11:16
Paul simply says that this is the way things are done in the church, so there is no point being contentious about it. So what are we to make of all this? The cultural context today is so different and we can be blinded to the underlying truths by the cultural application of the principles. And if we accept that most or all of the instructions here are a cultural application there is a danger that we then start saying all sorts of things in the Bible are “cultural”. Well, let’s look at the male-female relationship. In the culture male and female were often in opposition, or men dominated women. In today’s culture we can still see some of that, and for all the changes in society women are increasingly treated as sex objects, with even children being sexualised. Then we have the transgender nonsense that is seeking to divorce gender from biology, and causing all sorts of chaos. The Bible teaches something very different. God created us male and female. We were created in His image, our humanity is a reflection of His glory. Men and women are equal, but they are also different, and these differences are also to our glory and to our authority (men’s and women’s). Again, notice how society tries to obliterate the differences, sees them as a nuisance, for example the attitude to childbearing and rearing. We should rejoice in God’s creation, especially when society around us is losing its marbles.
11:17
In 11:2 Paul had said that he commended the Corinthians, here he is very blunt about his displeasure with them. The Lord's supper was meant to be a remembrance of the Lord and what He has done, it was meant to be honouring to the Lord and upbuilding for the church, but at Corinth it was neither. We need to remember that our church services have this dual role, and this is the yardstick by which we are to measure them. It is very easy to get distracted from this.
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