will always destroy the significance of the Lord's Supper. All were made alive through Christ's death on the cross. Each man before Cod stands with the same need of a Redeemer. At the Corinthian com munion, however, they conveni ently forgot that they were all one in Christ (vs. 33). The condemnation of God for such activities is spoken by Paul, "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discern ing the Lord's body" (vs. 29). The people had profaned the service and revealed themselves ignorant of its true meaning. The very foun dation of Christianity was endan gered. Some of the believers were removed from circulation because they were a serious detriment to the testimony of the church. The testimony of the early fellowship was in jeopardy. It is absolutely essential for us today to start by judging ourselves first of all (vs. 31). If the people of that day had taken proper evalua tion of themselves the Lord would not have had to make such forced manipulations. Are we willing to make an objective evaluation of our standing before the Almighty? This is what is called for. We are not talking about personal condem nation or self-deprecation where we might say, "I am no good, I am worthless!" Such a practice would plunge one into a serious state of depression. It is the devil's desire to paralyze the Christian. To take stock of our lives need not mean condemning. We are chastened by the Lord so that we will not need to be con demned with the world. The word
"chastened" is a standard Creek term for "education." God is not judging in vengeance or retribu tion. He is saying, "I love you and I want you to perform better as a stronger witness for me." He always seeks to deal with us in love. How all-too-infrequently do we fully appreciate this fact. We are suggesting then that we should evaluate ourselves, making what ever positive actions may be neces sary. Basically, this is an evaluation for correction, not condemnation. There is a world of difference be tween the two. Paul is interested in progress, not guilt feelings. If Paul were forced to make a choice between the two competing theor ies, the one that focused on the past, or the one that points to the future, he would readily go with forgetting the past and pressing on toward the mark of being like Christ. Having gained this proper per spective we should want to en courage others, helping them to set goals and to move ahead. Help your young people from becoming simply introspective. The Lord's Supper is neither a time for mor bid investigation, leading to self- condemnation nor is it a time for glossing over our poor conduct before the Lord. We should rather sharpen our thoughts of Christ. Let us reaffirm that we live because He died. In this way we can deter mine to represent more effectively our Saviour to a needy world. God gave gifts to Christians for a witness to unbelievers as well as for the strengthening of His church. The Corinthian Christians unfor tunately abused their talents and had to be corrected rather severly.
Page 40
Made with FlippingBook Online document