Recognize the Body

Psalms 122; 1 Corinthians 9-11 

“…Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?...For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick…”

1 Corinthians 11:22, 29, 30

What body are we to recognize when we remember the death and resurrection of Christ?

We are to remember that we, the Church, are the body of Christ. We are to examine ourselves, not just for personal sin, but for corporate sin. When we treat those who are poor in the eyes of the world as less valued members or parts of the body of Christ, we bring God’s judgment on our lives. The love feasts that the early Church practiced were potlucks where the wealthy and the poor brought different food to the feasts and then excluded one another based on their wealth. It is this corporate sin of finding our identity and friends from our social-economic status rather than the body of Christ that Paul is exposing and confronting.

Do we live the same dual standard on a global scale with the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’?

“Lord Jesus, help me to recognize your body in the Church, for your glory.”