Gadfly's Muse

1 Corinthians 11&12: Sundry Things...

Image:  "Background", 2010, Lake Louise, AB

1 Corinthians 11:3  But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

1 Corinthians 11:27  Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:33  Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

1 Corinthians 12:1–3  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2... 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. .... 14 For, in fact, the body is not one member but many.

1 Corinthians 12:27  Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

____________________________________________________________________

As is the custom with many, if not most, churches, there were many questions which the Corinthians had asked Paul's advice.  All of them are relevant, in principle, to questions we still face today.  All are too complex to completely develop but I'll at least point out a direction.

The question of women's long hair is intricately bound up in the social customs of the day as well as the new freedoms and status that the Christian "sect" had introduced.  

The Christians led the way in tearing down significant barriers facing women.  Women were able to participate in worship alongside and with equal status to men, sometimes actually participating in worship (prophecy, etc.).  Christian women showed greater boldness in conducting business and traveling with slaves, etc.  A new light was shown on the relative status of married women, especially when married to non-Christian spouses.  

However, this generated questions.  Are any social distinctions between men and women to be maintained?  Roman and Greek pagan worship practices differed but some attention was paid to whether men should cover their heads and, to my knowledge, women and men worshiped separately.  In the Christian worship service, Paul tells men to not cover their heads because their "heads" in a sense, reflected that they, as covenant heads of household, were directly responsible to Christ.  He was their head.  Women, conversely, though of equal value to men are positionally related to Christ in their individual households, through their believing husband.  Thus, in the worship service, each sex was to display the "ordering" of social relationships.  What is essential here is that the Christian community was to embody God's structuring of godly human society.  It was not then, nor should it be now, simply a question of whether women wear a veil over their hair.  There's more to it than that.  Rather, they are to display (as married women) that they are under the "authority" of a husband in their ordinary positions in life.

I know that is unsatisfactory, but the topic is too complex to address more comprehensively.

Another question arising in Corinth and present still, is that of the Lord's Supper.  Carefully note 11:17-22 for the context for what follows.  The early churches observed the Sacrament in what was called a "love feast."  We would call them "fellowship dinners".  They were truly meals.  At some point, the host would introduce the actual observance of the Sacrament.  We don't really know how that worked in a specific practice.  Paul's main thrust here is that the Lord's Supper was being profaned because the Corinthians were acting out selfish pride as well as base carnal desires.  Rather than sharing "commonly', some were eating separately, or in factions, and some were being deprived (vs. 11:21) and others were getting drunk.

Paul takes them back to basics.  The Lord's Supper is a celebration of Christ's fellowship with us (corporately) and our fellowship with each other (corporately).  It is a celebration of what Christ has done to establish His Church and how He nourishes it.  It is virtually meaningless as an "individual" rite.  Paul charges his readers to pay careful attention to what Jesus has instituted and to examine themselves (11:28) to see if base desires or selfish motives are present in himself.  Paul says, "this is important, ensure the fellowship is present, wait for one another." (cf. 11:33)  Here is a message every generation of Christians must learn.  The Lord's Supper is a covenant celebration of what God has done through Jesus Christ in establishing and preserving His Church.  We have to always reinforce this central focus.

Then, as is always the case, there is that vexing question of spiritual gifts.  In the early Church, many such gifts were given that are no longer needed or present in the modern church.  We do not need revelatory prophecy now that we have the complete New Testament, etc.  However, that does not mean that there are no spiritual gifts remaining at all.  In 12:4-5, Paul sets down the central principle:  spiritual gifts will be provided to the Church in accordance with the number and variety of "ministries" that God calls forth.  What the Church must understand is that in the furnishing of such gifts, God is establishing both "unity and diversity."  Not everyone will have the same gifting... but all will be gifted for service.  So it is essential that all be encouraged, all are respected, and all are supported.  

However, Paul sums it all up by saying that such spiritual gifts for ministry are present in the congregation, are of far less importance than the supreme Spiritual gift which each Christian must possess.  It is the empowerment by the Holy Spirit to confess "Jesus is Lord." (12:3)  Here are the ground and foundation for all Christian ministry and its ultimate value.  Each is unified with the others in that they flow from that fundamental well-spring of confessing Jesus as Lord.  The diversity arises in that the Spirit is "given to each one for the profit of all". (12:7)  The body has to be composed of many parts but it is still one body.

These are powerful teachings and as relevant today as they can possibly be.  We are called to embrace our calling to reflect the new social order called the Kingdom of Christ, in everything we do.

 

Proverbs 31: Who CAN Find Such A Woman as That?

Image: Judy, 2014, Portumna Castle, Republic of Ireland

Proverbs 31:10–11 (NKJV) Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.

Proverbs 31:28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:

Proverbs 31:30–31 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

With such a confluence of events (arriving at chapter 31 of Proverbs and the looming nearness of Mother's Day) the topic for today's meditation appears to have been decided for me.  It has to be about the blessings accompanying virtuous wives / mothers.  As a matter of fact it is my own wife's almost inevitably comment during any discussion of Proverbs 31 that - "It's true... who CAN find such a woman as that!"  She is of course reacting to the "Super Woman" impression one gets in reading the passage and with good reason.  The picture painted is daunting.  I am reminded of television's early days when moms like June Cleaver ("Leave It To Beaver") vacuumed her immaculate house in high heels, met her husband at the door wearing pearls, lipstick and freshly styled hair and alway had just the right thing to say to her boys and her husband.   I don't encourage young prospective grooms to demand this of their brides.  The honeymoon will not last very long at all.

But if we move past the cultural settings of both ancient writer and present reader, what do these verses (31:10-31) proclaim?  It's pretty clear that possessing Godly wisdom means having a deep appreciation for women in general as well as wives and mothers in particular.  In an ancient cultural setting where wife abuse was not uncommon at all in some cultures, where women were often viewed with patronizing smugness at best and suspicious contempt at worst, God pointed His people, especially men, back to Genesis 2 and women's created purpose to be co-sharer's in God's image and a necessary "help" in all things.  Marriage was instituted as a "covenant of mutual help" and so God intends it to be respected as such down to this day.  Thus Proverbs 31 highlights the virtuous wife/mother as not just worthy of respect... but worthy of public praise.  That was a revolutionary concept in those days and it is still an often neglected idea today.

It is important to see the cooperative nature of these verses.  The wife/mother is a critical player in the husband & wife team.  The husband's role is assumed, not detailed, here.  He is pictured as being wholly employed sitting "among the elders of the land." (vs. 23)  Thus the picture painted is of a prosperous, godly household, the end toward which the entire collection of Proverbs has pointed.  The husband is wealthy, influential and busy fulfilling the duties of oversight in the whole city.  As such it is necessary for him to "safely trust" his wife (vs. 11) because she basically runs the family business... at least in day to day management.  Notice in vs. 11 that the elder will have no lack of gain.  The idea of "paid political service" is relatively new.  Great Britain didn't start paying members of the House of Commons until the early days of the 20th century.  This man's entire position in the community depended on his wife's business acumen and decisions.

And boy does she do a good job.  She is not tempted to sloth and other fleshly temptations... at least not to the point of giving in to them.  She seeks out raw materials and makes clothing... she organizes the pantry and supervises the feeding of a large household of children and servants.  She has discretionary funds available for her to buy fields and plant vineyards.  She is a hard worker... buying and selling garments... making benevolent contributions to the poor... and watching over all the aspects of her household.

This is a woman to be treated with respect.  She is to be given the "fruit of her hands", in other words the fruits of her service.  She is not to be pushed back out of sight, confined to a dark corner while the men talk of "big things."  She is not to be used for the benefits she brings and yet required to dress in rags because of a miserly hoarding of the money she herself brings into the household.  No... in all things she is to be valued as an equal: equal before God and equal before men.  God's economy does assign "roles" to men and women... that is undeniable.  But at no point, in the differentiation of roles, is that to be taken as a value judgment or sign of diminished status.

"A woman who fears the LORD, ... shall be praised."  Amen.

The testimony of my own marriage and the marriages of all four of my sons bear witness to the truths of this passage.  I count it a deep blessing to know, for a fact, that such women CAN be found and that God is to be praised for each and every one of them.

Happy Mother's Day.