“But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.”
I Corinthians 11:17
E pluribus unum was approved in 1782 to be the motto on the Great Seal of the United States. We see it on the ribbon held in the eagle’s beak. In school, we all learned that this meant “out of many, one”. The United States of America meant just that, the thirteen smaller states joined together to become united in this new nation. They set aside some differences for the larger good. And the motto has become over the years to reference that we are a country of immigrants who become Americans, not denying ethnicity but setting it aside for the sake of unity as Americans.
While this is not a Biblical phrase or even has any spiritual emphasis in its origin story, it does illustrate a Biblical truth. We are one in Christ!
“For He Himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” Ephesians 2:14
“…so we, though many, are one body in Christ” Romans 12:5
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
There are a myriad of verses declaring all believers of whatever status as one in Christ. This truth is foundational to our core beliefs and, thus, we can see why the apostle Paul was so upset with the church in Corinth. The receiving of Communion was to be done in remembrance of Christ’s sacrificial death and to show how the believers were one in Him…it was to be Comm(union). It was a picture that had been changed by the strategy of our enemy. The evil one showed up in the church to deceive and divide as he has always done. He did it in the Garden of Eden, with Cain and Abel, and so on down human history in his goal to keep people from knowing Christ and/or living for Him. In the celebration of the Eucharist, the Corinthians would share a meal…or not share as it seemed. Can you imagine a potluck with one table for the haves full of food and one empty with nothing for the have nots? This was called a love feast and was to be marked by love for each other but was marked by economic separation! No wonder Paul was very direct in his condemnation of what they were doing.
Perhaps we need to check our hearts to see where we have been affected by this strategy of division. Are there things we must set aside so the love of Christ can be displayed in the communion sacrament? And perhaps not only then but in our daily walks as we live in the way of Jesus with the heart of Jesus.
“. . . that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” John 17:21
Francie Overstreet
EFCC Member