“Church Cliques”
(1 Corinthians 11:17-22)
Series: Chaos & Correction (1 Corinthians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
•Take your Bibles and join me in 1 Corinthians 11 (page 773; YouVersion).
I’d like to thank our volunteers who are praying for us in the prayer room just through this door over here. In every morning worship service we have a volunteers praying for us while we worship and we thank God for that.
We are preaching our way, verse-by-verse, through the book of 1 Corinthians and our study resumes this morning in chapter 11 and verse 17. Paul is in a section of the letter now where he is addressing some concerns about public worship, gathering together as the church to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
The small paragraph of our text this morning, verses 17-22, set up Paul’s instructions regarding the Lord’s Supper, how the church should observe communion. Paul had gotten wind of some things that were going on at the church in Corinth and he writes this letter to correct them. Specifically, this passage concerns the wrong attitudes these church folks had as they gathered together for a time of fellowship that would culminate in a time of observing the Lord’s Supper. Listen for Paul’s rebuke, his words of reproach, about the way this church came together.
•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.
21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.
22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
•Pray.
Introduction:
I have shared with some of you a true story about Dr. Charles Stanley, the world renowned pastor and founder of “In Touch Ministries,” about some of the difficulties he faced in his earlier ministry. Stanley is pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta, where he served initially as associate pastor before becoming the senior pastor and serving in that capacity for over 40 years now. His son, Andy Stanley, writes about some of opposition his father faced in the early years of his pastorate, writing in his book, Louder Than Words: The Power of Uncompromised Living. Stanley writes about one particularly memorable and infamous church meeting. He writes:
…The church meeting to end all church meetings took place. It was about two weeks before the church was scheduled to come together and vote on whether or not to allow my dad to continue in his role as associate pastor. I was sitting about six rows back on the right during our regular Wednesday evening service. The program was just beginning when one of the deacons walked up to the pulpit to make an announcement. Deacon Myers was part of the crew committed to my dad’s speedy departure.
Once “Brother” Myers finished his brief announcement, he began sharing some of his personal feelings about the brewing controversy. The longer he talked, the more angry and animated he became. Then, to everyone’s horror, he used the word [a profane word]. I’ll never forget sitting in a Baptist church in 1974 and hearing a deacon [cuss] from behind the pulpit. My dad immediately stood, walked up beside Deacon Myers, and said, “Now you need to watch your language …” Before my dad could finish his sentence, the deacon raised a fist toward my dad’s face and said, “No, you’d better watch yourself, or you might get punched!”
Frozen in my memory is the still picture of Deacon Myers’s clenched fist poised inches away from my dad’s face. I don’t know exactly how long the two of them stood there, locked in eye-to-eye combat, but it seemed like an eternity. Eventually, Deacon Myers got the message: Dad wasn’t going to back down. It was time for the deacon to fish or cut bait. Deacon Myers decided to fish. To the shock of everyone in the congregation— brother, sister, deacon, Sunday school teacher— Myers reared back and smacked my dad right in the jaw.
Now, Andy goes on to write about how his dad’s composure and character inspired him to be the kind of man who was willing to take some hits—literally!—when standing for what is right.
Ministry can be kind of messy at times because, after all, we’re all people and because we’re all people we’re all sinners—but surely that particular church meeting had to be one of the most shameful moments for the cause of Christ in American evangelicalism.
The Corinthian church was a church of similar problems. The church had become divisive and factious. There were small groups of people within the larger congregation who gathered together in these little groups such that they insulated themselves from others and isolated others from themselves. They were gathering together in what we would call church cliques, small groups who drew a circle around themselves, not permitting others to join.
The American poet Edwin Markham writes of this cliquish tendency in the rhyme:
He drew a circle that shut me out —
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
The church is to be a circle in which are included all persons of all backgrounds, nationality, gender, age, education, rich, poor, the haves and the have nots. In fact, the church is unique in this sense. The common denominator of its membership is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Every member has this in common, and yet there may be—and really should be—much diversity among the membership. The church is unlike any other organization in this sense.
So it is always a problem when the church loses this unity and solidarity of its membership. Equally troubling is the popular methodology of starting a church with only one particular affinity or identity of membership. Everyone looks the same, has the same interests, is roughly the same age, and does the same stuff.
The church is to be a circle in which are included all persons imaginable. This is why missional outreach is inherently biblical. God is bringing together people of all tribes, tongues, and nations. The church is a gathering together of people who have a common faith in Christ and a remarkable love for one another that is demonstrably evident in the way they look at one another, think about one another, talk to one another, and look out for one another.
So let’s talk this morning about how to avoid church cliques, okay? All in favor of doing that as we study this passage? Okay, there are two main actions that surface from these few verses. Number one, if we’re going to be a church that avoid cliques, number one:
I. We will cultivate Togetherness (17-19)
The phrase “come together” occurs three times in these six verses. Come together. You see it there in verse 17, verse 18, and again in verse 20. Come together. It will occur two more times before the chapter concludes. Come together. The church is about a people who come together, gathering together regularly in unity and solidarity.
The church at Corinth gathered together, but their problem was not so much whether the did this, but how they did this. Verse 17:
17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
The NIV has, “I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.” Imagine a church gathering together that does more harm than good, that comes together “not for the better but for the worse.”
And Paul is beside himself. He says, “I do not praise you.” He says something similar at the end of verse 22. He asks, “Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.”
In today’s language, “If you’re expecting me to give you a ‘shout out,’ you’re crazy! Like I’m going to brag about you on my Facebook page—or tweet, “Proud of my Corinthian church plant hashtag-awesome church!” He’s like, “Forget it.” Verse 18:
18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
It’s like Paul wants to give them the benefit of the doubt. He has, after all, commended them on a few things earlier in the letter. So he’s like, “You know, I don’t want believe this, but to some extent I believe it.” Verse 18, “When you come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you.”
Paul says, “I hear” about these divisions. Remember there were some things he had heard “from Chloe’s people,” you may remember that back in chapter 1 (1 Corinthians 1:11), there were some people who reported to Paul some of the goings on at the church. He had, verse 18, heard “that there are divisions” among the people.
The word “divisions” is a word from which we get our word “schism,” a split or splitting between strongly opposed parties—schism. The personality disorder known as schizophrenia is literally “a splitting of the mind.”
Paul had mentioned these schisms before, these divisions. He had referenced them in the beginning of his letter back in chapter 1, 1 Corinthians 1:10, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
The division Paul has in mind here in chapter 11 is not so much one of argumentation, but one of isolation. There were groups in the church who were drawing circles around themselves, dividing up into these little factious cliques, most notably dividing into the categories of “the haves” and “the have nots.”
Now before we continue we must remember the context of this situation. The church was gathering together to observe the Lord’s Supper. Most scholars agree that the early church gathered together first to enjoy a rather large fellowship meal. At the conclusion of this meal, the church would then observe the Lord’s Supper. These gatherings of the church to eat a meal together were referred to commonly as the “Agape” or the “Love feasts.” It simply meant that the church gathered together in love for one another and shared a meal with one another, the evening meal being the biggest meal of the day.
Supper in the ancient near east was the main meal of the day. Breakfast was typically just a little bread dipped in wine, the afternoon lunch was a bit more food, but eaten practically anywhere much as it is even in our day, eaten at the job site, eaten on the street, or over the sink. And then the evening supper, this was the meal where folks came together in no hurry and dined and lingered long with one another, sharing together in conversation and food. It was an important time of loving fellowship.
So the church would “come together” to share a meal together. And they each would bring something to eat. We sometimes refer to this as a “pot-luck” dinner. In my study I came across this statement of Ray Stedman’s, Stedman was the long-time pastor of Palo Alto California, especially during the years of the hippie generation. He said, “We would call it a pot luck supper.” He said, “I do not like that term because I do not believe in luck and I am sensitive to the word pot!” He added, “I prefer the title ‘multiple choice dinners.’ “
You get the idea. Everyone brought something to eat and the idea was that you were to share it with everyone else. So there were some in the church who were wealthier than others. They had larger resources than others and so they brought good food and a lot of it, and they would sit together. They also came the earliest because they could afford to come earlier.
In Paul’s day the Roman calendar was a 10-day week. Christians, of course, followed the Jewish calendar of seven days and gathered together on the first day of the week, Sunday, to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. So the Christian calendar was much as it is today, but it was couched in the context of the Roman calendar, the 10-day work week with no day off. So wealthier Christians who didn’t have to work—and there were few of those at Corinth, but some (1 Corinthians 1:26)—these wealthier Christians would gather earlier than the not-so-wealthy Christians who arrived later after work. So they got the best seats and they got the best food.
So Paul says, “You know, I hear about these divisions among you and I’m afraid to say that I believe what I hear is true,” verse 19:
19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
Now, I’ve never been satisfied with the way many commentators treat this verse. Many regard it as a sort of “theological aside,” and the reason they do so is because the word “factions” here in the original is the word from which we get the word “heresy.” And so these commentators say that Paul is saying that some divisions are over the fact that some believe the truth and some believe false teachings and do this is why there must be factions among you.
But it seems unlikely that the word translated “heresy” had theological connotations until later usage. Paul seems to be using the term here in this context as just another way of referring to the social and economic divisions of the people at Corinth.
And I think the idea conveyed is rather that Paul is saying, “I hear about these divisions in the church there and it seems there must be these divisions if, after all, those who are the so-called “upper crust,” if you like, will stand out as the “prominent ones,” the approved ones.
“For there must also be these factions among you, in order that everyone may see ‘the haves,’ the ‘top-drawer’ members, those who are ‘the approved’ within the congregation.”
It’s the very problem that Paul is addressing here, the very error he seeks to correct. He reproaches the church for their cliquish nature.
JB Phillips captures the sense in his translation: “when you meet for worship I hear that you split up into small groups, and I think there must be truth in what I hear. For there must be cliques among you or your favourite leaders would not be so conspicuous.”
So we turn the negative behavior to shun into a positive behavior to embrace. And so, “We will cultivate togetherness.”
It’s really not possible to be rightly aligned with our Lord without being rightly aligned with others. As Jesus implies in His teaching, in order to truly love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength, we must love our neighbor as ourselves. We must have both vertical and horizontal love.
Jerry Vines tells about a little boy who jumped up into his father’s lap and began hugging his dad, but as all the time he was hugging his father, he was also sticking out his tongue at his little sister. So the father said, “Son, you can’t hug Daddy’s neck and stick your tongue out at your sister at the same time.”
Love on the vertical plane must also be love on the horizontal plane. We must be a church about the business of cultivating togetherness.
The same is true for marriage. We can’t really love God rightly without loving our spouse rightly. The closer together a husband and wife are aligned to one another, the closer their alignment with God. And vice versa.
How well do you know church members who don’t sit at your table when you come together here? Do you cultivate relationships with those who are outside of your Sunday school class, outside of your social circle? Do you regard the people sitting around you here in the room as your very brothers and sisters? Do you truly love them?
If you love your brothers and sisters, you will speak in a way to build them up or encourage them. You will give them the benefit of the doubt. Even more direct to the Corinthian situation, you will share your resources with them. You will give to them, give of your time, your place, your stuff.
So if we’re going to avoid church cliques, we’ll cultivate togetherness. Secondly:
II. We will eliminate Selfishness (20-22)
20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.
The Corinthians hardly pictured togetherness. They pictured, rather, selfishness. They split into groups—again most notably splitting into the rich and the poor. So Paul is like, “Clearly you are NOT coming together to eat the Lord’s Supper, because if you were you’d have a different spirit, you’d come together in unity and humility.” He explains:
21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.
In a day before water purification, wine was the most drinkable beverage available. The Bible consistently condemns drunkenness, and it seems almost unbelievable that these church members were not only gathering together in cliques but were also behaving like unbelievers—drunkenness and selfishness.
Verse 21, “For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others.” The “haves” totally disregarded the “have nots.” It was a picture of total selfishness. So Paul is incredulous, verse 22:
22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
When he asks there eat the beginning of verse 22, “Do you not have houses to eat and drink in,” He’s not saying, “If you want to be a glutton and a drunk then do it at home.” It’s more like, “What is the matter with you people?!” He’s just shocked at their irreverence and sacrilege.
And I think this is an important application with respect to why we come together as a church family. Paul is teaching here in verse 22 that we don’t come so much to have our own personal needs met.
If you’re coming together merely to eat and drink, to meet your own needs, do that at home. That’s selfishness. You do don’t gather as a church to cultivate selfishness. You’re coming together here to cultivate togetherness. So the focus is not you. It’s God and others.
So be careful anytime you hear yourself saying something like, “Well, I just want thus and such” or, “I just like it this way,” or “I prefer this,” and “I prefer that.”
Remember “Joy,” the key to “Joy”—J, O, Y—Jesus, Others, Yourself, Jesus first, others second, yourself last. That’s the mark of true Joy.
The alternative to cultivating togetherness is to fall sinfully into selfishness. And Paul really underscores the danger of selfishness there in verse 22 when he asks the question, “Do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?”
Wow. When you hear yourself complaining in church, not getting your way, or just in some way focusing more on satisfying your own wants and your own needs and not focusing on the wants and needs of others, ask yourself this question, “Do I despise the church of God?”
Remember that the church is not a place. The church is a people. The church is not a building. The church is a body.
Jesus loved the church. Jesus died for the church. Jesus gave of Himself for others. As His followers, we will do the same.
•Stand for prayer.
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