Corinth's Communion (part 19)

With this foundational context in place, it’s now possible to let Paul speak for himself at length, as the modern observer is now situated at a meal (with symposium not far from the thoughts) with this particular Christian body and able to hear: “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.  In no way did I mean the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters, since you would then have to go out of the world.  But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard or a swindler.  Do not even eat with such a person.  For what do I have to do with judging those outside?  Are you not to judge those inside?  But God will judge those outside.  Remove the evil person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). 

When attempting to consider how this is to be interpreted first by its recipients, and then by the later church (throughout the centuries) that should make every effort to hear and understand as a first century listener so as to make proper application to practice in an attempt to live out what it would mean to be a Christian in their own situation (place and time), this cannot be read apart from a comprehension of the social forces that were at work and in place in that time. 

Just as the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (initially a community meal to be sure that would eventually devolve to the symbols of bread and wine and the communion ceremony) would be a microcosm of all that was intended for the kingdom of the Creator God, so too would a celebratory meal and attendant symposium be a microcosm of the larger society in which such are taking place.  Additionally, this section of the letter demands to be heard as a whole, without division or isolation of independent thoughts. 

Because of the mention of not eating with such people and with the dis-association list given here that is repeated and expanded upon in the sixth chapter, it also demands to be heard in the context of a meal, thus reinforcing the insistence of this study.  Finally, the letter demands to be heard in the context of what the meal says about the gathered body of believers, both to its participants and any observers.  For purposes of this study, because of Paul’s mention of judging, the letter must be heard with a pronounced mindfulness of what Paul says about eating and drinking without careful regard for the body (of believers) and the eating and drinking of judgment that such would entail. 

Yes, at the risk of redundancy, this letter must be considered in whole as the mounting argument that it is.  One does violence to the text and to Paul’s thesis when statements are carelessly isolated and used as aphoristic-truth clubs with which to beat people over the head in an effort to reinforce previously arrived at conclusions that are based on subjective prejudices and biases.  While one should recognize that Paul does indeed deal with a variety of problems, failing to see that there is a substantial progression that is based upon an underlying rhetorical movement with a particular point of reference, would be a wanton abuse of the Apostle’s work that might lead the reader into all sorts of erroneous conclusions while missing the larger point of the letter altogether.  It is imperative to recognize that the substantial progression in the letter appears to be closely related to Paul’s concerns with “the body.”

Corinth's Communion (part 9)

If personal concerns are at the fore when one participates in the communion table, then attempts taken to determine what it would mean to take the elements in an unworthy manner, along with an examination of self, juxtaposed with the irrelevant notion of examining oneself to see if one is in the faith, then this would most likely devolve into an idea that sins must be confessed before taking communion so that the participant will then be worthy to receive the symbols of the body and blood. 

Conversely, some would declare that this type of self-examination is precisely not what is to take place, as it puts the focus on one’s own self rather than on Jesus, and that Paul is indicating that the focus must be on Jesus, with the bread and the cup acting as useful symbols that allow such a focus to be maintained.  Therefore, in a strange twist, it is declared that confession of personal sins in order to become worthy is that which makes one unworthy, as doing so is nothing more than part and parcel of an attempt to work towards one’s salvation and is therefore a denial of grace, which is ultimately taken to be a denial of Jesus. 

Beyond that, semantics and grammar are brought into play, and it is declared that proper understanding is had when one sees that “unworthy” is not the word that is used, but rather “unworthily,” which is then what makes all the difference in the world, with a determination as to whether the word in question is meant to be taken as modifying the noun or the verb.  Now, this is not the place to delve into whether or not the proper word is the adjective unworthy or the adverb unworthily, and basing an entire communion methodology upon what is implied by the differences between the two. 

Getting focused on such a thing would seem to miss the point either way, as determining if one is supposed to be focusing on self and sins as opposed to Jesus and His sacrifice, may be an unwarranted flight into a disconnected and individualized spiritualization in the realm of personal concern and the final destination of one’s eternal soul.  This would be another instance of losing focus on the larger movement of the letter itself and the kingdom community, of forgetting the environment into which Paul writes and the concerns that he is raising and addressing within this entire section that runs as one unit from at least the seventeenth verse through the thirty-fourth verse, while also failing to consider the fact that there is a very real and known situation that would be readily identified by Paul’s intended hearers. 

Quite frankly, though the thoughts and actions of individual persons are in view here, it seems clear, at least based on the way that Paul has introduced the specific topic of communion as well as what follows (verses twenty-seven through thirty-four), that it is the actions of this church as a group---as a body---when they are coming together for what they are erroneously referring to as the Lord’s Supper (their actions making it an erroneous application) that is the concern, and the demand is placed upon the reader to see, hear, and understand the situation in this way.