April 29, 2016  1 Corinthians 11:1-22

Paul’s instructions about food and the distinction between pagan meals and Christian Communion brings him to a discussion of Christian gatherings.  His directions in this passage are often the subject of debate and even discord among sincere Christians.  How do his commands for first-century worship apply in our culture? 

This passage is particularly difficult to read without imposing our own filters on the text.  Our culture, our church background, our comfort level in worship services, and other attitudes can distort our understanding of Paul’s meaning.  Read the words of Scripture with as open and as fresh a mind as you are able.  See what you learn from this passage about church, about gender, and about how we relate to each other as brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.

You may notice that there is no handout to download this week.  Hopefully the handouts we have been using in our study and discussion group have been helpful.  Having a convenient way to read and mark up a passage, all using the same translation, is helpful in the process of learning the skills of inductive Bible study.  However, some situations (an impromptu conversation over coffee, for example) may not have a readily-available handout prepared.  Also, looking at different translations together can add another layer to a discussion – sometimes helpful, sometimes confusing, usually profitable.  This week use your own Bible translation (or several) to read and study the passage.  The suggestions in the article on Methodical Bible Study provide good reminders of the kinds of questions that will stir your thinking in the Observation, Interpretation, and Application phases of study.  Read the passage and come to the group ready to ask questions to help all of us learn from this text.

A note about marking:  Handouts are especially helpful in being able to mark up a passage (“circle all the verbs” or “underline all the people mentioned” or to write notes or questions about the text).  Without a handout (or a photocopy of the passage from your Bible) you face the decision: To mark or not to mark?  The main problem is practical.  Marking in the Bible itself is very helpful (just like using a handout).  But only for the first time you read a passage.  Next time you come to the passage (in a week or in five years) you may find it difficult to see the text with “fresh eyes.”  What God the Holy Spirit shows you in the text today may not be the same thing He wants to use in your life at another time in the future.  All those helpful circles and underlines and notes can become a distraction the next time you read the passage.  Ask yourself:  When you come to a marked-up passage, which do you read first, the inspired text or your previous notes?  (The same concern applies to study Bibles and printed footnotes – helpful but possible distractions away from what God actually said in the text.)  As mentioned above, one option is to make a photocopy of the page you are studying and use that for marking your observations and insightful interpretations.  Or even use a blank sheet of paper to make notes and comments as you read the passage.  Or mark in the Book itself – whatever is most helpful in being spiritually formed by God’s word, both today and in the future.