Pauline Church Life

Food, Fights, Frenzy and Fellowship

Pauline Church Life

• Food– Problem areas

• What do to with food sacrificed to pagan idols?– 1 Cor 8:1-13 & 1 Cor 10:14-11:1

» Must resolve tension between Paul being entirely comfortable with eating meat sacrificed to pagan god and his discomfort with participation in pagan idolatry

– Romans 14:13-23» Restatement of freedom and love as guiding

directives on idol meat

• Eating problems at the “Lord’s supper”?– 1 Cor 11:17-34

» The meal to symbolize unity has become the place socio-economic divisions are marked

Pauline Church Life

• Fights– Politics and factional divisions in the Pauline

church• Best e.g. of some form of theological division

driven by adherence to different teachers, 1 Cor 1:11-12; 3:1-4

• Best e.g. of some other form of division (simply personality or power issues?), Phil 4:2

• Need to kick out members, e.g., 1 Cor 5:5• Conflict generated by outside Judaizers showing

up and offering alternative to Paul’s teaching (e.g., Galatians)

Pauline Church Life

• Frenzy– 1 Cor 12-14—Paul appears to be trying to establish order in

worship that has degenerated into a cacophonous frenzy• Paul’s teaching on “spiritual gifts” (the manifestation or appearing of

the Holy Spirit in one believer for other members of the body of Christ) seems to be focused on “tongues” and “prophecy” in particular

– Note how teaching of 1 Cor 12 and 13 lay the groundwork for the more explicit instruction of 1 Cor 14

» “Tongues” (ecstatic speech in a “language” no one but apparently God understands) are good and a sign of God’s end-time visitation but are not helping create a sensible corporate worship time (1 Cor 14:2-25)

» “Prophecy”—also needs regulation if it is to be meaningful and not a shouting match (1 Cor 14:26-40)

– Note Paul has no problem with phenomena such as “tongues” or “prophecies” but he wants to avoid the Christian gathering to be meaningful and not degenerate into utter disorder and confusion (1 Cor 14:39-40)

Pauline Church Life

• Fellowship– Paul cannot imagine that the Christian life

would be anything but communal• Salvation is a corporate experience

– e.g., Phil 1:6 “in/among you” is corporate, 2:1-13 (esp. 12) “your salvation” is plural/corporate

• Notice how important it is that spiritual gifts are given for the benefit of OTHERS (1 Cor 12-13)

– This generates a mutual interdependence

Pauline Church Life

• The Letters of Paul show a church that…– Fights together– Feasts together– Forgets it is not a frenzied pagan cult– Fellowships and shares an often hard life

together