lot more inclusive. You certainly don’t stand up and get in a line though. Instead, the deacons come up and down the rows serving that infinitesimally small, pill-like thing that they call bread and that 1/10 shot of grape juice. Never wine! Can’t be getting drunk off those 1/10 shots in Baptist country! This communion is usually done once a month or once a quarter, certainly not every service like the Catholics. Another big difference is that it is up to the individual or the family to decide if someone is able to take it, so you’ll often see parents giving it to their little kids, sometimes, I’m convinced just to hold them off until they can go to lunch after service. *wink*
• For non-denominational groups, it just depends on where you’re at and what flavor of church it is. Basically, it could be any variation of any of those options above: every service multiple times a week or once a quarter or once a year. It could be wine or juice, goblet or 1/10 shot size. It could be dipping or separate. It could be formal or informal. It could be only people who are members in that church or it could be open to everyone and anyone. It could be stand in line or it could be served to you. The non-denominational churches have no rules, right?

Now, I’m just talking about the act of communion here. But there’s a completely separate discussion around what happens during that service, whether it actually becomes Christ’s blood and body or not. That’s a weird discussion to get into. It was a massive subject of the Reformation a few hundred years ago. My stance: I’m not a cannibal; I do understand symbolism.

There’s also a completely separate discussion around “love feasts” or “agape meals” or whatever people call those. Sometimes this is the good ol’ Baptist potluck every 3rd Sunday of the month. Sometimes this is the lunch at the end of special services, like a baby dedication or something, that the Nazarenes or Methodists might do. Sometimes this is interpreted as widely as running the soup kitchen every Friday, or getting together in home groups to have a monthly meal, or any variation of the sort. The point of these meals, again, is to honor Christ. But instead of just bread and wine, it might include a hodge-podge of all kinds of food. I know some Messianic Jews who still celebrate Passover and try to prepare the meal just like Jesus and his disciples would have done back in the day. I think there’s something cool to that, and I appreciate the attempt to get ourselves rooted back in the original events / feasts / celebrations because it’s so easy to lose that context and understanding in 21st century America. That said, the whole meal should still be designed to honor the death and resurrection of Jesus as Messiah, so we need to make sure that’s the focal point.

At the end of the day, Paul is saying whatever you do, however you do it, just make sure you’re honoring each other and honoring Christ. That’s the point. Don’t lose it.

Most of this chapter contains warnings from Paul.

• Warnings to not be defeated by temptation in the hard times.
• Warnings to not get caught up in wanting our own way.
• Warnings to not turn our religion into a circus.
• Warnings to not be sexually promiscuous.
• Warnings to not try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him.

And here’s one of the biggest warnings: don’t stir up discontent. Discontent can destroy you.

These warnings are powerful. They were very much needed in Paul’s day. They are still very much needed in our day. Even as I listed those out, I kept thinking, “Man, he’s talking about the challenges of our day. I can go down this list and identify a big-name Christian leader who has fallen prey to every one of these.”

But let’s not be too quick to point the finger. As Paul warns,

“The same thing could happen to us.”

And with that, I’ll let you do your own self-examination before the Lord.

And we’ll close with a final warning:

“So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.”

Run to win.

This is one of the more popular passages in the New Testament, this little section on running the race and competing to win.

But most of the chapter is not about races at all. It’s actually about how the people aren’t doing their job taking care of Paul. Instead, Paul is taking care of himself. Unlike most of the other ministers and apostles of the day, Paul isn’t getting physical and financial support. No one is taking care of those needs. Instead, he’s floating the bill himself.

So what’s that have to do with running the race?

Everything.

The race has nothing to do with getting financial support or not getting support. After all, it’s not wrong to receive money for doing ministry work. Rather, Paul is saying that just wasn’t in the cards for him. And he’s not letting that slow him down, or complaining about it, or guilting people to support him, or rallying support campaigns. He’s saying that he has kept his eyes on the main thing — that is, sharing the Message with everyone who would hear it. Teaching and mentoring others — that was Paul’s forte. And he was going to go all out doing it!

May we do the same, regardless of what our day-to-day work or financial support looks like.

There was a big question in Paul’s day regarding food. Specifically, could you eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols? And could you attend the meals where this meat was served?

I’ve been trying to think of a modern day equivalent and it’s extremely tough. First, I wondered about Super Bowl parties or tailgating parties. People might be worshipping their favorite athletes, favorite teams, favorite food, “the god of their belly,” the TV, etc. People today would never say that, of course, because we’re too sophisticated to admit it. But I’ve heard of people who sleep in their favorite team’s jerseys, who have gotten into fights with another person for talking trash about their favorite team, who have lost relationships with friends or family because of their dedication to the team or sport. To me, that sounds like worship. But who knows? Is it worship? It’s God’s call not mine. And should you feel guilty for eating meat at a Super Bowl or tailgate party? I honestly don’t think so. So maybe it’s a crappy example.

The other example for modern day that I wondered about was the whole vegan vs. vegetarian vs. carnivore debate. I totally understand not supporting the exploitation and abuse of animals. I’m not a fan of that either. But I’m also not 100% sure if eating meat was ever a banned activity by God. He did put certain dietary restrictions on the Israelites, a lot of which were for health reasons to keep them set apart and functioning at a high level. But He totally allowed, and even encouraged, some meat on the grill. It was a pleasing aroma to God’s nostrils in the Old Testament and I must admit, grilling out is a pleasing aroma to mine as well.

So, do we have a modern day equivalent? I don’t think so.

But the principle behind the whole debate is this:

With freedom comes responsibility.

Let’s not do something that would trip up another believer.

In chapter 7, Paul answers the question of “Is it a good thing to have sexual relations?”

Of course, he says, within the context of a marriage between man and woman. Marriage can provide a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder, Paul says. Each partner can seek to satisfy the other and serve the other, which is a beautiful thing.

On the other hand, it is a good thing to be single, if that’s what you’re called to. You can focus on God, without the complexities of marriage. That’s not to say marriage is bad though. It’s a good thing to be married, if that’s what you’re called to. Paul encourages those who are single to stay in that state, and learn contentment in it. Similarly, he encourages those who are married to stay in that state, and learn contentment in it.

It’s obvious after reading chapter 7 that Paul refers singleness, but as he says,

God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of married life to others.

If you want more details — like how to handle being a virgin, how to handle being married to an unbeliever, how to handle death of a spouse, etc. — I won’t mention them all here. Just go read chapter 7 and I’ll catch up with you on chapter 8.

Chapter 6 covers a couple of interesting thoughts. The first is around taking each other to court and how to handle conflict in the church. The second is around how we treat our bodies and other people’s bodies in regards to sexuality.

My wife and I were talking about this the other day and what’s sad is how people have messed up this passage, and Jesus’ teaching on dealing with conflict with believers, and instead, there are tons of victims with no voice, no advocate, just getting trampled on by those in authority in churches. Likewise, there are a ton of sins swept under the rug and “dealt with” in churches, never taken into the public courts. Here’s the problem with that. If it’s not just a disagreement or dispute, but is an actual crime, it needs to be dealt with in the church and in public courts. Crimes are crimes. Most churches screw this up, and justice is never served, with perpetrators and criminals still allowed in churches, welcomed and “forgiven” by the leaders, while the victim is left even more confused and ashamed. Why? Because the one group of people who should be standing up for the victim and helping the person heal is now on the side of the wrongdoer. Again, I’m speaking of all of this in the context of a true actual crime, not a simple disagreement or dispute about theology or conscience.

Churches, I know can do better.

As Paul says, and I 100% agree: “Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom.”

Don’t let abusers get off scotch free. They deserve punishment and consequences in this life. And God will certainly deal with them in the next.

Now, for the second thing Paul covers: “There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact.”

Isn’t that a beautiful thing? As married believers, we can grasp this. We can live this. Our bodies are sacred, God-given, God-modeled for love. It’s a sacred temple and place for the Holy Spirit. This is an extremely high view of the body for people of Paul’s day and even for people today. Our bodies aren’t just physical; sex isn’t just physical. There’s so much more to it.

I’m so glad Paul laid this out clearly for the Corinthians and for us.

Now, the question naturally comes up… well, if this is the case, is it still ok to be single? And we’ll cover that next…

Here, we thought this was going to be a fun and exciting discussion on sex, alas, it is not. Maybe by chapter 6 or 7, we’ll get there. In fact, in chapter 5, we’re dealing with sexual sin and gross situations first, then with our overall relationships to others second.

First, the gross situation: A man in the church is sleeping with his stepmother. No bueno. Paul tells them to quit sweeping it under the rug and get it out in the open instead. He says it’s better for the man, the stepmother, and the congregation as a whole to suffer devastation and embarrassment now, rather than damnation on judgment day. I’ve been in churches for decades of my life, and I can honestly say I’m not surprised at these types of behaviors. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this one in particular, but it’s incredible (in the worst way) how much sin is still swept under the rug in churches. To be clear, I know I’m not a flawless human being. But I can say if you ask anyone around me, they’re probably going to say, “I know Omer isn’t perfect, but I don’t know if I could tell you what Omer’s sins are.”

I’ll tell you… most of my issues are internal struggles at this point. When God first got ahold of my life, profanity and disobedience were the first to go. They were gone almost immediately. Pornography and lust were gone a short-time later. For the past 12 years or so, it’s been mostly internal issues. Struggling with a bit of depression in spurts. Struggling with little bouts of greed / envy. Struggling with pride or selfishness at times. Being rude or short with people if I’m running on fumes, exhausted. Those are the things I deal with more than anything blatant, open for all to see. It doesn’t make it better. Sin is sin. I have to repent regularly of those things. It does, however, make it easier to deal with than a man sleeping with his stepmother, or a person stealing from someone, or a person abusing someone. Those things have much larger consequences because so many people are affected.

So the temptation, naturally, I think, is to 100% isolate from those people and situations. If you don’t know how to deal with them in a church, sweep them under the rug. And if you don’t feel comfortable with those in society at large, just avoid them. After all, Paul had told them not to make themselves at home with the sexually promiscuous. But, he also countered that by telling them they can’t just shut the world out and never interact with other people. They need the Good News just like we do.

Here’s the difference in what he is saying: if those issues are going on in the church amongst believers, they need to be dealt with by believers openly, honestly, and directly. If they’re going on outside the church in society at large, God will handle that.

And that’s where we’ll pick up in chapter 6…