DISUNITY - A malady plaguing the Church

                         

“For THIS CAUSE many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” -                      

1 Corinthians 11:30 KJV 

We should elaborate on 1 Cor 11:17-34 to fully comprehend the cause. 

“Now, on this next matter, I wish I could commend you, but I cannot because when you meet together as a church family it is doing more harm than good! 

God’s people assembling together should have been a commendable thing but not so. God’s people meeting together is causing much harm to the Body of Christ. Because the main purpose of gathering together is not being fulfilled, they are being counterproductive. They are not behaving as ‘one family’ and members of the ‘one body’. 

I’ve been told many times that when you meet as a congregation, divisions and cliques emerge—and to some extent, this doesn’t surprise me. 

Differences of opinion and variations in thought are expected from thinking and intelligent people.  But such differences should be brought to the table, and by preferring one another in a spirit of brotherly love be sorted out to establish common ground.

Everyone receives varying degrees of revelation; therefore those that think they have received more light should be considerate towards those that aren’t as illuminated. They need to be patient with one another.

Personal preferences too, play a major role in causing strife and divisiveness, which have to be avoided.

Judging one another has become commonplace. But judge not lest you be judged. Judging someone before time is like hanging someone without a trial.

Any issue can be resolved through patience and God’s love and any kind of difference can be smoothed out unless those issues and differences are rooted in heresy or ungodliness.

In any case, despite doctrinal beliefs and practices, those that believe Jesus is the Christ should belong to one another as one family (1 John 5:1). And every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of (belongs) God (1 John 4:2). 

Differences of opinion are unavoidable, yet they will reveal which ones among you truly have God’s approval. 

Free expression of thoughts and opinions reveal character. Some would be lenient, others would be strict, some would be moderate, and others would be silent. Your expressions reveal which attitude you submit to. 

When all of your house churches gather as one church family, you are not really properly celebrating the Lord’s Supper. 

The Lord’s Supper was meant to be a common meal shared by church members to express oneness, fraternity, love, and with a sense of belonging to ONE body. It is clear that believers gathered in each other’s homes for fellowship and prayer daily, but once a week or so they would congregate as one church family to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. 

For when it comes time to eat, some gobble down their food before anything is given to others—one is left hungry while others become drunk! 

It was customary to share meals and eat together. But there was utter selfishness being shown because some of them were partaking of the available food without considering everyone else that was there. It was like a ‘first come - first served buffet’. Love had little place. They didn’t consider each other as members of the same body (family). The body of Christ which they were all part of was being despised. 

Don’t you all have homes where you can eat and drink? Don’t you realize that you’re showing a superior attitude by humiliating those who have nothing? 

There were those that were trying to assert their superiority by humiliating those that did not have enough to eat. There were competitive and didn’t care for each other. They didn’t mind humiliating one another. They didn’t consider each other as members of the same body. The body of Christ which they were all part of was being despised. Oneness and Unity were missing. 

Are you trying to show contempt for God’s beloved church)? How should I address this appropriately? If you’re looking for my approval, you won’t find it! 

They were showing disdain for the functional purpose of the Body of Christ.  This is clearly indicating the absence of love, care, and consideration for one another. Paul is pointing out their dislike or disrespect for one another, as disrespect for the body of Christ.  God who knows the hearts and intents of all people has the prerogative to choose whosoever He desires to be part of His body.  We cannot decide who will be or deserves to be part of the Body of Christ.  Jesus Christ said, “No one comes to me except those that are drawn towards me by the Father.”  And everyone who is part of this Body is obligated to accept and love each other since we are all received by the Father.  We are all distinct members of the same body and although our functions might differ, (some honorable and some dishonorable) we can by no means either look up to or down at other members, lest we feel humiliated or proud by any of them. Each of us is endowed with specific gifting and functions, so we need to mutually respect and honor one another, so that love might reign supreme. Can the hand that got injured in a fall, blame the leg for tripping over? Can the right hand hate the left hand because it is not equally able? Paul rightly instructed us to submit to one another, love one another, and prefer one another. The second commandment should be called to attention. Let love reign. 

I have handed down to you what came to me by direct revelation from the Lord himself. The same night in which he was handed over, he took bread and gave thanks. Then he distributed it to the disciples and said, “Take it and eat your fill. It is my body, which is given to you. Do this to remember me.” 

As an apostle to the Gentiles, Paul claims to have received a direct revelation from the Lord on this issue. The main purpose of breaking bread was to remember Him. He was given a body that was suitably prepared for the perfect sacrifice and He gave it for us so that we may become like it. (“So when Jesus the Messiah came into the world he said, “Since your ultimate desire was not another animal sacrifice, you have clothed me with a body that I might offer myself instead!”) - Hebrews 10:5 TPT.  This body of mine I give to you so that you all become one body like my body.  Jesus Christ is the head and we are the Body, as members of the same body, we belong to each other.  Jesus Christ had even prayed in John 17 that we all remain one with Him just as He was with the Father.  Unity has always been closest to God’s heart. 

He did the same with the cup of wine after supper and said, “This cup seals the new covenant with my blood. Drink it—and whenever you drink this, do it to remember me.” Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are retelling the story, proclaiming our Lord’s death until he comes. 

Whenever we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are reminding each other of the purpose of His death which is to bring us together as ONE BODY. But if we are partaking of the bread and wine as elements only, then we are not discerning (viewing it in the right perspective) the Body of Christ rightly. 

For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in the wrong spirit will be guilty of dishonoring the body and blood of the Lord. So let each individual first evaluate his own attitude and only then eat the bread and drink the cup. 

Therefore, eating and drinking together with hearts filled with strife and division (wrong spirit) is dishonoring the body and blood of the Lord. So, every individual is asked to self-evaluate his own attitude towards one another. 

For continually eating and drinking with a wrong spirit will bring judgment upon yourself by not recognizing the body. This insensitivity is why many of you are weak, chronically ill, and some even dying. 

Therefore, continuously eating and drinking without the spirit of unity will bring judgment upon the church, and the body of Christ and because of this kind of insensitivity many of you are weak, ill, and even dying. Not recognizing the body is nothing but being judgmental about other members and not recognizing their value as vital parts of the Body. Not recognizing the body is nothing but condemning other members of the Body by our standards. Not recognizing the body is nothing but destructive criticizing of other members of the Body. 

If you do not sit in judgment of others, you will avoid judgment yourself. 

Therefore, do not keep judging others before time; in doing so, you will avoid being judged yourself. This concluding verse explains all of the above. Whom we judge today may mend his ways the next day. Raising an accusation against someone that is acquitted makes us the accused; therefore do not judge. 

But when we are judged, it is the Lord’s training so that we will not be condemned along with the world. 

And when we do get judged because of our insensitivities, it is to train us, teach us, and correct us; so that we do not get condemned along with the world. Our judgment is distinct from that of the world. Our judgment or correction seems to precede the judgment of the world. Remember judgment comes first, to the house of God. There is no wastage in God’s economy. 

So then, my fellow believers, when you assemble as one to share a meal, show respect for one another and wait for all to be served. If you are that hungry eat at home first, so that when you gather together you will not bring judgment upon yourself. 

Show respect for one another and wait for one another. 

Maintain a spirit of unity. 

Honor the Body of Christ. 

No one is more important than the other. 

We are all important to our Master. 

Do the above and the Body will be healthy and so will you. 

When I come to you, I will answer the other questions you asked me in your letter.” 

Conclusion: 

I would like for us to see the present plague and those before this as a consequence of the earth being under a curse. And the only force (the Body of Christ) that has delegated authority to bring deliverance to it, is incapacitated due to a lack of cohesion within itself. 

Let this observation serve as a ‘call to unity’ among Christians, who by definition are “whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” - 1 John 4:15 KJV and “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is God’s spiritual child and has been fathered by God himself. And everyone who loves Father God loves his children as well.” -  1 John 5:1. 

Let us define a Christian according to God’s Word not according to our own standards. 

Post Scriptum: 

It would make perfect sense to continue reading Chapter 12 & 13 which explain the importance of the One Body of Christ and the indispensability of unconditional love for one another because there’s coming a day when all gifting will cease and make way to a ‘more excellent way’. 

- Melchizedek