1 Corinthians 11:17

Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not, that you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. For there must also be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When you come together, therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, everyone takes before another his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What? Have you not houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

Lord, as we look into your word here, we see a challenging exhortation, a rebuke really. We pray, God, that you would speak to us. When we come before your word, we have to do so humbly. We truly are nothing in and of ourselves. Apart from you, we can do nothing. It's so hard for us sometimes to come to that place of recognition, to honestly declare that we really are nothing. But, Lord, we so need you by your Spirit to work in us. We desire you to work your work in us that we would be more and more like you.

As we look into your word today, we ask that you, by your Spirit, would speak. Give us insight, Lord. Transform the way we think, and by doing that, transform the way that we live. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

At the open of chapter 11, Paul began really with what was a commendation for the church.

At Corinth, Paul begins in verse 2 by saying, "Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and you keep the ordinances as I delivered them unto you." However, when we come down to verse 17, the tone shifts significantly. He states, "Now in this that I declare unto you, I do not praise you." Just a few verses earlier, he commended them for following the ordinances he laid down while he was there. Now, he expresses disappointment, saying, "I don't praise you in this, that when you come together, you come together not for the better, but for the worse."

The word in the New Testament that is translated as "church" is the Greek word "ekklesia." Ekklesia means assembly, gathering, or congregation. It does not only refer to the church of God; it could describe any sort of assembly in the Greek or ancient Roman world. Anytime a group of people gathered together in public as a large assembly, that would be called the ekklesia.

In the New Testament, however, the church refers specifically to that gathering of people who are under the banner of Christ Jesus, under the headship and authority of Jesus. It is never described as a place, location, or building; it always refers to the group that gathers. In the city of Corinth, there was a group of believers in Jesus, followers of God, who were gathered together. This group was united under the name and headship of Jesus Christ, and they met throughout the city of Corinth.

There wasn't one large meeting place where they all gathered. Perhaps there were times when they sought to come together as a large fellowship, but for the most part, they met in homes or whatever large venues they could find, often separated throughout the city. When they gathered, Paul notes that there was not really anything good coming out of it.

The first thing we notice in verse 17 is that when we come together, it should be for the better. When the body of believers gathers as the church of God, they should do so for the better. The point of gathering together as the body of Christ is the exaltation of God.

Worship and the edification and equipping of the body of Christ are essential when we gather together. Our whole aim is to worship God, exalt Him, and ensure that the body of Christ is edified and equipped, readied for service, and built up. As we see in Ephesians chapter 4, God has given some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. When we come together, that is the point.

However, the problem in Corinth was that when the body of believers gathered, it did not result in the betterment of the community. Instead of exalting God and edifying the body, their gatherings ended in jealousy, division, and immorality. This raises the question: why even get together if this is going to be the result? Paul suggests that it would have been better for the Corinthians not to gather at all. If the outcome is negative, then perhaps they should refrain from congregating.

You might wonder what Paul is talking about. There comes a time when it may be better for the church not to gather if the result is detrimental. To illustrate this point, let’s turn in our Bibles to the Old Testament, specifically to the book of Isaiah. Right after the book of Song of Solomon, in Isaiah chapter 1, we see that there is a way in which our worship can become worthless. It can even turn into wickedness and sinfulness.

In Isaiah 1:11, God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, says, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? I am full of your burnt offerings of rams and fat-fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me. Your new moons, your Sabbaths, your calling of assemblies, I cannot."

Away with it, says God. It is iniquity. It's sin. Even the solemn meeting, your new moons, your appointed feasts, my soul hates them. Man, that's heavy. They are trouble unto me. I'm weary to bear them. When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. When you make many prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood.

You see, in the 8th century BC, when God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, the nation of Israel had become stubborn and rebellious. They had departed from the Lord in their hearts. Yet, they still honored Him, if you could even call it honor. They honored Him by going to the temple, offering sacrifices, and observing the feasts, such as Passover and Tabernacles. They still honored Him with their lips, but their hearts had completely departed from the Lord.

Week after week, month after month, feast after feast, they brought their sacrifices to God. There was an appearance of godliness, but it was devoid of power and any real devotion to God. So God says through Isaiah, just stop. Why do this?

Not just through the prophet Isaiah, but also through the prophet Amos. Right after the book of Joel comes the book of Amos, right before Obadiah. In Amos chapter 5, God again speaks through one of His prophets. In verse 21, He says, "I hate." It's a heavy thing when God says He hates something. "I hate, I despise your feast days. I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your vials."

Could you imagine God saying today, "I don't want to hear your songs anymore. Just stop"?

Now, turn to the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 1. This, to me, is perhaps one of the heaviest verses of them all. It's just one verse: Malachi 1, verse 10. God says to His people, His last words to them before the coming of the Messiah.

Malachi 1, verse 10 states, "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you," says the Lord Almighty. "I will not accept an offering from your hands." Could you imagine God saying it's so bad that He wishes someone would have enough courage to just go lock the doors to the church? Don't even come, because when you do, your hearts are so far from the Lord. It's such a bad representation of God that it's actually more sinful for you to be there than to not be there.

Paul says, "When you come together, it's not for the better; it's for the worse." It should be for the better, but it actually is not. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 16, the author of the book of Hebrews implies that there is a type of person that God is ashamed to be called their God. When they say, "I'm a Christian," God might respond, "Oh, goodness, could you not say that?" Because of their way of life, their witness, and the way they live, it is shameful to God when they identify as Christians.

This raises a challenging question that we must consider: Are we gathering together for the better or for the worse? Is it for the glory of God and the growth of the body of Christ, or are we gathering for our own glory, for our own greed, for our own gluttonous appetites? This was precisely what was happening at the church in Corinth, which is why Paul had to rebuke them in just a few short verses, specifically verses 17 through 22 in 1 Corinthians 11.

He states, "For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it." There are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. I think that Paul is giving them the benefit of the doubt when he says, "I partly believe it." He already knew full well that there were certain divisions among the believers at the church in Corinth.

It is no wonder that Ray Stedman, many years ago, referred to 1 Corinthians as "1 Californians." Paul acknowledges the divisions among them, saying, "When you gather together in the church, I hear that there are divisions." News had come to Paul regarding the gatherings of the body of Christ there in Corinth, and the news was not good.

He was told that there are all kinds of divisions there. The word "divisions" in the original Greek is "schisma," from which we get our English word "schism." As we saw previously, at the beginning of 1 Corinthians, the Corinthian body had already divided itself into separate meetings based on the personalities of their leaders. It wasn't just that the church was so big that they had to meet in separate venues; the church had come to a place, as we see in 1 Corinthians 1, where the people were saying, "Well, I like this teacher better than this teacher, and I associate with this group better than this group," and that's why they separated. It wasn't just out of necessity; it was out of desire.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. I know it's been a while since we were there, but it's still there. Look to make sure it's still there. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10, Paul says, "Now this I say, that every one of you says, 'I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ.'" But Paul asks the question, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?"

So here's the picture: the church at Corinth was divided into these different groups, and the groups were based on the personalities of their leaders. Some people said, "I am of Paul." Others said, "No, no, no, we really like Apollos, so we're of Apollos." Some claimed, "No, we're of Peter. That guy's a miracle worker; he walked on water." Then there was the spiritual group that said, "Well, we are of Jesus. Don't you know?"

Paul responds, "Well, you know, Christ is not divided, and I wasn't crucified for you, but He was. You're not baptized in the name of Christ, so we are all one in Christ. Stop this whole foolish division thing based on personality."

However, the divisions within the church at Corinth went much deeper than just "I'm of Paul" and "I'm of Apollos." It reached a point where people started to divide within those fellowships, within those cell groups, and it was divided basically on social grounds.

Social class divisions are a significant issue, and Paul addresses this by stating that it shouldn't be the way it is. The church at Corinth was filled with people from different backgrounds. In fact, many of the members of the early church, including those in Corinth, were slaves, while others were their masters. Within the fellowship, there were both bondmen, or slaves, and free individuals. When they gathered together, they often divided along these lines.

You would have the wealthy group of people over here, who did not associate with the less wealthy group over there. This division was not merely about wealth but reflected a broader social class distinction within the body of Christ. As Chapter 12 unfolds, we will see that they not only divided based on the personalities of their leaders and social class but also according to spiritual gifts.

Some individuals considered themselves gifted, while others felt they were not as gifted. I apologize for pointing to this side of the room as the less gifted ones and this side as the gifted ones. The middle is the safest place to sit because I never point to you. Regardless, there were those who would say, "I speak in tongues, and you don’t, so I can’t associate with you." What they fail to recognize, as we will see in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, is that those gifts were given to minister to one another and to God. They were not meant for personal pride, yet divisions arose over these issues.

Paul exhorts them in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. We are called to minister to one another, with no divisions based on giftedness or wealth. The social divisions are very clear and apparent in the secular world, but they should not exist in the church. This should not be the standard for the body of Christ.

It is evident in the world we live in, and it seems to worsen every day. There are even people in our society today who are pouring fuel on the fire, trying to exacerbate these divisions. Just this last week, I saw Michael Moore on MSNBC.

I have a hard time stomaching the guy, but Michael Moore has done some pretty provocative things. Some of his videos are probably interesting, but this one was very provocative. There he was on one of the MSNBC shows with some handcuffs as his little illustration. He looked into the screen and said to all those who are on the Forbes 400—none of them are in this room today—but all those that are on the Forbes 400, which is the 400 most wealthy people in the world today, you have to be well over a billion dollars in assets to be on that list. He looked into the camera and said, "We're coming for you. You should be arrested for all the wealth that you have. We're coming for you. The working class of America is coming for you."

Listen, he does not speak for me. In reality, the guy needs to remove the plank from his eye. He’s a millionaire. Is he really going to throw himself in jail? I’d love to see it. But there is this kind of attitude that fuels this whole social movement. In the church, it should never be the case.

Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13. Again, my children have infected me. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13 states, "For by one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body. Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond, that is, slave, or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

Now, turn two books to the right to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, verse 26 says, "For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ. And if you be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."

Now, again, turn three books to the right.

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Colossians chapter 3, verse 11 states that where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all in all. This is the standard for the body of Christ. The body of Christ is to be open to all who would come. It is not to be a social club or take on the appearance of a country club. There ought not to be special seats for the top ten tithers, nor should there be a high IQ row or a blessed balcony, which we don't even have. There shouldn't be anything like that, or a spiritual elite corner.

However, at Corinth, there was division. The Corinthians had divided themselves through their arguments with one another, claiming, "I'm of Paul," or "I'm of Apollos." They isolated themselves into different groups based on social class and spiritual superiority. This still happens in the church today, but it shouldn't. Such divisions should be crucified; they are part of the flesh and represent carnality.

In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 19, Paul states, "For there must also be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." This can be a little odd. If you read verses 18 and 19 together, it can be confusing, especially in some translations. For example, the New Living Translation says, "First of all, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent, I believe it." Then, in verse 19, it continues, "But of course, there must be divisions among you, so that those who are right will be recognized."

Wait a minute. What do you mean there are divisions among us? That's a bad thing. But then he says there must be divisions among you. What is he saying? Reading that can be confusing, and often we might just read over verses like verse 19 without fully understanding their implications.

Just see it as an aside and wonder, "Well, what's going on here?" I don't know. We'll just move on.

Again, in the New International Version, verse 18 says, "In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it." No doubt there have to be differences among you. At least in the New International Version, it changes the words "divisions" and "differences." What it reveals is that there are two different words in the Greek that are used here. In verse 18, the word for divisions is "schisma," but now in verse 19, the King James Version actually provides a better translation in this situation. The word is "hyreses." It sounds like "heresies."

So, he says, "For there must be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest." What in the world is Paul talking about? There are divisions among you, and this is bad, but there must be heresies to reveal that which is approved. Some just skip over verse 19 thinking, "Well, I don't really know what he's saying," and so they move on to the next verse. But let's consider what he is saying.

It's important to understand the difference between these words and the difference in what is being said. Schisms, unfortunately, happen often in churches when we alienate ourselves from one another over foolish things. It's when people leave a church because of grudges, allowing that grudge to creep into their own heart. They hold on to that grudge, and it festers.

You know, like in the back of your refrigerator when you forget something was there for a while? It starts to fester. It doesn't look very appetizing. As it begins to fester, it starts to grow. Ooh, that's a lovely word picture to think about right now. It festers and starts to grow. The same thing happens with these grudges that come into our hearts; they fester and grow because you certainly can't keep it to yourself. You have to talk with somebody else about it.

So, you talk with maybe two or three dozen others about this. Of course, I'm talking with you because we need to pray about this. We need to pray about this. Pastor Miles said something that really bothered me. We need to pray about it. And so we kind of disguise it.

It's very spiritual. We're going to pray about this. Oh, you don't understand what that wicked person who sat next to me did; they took my parking space. So, I just don't like them. We need to pray about it, but they never actually get to praying. The prayer meeting just turns into a time of gossip.

As it grows, it begins to build into a root of bitterness, and then it's not just a disagreement between brothers. Now it becomes very personal, and you start to say, "Oh, we don't like him. We don't like them. We'd be better off going elsewhere." It's that inability of folks to get over things, to get on with it. They express their division rather than their unity, and they eventually pick up and go elsewhere. They pick up their baseball bat and go to another diamond because they don't like you.

It happens every day, every week, and in every church. The church never grows, and the world is never given the opportunity to see the benefits of the unity of the body of Christ. It happens all the time because it's far easier to pick up and go than it is to sit down, settle that issue, and then move on.

The same thing happens in marriage quite a bit. More than 50% of marriages in our own nation end in divorce, right? These little things—"I don't like the way she cooks," "I don't like the way he smells," and "those sounds that come from him"—make it just easier to split. Schisms arise.

Paul says, "I hear that there's schisms among you, and that ought not to be the case." Now, there are going to be heresies. Wait a minute. Heresies sound far worse than divisions. But heresy, in contrast to schism, has to do with disagreements about doctrine and what the Bible is actually saying.

While heresy is not necessarily a good thing, it is actually better than a schism in the sense that it challenges the body of Christ to dig in and determine, "Is that exactly what the Bible says? Is that exactly what God was thinking about or what God desires for us?" It causes us to look back to the Word and ask, "Is this what God wants for us?"

Is this what this passage should mean? Doctrinal disagreements are not necessarily a bad thing, and the Lord actually allows them to form from time to time. Through these disagreements, the Lord makes manifest the distinction between truth and error. It is through these discussions that we are able to see what is right and what is wrong.

For example, someone might come in and say, "Well, the Bible says that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer and that He is a created being." Does it? Let's have a look and consider. Another person might claim, "The Bible says that one day, I'm going to become a God and I'll have my own planet. Then all those people I don't like, I can smite them on my own planet." Does the Bible really say that? Some will come in and assert, "The Bible teaches that you have to be baptized to be saved." Is that right? Can you give me chapter and verse? Let's consider if this is really what the Scripture says. Is it truly what it teaches?

Heresies that come in are not necessarily a bad thing if we understand the Scriptures and can test them with the Bible to see what is right and what is true. Paul, as he stood at the entrance to Ephesus just before he departed for his last trip to Jerusalem, warned them that seditious heresies would come in and that they needed to be ready to deal with these issues. He emphasized that he stayed there for more than two years to instruct them in the Word.

It is true that through such doctrinal disagreements and differences, we have many denominations in Christianity today. Some might say that all these doctrinal disagreements have caused these denominations. While that may be the case, it is also true that through the proving of the truth, we have determined that groups like the Latter-day Saints and the Jehovah's Witnesses are not orthodox. They are cults; they are not true and are heretical. If you look back...

At the creeds of the church, the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed developed from seditious heresies that emerged. The church said, "Whoa, time out. We need to huddle up. We need to consider, is this true? What is being said by this guy, Arian, who has come in?" The answer was no; it was not true. Therefore, they needed to profess in this creed what they believed and to express their disagreement with these heresies.

I can understand the reality of the Lutheran Church, the Wesleyan Fellowships, a Baptist church, or a Presbyterian church. However, there should never be a first church of the really wealthy people. There should never be an assembly of the body against another church down the road simply because they smell bad or because we didn't like them, leading us to do our own thing. The church of Corinth was divided over social issues, and as a result, they were not experiencing or expressing the unity of Christian fellowship. They weren't witnessing it to their community, nor were they experiencing it within the body of Christ.

Paul says in verse 20, "When you come together, therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper." We will see next week, when we get down into verse 23, that Paul, while in the city of Corinth, which correlates with Acts chapter 18, established the church. One of the things he instructed them in was what the church called the Lord's Supper. He states in verse 23, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, in the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of Me.'"

Then, after supper, He took the cup and passed it around, saying, "This is the cup of the New Covenant, the New Testament. It's a symbol of My blood. It's to remind you of My blood that is shed for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."

So, Paul instructed the church that they should partake of the Lord's Supper. Jesus said, "As often as you do this, you'll remember Me." Therefore, they should do this often. The church at Corinth agreed, saying, "Okay, we're going to do that often." As the church started to grow, one of the traditions that began to develop was something known as the Agape Feast. The Agape Feast was basically...

Just a potluck. We like potlucks, right? I mean, really, it's only churches that have potlucks anymore, and they have lots of potlucks in America. A potluck is like a big American church tradition. However, there's something about that name, potluck, that I don't know if I really like. I love what Ray Stedman said about it. He said, "I like potluck suppers, but I don't like the name. I'm physically opposed to the first syllable, pot, and I'm theologically opposed to the second syllable, luck."

Now, potlucks are great. The Agape Feast was basically a potluck. Pliny the Younger, in the late first century and early second century A.D., was one of the governors in Rome. He wrote to Trajan, the emperor, and talked about the church and how these Christians gathered together to have a common meal. This was the Agape Feast. They would come together and bring food. However, when they gathered in Corinth, those who were more fortunate had something to bring, while there were slaves who had nothing to contribute.

They decided that since they had gotten together, they might as well partake of the Lord's Supper at the end of their Agape Feast. That makes sense. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, we should do that. Let's have communion together when we gather at the end of the Agape. Yes, that makes sense. Let's do that.

But Paul had a problem with it. Why? In verse 21, he writes, "For in eating, everyone takes before others his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk." They gathered for this Agape Feast, and those who were fortunate brought food and wine with them. Yes, they did drink wine; that's a study for another day. The fortunate members would say, "Well, this is mine," and they would eat their food, drink their wine, and fill themselves to overflowing, becoming gluttonous and drunken. Meanwhile, another group of people who didn't have much sat isolated in the corner. Paul observed this and said, "Well, you just don't have anything, sorry."

This is not what you should be doing. Don't call that the Lord's Supper. If that's what's going to take place, don't put the name "the Lord's Supper" on this thing because that's not at all what it is. That's not what the Lord's Supper is all about.

Well, it begs the question: just what is important for the body of Christ to do when they gather together? If they're not to do what Paul is talking about, which seems to be very closely linked to what we call modern-day fellowship, what exactly are we to do when we gather together as the body of Christ under the name of Jesus Christ as the church of God?

I think one of the best places to turn for that is Acts chapter 2, verse 42. You can turn there if you want, but let me just read it: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers." The important marks of the early Christian life are instruction in and obedience to the apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer.

Now, you might ask, "Isn't this agape feast, isn't that fellowship?" I think it's important to maybe do a study on the word "koinonia." As you start to study the word "koinonia," which is translated as fellowship in Acts 2:42, you see that what is really implied there is corporate public worship. The church should come together for instruction in the apostolic teaching, for corporate public worship, for breaking bread, and for prayer.

Now, that does not mean that we don't do anything else in His name, but we should not think of having a potluck or playing a ball game as Christians and say that is the church of God. Because it's not. It might be Christians that are playing that ball game and Christians that are having that potluck, but we can't just put the label on it and say, "Hey, church meeting." It's not sufficient to only do that to the exclusion of the other and say, "Well, you know, I had my church today. I went to a church potluck."

No. What we need to be doing is gathering together for instruction in apostolic teaching, corporate worship, breaking of bread, and prayers. What was taking place in the Corinthian agape was anything but agape. When we get to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, we're going to see that word "agape" really defined for us because the Greek word "agape" can be translated as love.

In English, but in the King James Version of the Bible, the term is often translated as "charity." They would gather together for this thing called the Agape Feast, yet in no way would they display love. They would withhold their possessions, isolating their belongings and claiming, "This is mine." What do you learn? Well, you don't even really need to learn. What you start to say when you're about two years old is, "Mine! Mine! Don't you touch it; it's mine."

During the feast, everyone would take their own supper before others, leading to one person being hungry while another was drunken. At the end of that time, they would throw in the Lord's Supper and say, "Hey, this is church." No, it is not. If you cannot show love, do not call it a love feast.

In verse 22, Paul asks, "What? Have you not houses to drink in, to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have not?" He continues, "What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."

It seems that the church at Corinth wrote to Paul, and much of this is a response to questions they sent him. They were sharing with him about their great thing called the Agape Feast, claiming it was really awesome and suggesting he should start doing it in Ephesus. Paul responds, "Yeah, I've heard about that Agape Feast. This is what I've heard: people are gathering there, committing gluttony, getting drunk, and excluding others who have nothing. How is that Agape?"

So, he cannot praise them for this. He cannot say, "Yeah, right on, keep doing that." He asks, "Don't you have your own houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?"

From verse 22, we can take away that there are certain liberties we have in the body of Christ. In Christ, we have liberty, but some things are better left outside the gathering of the body of Christ. They are better left away from that which is titled the church of God. If you're going to play bingo, please don't call it church or do it at church. If you're going to be involved in a multi-level marketing business, please don't call it a Christian endeavor and seek to run it in that context.

From within the church, it may be run by Christians, but they don't have a Bible study and instead sell Amway. Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have not? We ought to consider just how we are representing Christ and treating His body with the things that we're doing. How am I representing Christ in what I'm doing? How am I treating others within the body of Christ by my actions?

When we gather together in the name of Christ as Christians, is our behavior glorifying and honorable to God? That's something we honestly have to consider. Are we honoring and glorifying God in our softball teams? Are we honoring and glorifying God in that fellowship meal or in that prayer meeting that quickly degrades into a time of gossip? Are we honoring God when we have a Christian workday or when we have a youth activity or outing?

We're going under the banner of the church of God. We're declaring to people that we're Christians and that we're doing this in the name of Jesus. Do they see honor? Do they see honesty and integrity? Do they see the fruit of the Spirit, or do they see that we're just like the rest of the world? What does the world see when they look at the church?

At the end of the Gospel of John, as well as in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus goes into Jerusalem and comes into the temple. You remember He made a whip out of cords and drove the money changers and those who sold their wares from that place, saying, "You need to get out of here. This is my Father's house. This shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."

The interesting thing is that scholars believe that this swap meet, so to speak, was in the court of the Gentiles, the only place in the temple where Gentiles, non-Jews, could come and see and experience the worship of the one true God. What did they see when they got there? They came to the court of the Gentiles, and what did they think God is all about? They thought He was all about money. They were gouging people in the exchange rate and selling them goods.

Substandard livestock for sacrifice was sold at an exorbitant amount of money. The focus was all about money. There is an amazing contrast between the Corinthian church, as described in 1 Corinthians 11, and the Jerusalem church in Acts chapter 4. You may remember that in Acts chapter 4, when the church was very young, many of the people within the body of Christ sold all that they had and gave to those in need. They shared with one another.

In contrast, we see the Corinthians, who said, "No, this is mine." The church in Acts 4 in Jerusalem was so converted, not just in their profession of faith—saying, "Hey, we're followers of Jesus"—but also in the way that they lived. We know it wasn't perfect, as seen in Acts chapter 5 with Ananias and Sapphira. They sold a piece of land and claimed to the church that they sold it for a certain amount, but they actually sold it for much more. They gave only a portion to the church, appearing to be totally sold out. However, they lied to the church and attempted to lie to the Holy Spirit, and God dealt with them in a very severe and swift manner.

So, while it wasn't perfect, they did share with one another what they had. The church at Corinth, however, professed to be believers and followers of Christ, but their lives did not reflect that belief. It didn't show up in their actions. We must question ourselves: Do we profess to be believers in Christ and followers of God? We announce to the world through our t-shirts and bumper stickers that we are Christians. Does God look down from heaven and think, "Oh no, really?"

How are we representing Jesus when we say, "I am a Christian"? To our coworkers, to our family members, and to those we meet in our community, what would your coworkers say about you if they were asked by another believer in the body of Christ? What would your spouse say? Ouch. I'll leave you with that. It hurts, I know.

Let's stand and pray together. Lord,

I thank You that Your word is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to cut deep and divides between soul and spirit, joint and marrow. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Sometimes it's painful, Lord, especially when we're sitting in a room where the air conditioner went out. It's painful.

But, Lord, we thank You. We thank You that Your word is living and that You do speak to us. You desire to transform us, Lord. Your church, Your gathering, should take on a totally different nature than the other gatherings of this world, which are so self-focused, self-centered, and self-idolizing.

Lord, would You transform my heart and my mind? Transform the way that I interact with my family and my friends, so that those in this world would see and recognize You. May You show up more through us than we ourselves do. We need You to work in this way, Lord.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll be Augustual. Amen. Thank You.