Creatures of Habit

The larger the family, the greater the divisions.

What is it that makes us splinter off into factions?  Do we have an inner need to find something to harp about, someone to rally against or something to whisper in the dark?

For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. - 1 Corinthians 11:18

In the early church were divisions, not unlike those we find in large families.  Those who came together to enjoy a social event were at odds with those who came to share their love of God.

The celebration of remembrance of the Last Supper became a meal, and that was the beginning of the problems.

When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord's supper.  For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in?  - 1 Corinthians 20-22

We may find this laughable today, because we have established traditions that rule and govern our communion.  But in those days, before such rules, people who risked their lives to meet in secret set up their own agendas and protocols.  And along comes Paul, the first organizer of the newly forming church.  Through his letters we discover just how difficult it was to rally the troops together in an orderly fashion and march to a single beat.

Paul was the first cat herder.

But it was a job he took very seriously.  Paul was setting the standard for worship that would evolve over the generations and centuries to become our tradition today.  His concern was in showing respect and reverence as a community, and not in turning the gathering into a party where cliques form and splinter off to gossip and get drunk.

Perhaps it is hard to imagine today but we are social animals and we need a few rules to keep us in line, or we will dissolve into creatures of habit.

We can credit Paul with setting us in line and giving us a good start.  But we should beware that our desire to keep those lines straight and clear might result in the very thing he was trying to avoid, fractioning and divisions.

So, there we are.

Let us ask ourselves how we are welcoming and not off-putting, open and loving, rather than obnoxious and overbearing, respectful and reverent of God and not lost in our own agendas.

After all, we gather together to seek the Lord's blessing.

Now, what about coffee hour?


More to come...