The More Excellent Way (1 Cor 13)

With its sheer beauty and power 1 Cor 13 is one of Paul's finest moments and a greatly loved NT passage. Unfortunately, the love for this love ch. has caused it to be regularly read [at weddings!] out of context. This doesn't make love less true, but it misses Paul's concern with the situation in Corinth. Then when reading in context love is set over against "the gifts of the Spirit," which it isn't, because love belongs in a different category altogether. For Paul it is not "gifts to be sure, but better yet love." Rather, love is to be the primary motivation lying behind everything they are and do--including Spirit manifestations [="gifts"] in the gathered church. An eager desire for expressions of the Spirit that will build up the church is HOW LOVE ACTS in this context. Love is the essential "ingredient," the one that seems to be missing to a large degree among those in the church.

The Lord’s Supper: Discern the Body (1 Cor 11:17–34)

Commendation and rebuke. Paul commended them for keeping the traditions that he passed on to them regarding worship practices (1 Cor 11:2), but is subject to severe qualifications (11:17–34). Paul received word of divisions in the church during their celebration of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor 11:18); thus, he rebukes them for their disunity and offers a stern corrective of their common worship meal.