Dealing with a
Dysfunctional Church
St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians
Discussion Question #1
In 1 Cor 12:1–3, Paul discusses some
concerns about Spiritual Gifts, including mention of cursing Jesus. What do you
think he is talking about here?
12:1 Now concerning spiritual
gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were
enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God
ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is
Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
Greco-Roman Curse Tablets
Slide 5
I entrust and consign
Karpime Ballia, weaver of garlands, to the Fates who exact justice, so that
they expose her acts of insolence, to Hermes of the Underworld [impart] heavy
curses
—Fragment from a Curse Tablet found in the temple of Demeter and Persephone in
Corinth
May they not prevail in
running Friday but . . . Indeed…
—Fragment from a Curse Tablet found near Corinth, referencing competition at the Isthmian Games
12:1 Now concerning spiritual
gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were
enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God
ever says “Jesus impart a curse!" and no one can say "Jesus is
Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
Discussion Question #2
Paul talks about the “variety of gifts”
in 12:4–11. What are these gifts, and what seems to be the problem the
Corinthians are having with them? Is this still a problem for Christians today?
12:4 Now there are
varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services,
but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same
God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation
of the Spirit for the common good.
8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another
the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the
working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of
spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of
tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to
each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Discussion Question #3
How does Paul use the image of the human
body (12:12–27) to talk about spiritual gifts?
12: 12 For just as the body
is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are
one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and we were all made to drink of
one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of
many.
If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the
body," that would not make it any less a part of the
body.
And if the ear would say, "Because
I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any
less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where
would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of
smell be?
But as it is, God arranged the members
in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where
would the body be?
In the days when man’s
members did not all agree amongst themselves, , as is now the case, but had
each its own ideas and a voice of its own, the other parts thought it unfair
that they should have the worry and the trouble and the labor of providing everything
for the belly . . . They therefore conspired together that the hands should
carry no food to the mouth, nor the mouth accept anything that was given it,
nor the teeth grind up what they received.
While they sought in this angry spirit to starve the belly into submission, the
members themselves and the whole body were reduced to the utmost weakness.
Hence it had become clear that even the belly had no idle task to perform, and
was no more nourished than it nourished the rest.
—Livy, 2.32.9ff
12: 20 As it is, there are
many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no
need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of
you.”
On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we
clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with
greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this.
But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior
member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may
have the same care for one another.
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored,
all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually
members of it.
12: 28 And God has
appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds
of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various
kinds of tongues.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do
all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But
strive for the greater gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Discussion Question #4
Chapter 13 is often read at weddings.
Yet, as a response to the Corinthians’ dysfunctions, how is the reading of this
passage on such occasions quite ironic?
13:1 If I speak in the
tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a
clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do
not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand
over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love
is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it
does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for
tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we
know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete
comes, the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned
like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now
we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only
in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.13 And now faith,
hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Discussion Question #5
Do you think Paul accurately describes
true love in chapter 13? Why or why not?
Discussion Question #6
In chapter 14, Paul compares and
contrasts the gift of prophesy with that of speaking in tongues. What are the
Apostle’s concerns with regard to their use in the Corinthian worship services?
Do these remain concerns today?
14:1 Pursue love and strive
for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.
For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for
nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit. On
the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding
and encouragement and consolation. Those who speak in a tongue build up
themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church.
Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One
who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone
interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I
benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy
or teaching?
14: 26 What should be done
then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a
revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building
up.
If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each
in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let them
be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. Let two or three
prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be
silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be
encouraged. And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is
a God not of disorder but of peace.
14:37 Anyone who claims to
be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am
writing to you is a command of the Lord.
Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized. So, my friends, be
eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should
be done decently and in order.