I Corinthians 11:1-34
11:1 Spiritual children carry themselves with humility. A wise person does not carry themselves with condescension but rather with the outlook that they are a student of life and of the content and context of their environment. Instead of preaching others to emulate your behavior, encourage them with and through your behavior to emulate the values that you are striving toward.
As each person is a student of life, each person comes equip with lessons. We can be privy to those lessons if we are diligent and observant. We may take many courses at once, broadening our perspective and deepening our wisdom, when we allow humility to stretch our perspective.
11:2 There is something to be learned from everyone. Paul wants us to know that we are not following him, we are joining him in a walk of compassion toward Compassion Itself (the manifestation of divinity).
11:3 Paul highlights men, women and creation as three parts of one whole (a theme of this chapter).
11:4-5 Through men and women (as equal participants in God's compassionate message and work) each, Paul explains two errors of preaching through metaphor:
- A person cannot preach of spirituality if they are doing so to promote or celebrate themselves. A teacher should be humble. They should teach without pomp and circumstance and instead should teach with frank reason and wisdom. For example: there should be no hierarchy within a spiritual or religious organization, no personal gain.
- A person cannot preach of spirituality without covering themselves with compassion. Ulterior motives will poison and/or thwart and progression. Without creation's guidance, our accomplishments are lackluster at best, chaotic and regression at worst.
11:6 Teaching without an honest and spiritual tether with creation should be extinguished. When a person teaches with personal motives, they scatter, dishonor and confuse their students. Paul calls for all teaching done outside of compassion to be torn out.
11:7 Humans must not ornament themselves because the greatest thing about us is our creator, having created us with the ability to love. We must not let material and ornamentation define our goodness, rather we must let our work in God's name do that. We are each representations of the other, members of the same family, and we have the responsibility of authentically respecting our connection.
11:8-12 Life is not a battle between superiority of the genders. These verses introduce the fact that neither men nor women exist on their own. One is from the other and the other is from the one. What matters is that both are of and entirely dependent on God. Paul made this point in a time and context when women were not equal citizens and for him to acknowledge women as prophesiers was a progressive movement for the globe across generation.
11:13-15 A continuation of the metaphor: a person need have covered themselves with compassionate spirituality. Having done that, a student of God becomes a teacher among humanity, guided and protected by Him. Moreover, a person must not celebrate themselves, they actual dishonor themselves by behaving selfishly toward others.
11:16 There is no contention within spirituality. Why? Because students of God have a broadened perspective, capable of analyzing the complexities of situations and people. Students of God understand that progress and accomplishment is made through practiced and consistent serenity rather than anxiety, intolerance and frustration.
11:17-19 Analyze and focus your intention in everything that you do, speak and think and ensure that it is compassionate and progressive. Paul is trying to rearrange the churches of his time because they would be the examples, the ancestors of countless churches to come. Paul explains that among them, there are too many disagreements and selfish motives for the churches to ever function efficiently or authentically. Paul works to rid these churches of division and hypocrisy (something we must do even in our individual lives). Remember Mark 3:25, A house divided cannot stand.
11:16 There is no contention within spirituality. Why? Because students of God have a broadened perspective, capable of analyzing the complexities of situations and people. Students of God understand that progress and accomplishment is made through practiced and consistent serenity rather than anxiety, intolerance and frustration.
11:17-19 Analyze and focus your intention in everything that you do, speak and think and ensure that it is compassionate and progressive. Paul is trying to rearrange the churches of his time because they would be the examples, the ancestors of countless churches to come. Paul explains that among them, there are too many disagreements and selfish motives for the churches to ever function efficiently or authentically. Paul works to rid these churches of division and hypocrisy (something we must do even in our individual lives). Remember Mark 3:25, A house divided cannot stand.
11:20-22 Paul is specifically targeting corrupt religious organizations. The sole purpose and intention of any teacher should be to GIVE not gain from the institution they claim to be a proponent of. To trust that God will feed them when they have devoted themselves to feeding others. With what kind of nourishment? Patience, perspective, compassion, trust, faith, support, laughter, friendship...
11:23-26 Constantly give. Our purpose here is to create, to give something that had not existed without our intention, our action, our voice, our spirit bringing it into the world. We take care of ourselves when we take care of others. Emulate the example of selflessness, though having self value, in every moment. Indeed God's children have all the value in the universe for their compassionate souls and work among humanity.
11:27-29 Paul condemns the behavior of using religious and spiritual institutions for personal admonishment and gain. Manipulation and condescension are alive in the world and especially in certain places of religious and spiritual study. Across the globe and generation people are corrupting religion to control people and create fear and power.
11:30 Many are spiritually weak. Many are spiritually ill. Many are in a slumber, unaware of spirituality. One main reason why is because people are corrupting it, causing humans to distrust what is actually a compassionate message. Corrupt people have riddled spirituality with their greed and have tainted its actual nature.
The ramifications of weakness, ailment and slumber? Life is difficult. Humans doubt their purpose, and are skeptical of intention behind this life because they do not see order or justice within it. People become vulnerable, cynical, disbelieving.
11:31-32 As a parent, God watches our movements, our decisions, our thoughts. Without His understanding nature, the corrupt actions of some would be irredeemable (we would have no opportunity to fix our mistakes). Yet through Him we learn and grow, are guided if we follow the Light. Creation is not an authoritarian but is instead a loving Father, a patient Guide. Judgement from Him is a blessing because it comes with the compassion to love us despite our mistakes and the patience to lead us out of them.
11:33-34 Paul encourages us to come together to feed each other, to grow from each other in strength, wisdom and compassion. To never arrive at a table (or circumstance) with the intention of bettering solely ourselves.
11:30 Many are spiritually weak. Many are spiritually ill. Many are in a slumber, unaware of spirituality. One main reason why is because people are corrupting it, causing humans to distrust what is actually a compassionate message. Corrupt people have riddled spirituality with their greed and have tainted its actual nature.
The ramifications of weakness, ailment and slumber? Life is difficult. Humans doubt their purpose, and are skeptical of intention behind this life because they do not see order or justice within it. People become vulnerable, cynical, disbelieving.
11:31-32 As a parent, God watches our movements, our decisions, our thoughts. Without His understanding nature, the corrupt actions of some would be irredeemable (we would have no opportunity to fix our mistakes). Yet through Him we learn and grow, are guided if we follow the Light. Creation is not an authoritarian but is instead a loving Father, a patient Guide. Judgement from Him is a blessing because it comes with the compassion to love us despite our mistakes and the patience to lead us out of them.
11:33-34 Paul encourages us to come together to feed each other, to grow from each other in strength, wisdom and compassion. To never arrive at a table (or circumstance) with the intention of bettering solely ourselves.
