1 Corinthians 11:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Having shown the impiety of the deed, he next applies the rebuke and speaks with great anger: "Have you not houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing?" (1 Cor 11:22).

Do you see how he transfers the insult from the poor to the Church, in order to strengthen his speech? Here is the fourth fault: they insult not only the poor, but also the Church.

As with the Lord's Supper, he says, so also you appropriate the very place, using the church as though it were your own house. The Church was established not so that those gathered in it should be divided, but so that those divided should be united. The very word, assembly, shows this.

"Have you not houses to eat and drink in?" If you do not intend to eat all together, why do you not eat at home?

"Or do you despise the Church of God?" When you turn the Lord's Supper into a private meal, eating by yourself, you show contempt both for the Church and for the place.

"And shame those who have nothing?" The poor are troubled not so much because you do not feed them, but because you put them to shame. You expose their poverty, while you sit magnificently and become drunk.

"What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you." Having rebuked the fault, he softens his speech. He could have said that this deserved a thousand deaths. Yet what does he say? "Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you."

He acts so in order to make them more merciful toward the poor. If he had carried his stern rebuke to the end, they would have been hardened against the needy, since the Apostle reproaches them on their account.

Why, then, do you despise the Church of God, turning it as though into a tavern, and shame those who have nothing, who because of their need and poverty were not prepared?

"Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing?" If you come to live luxuriously, do this in your houses. For this is both an offense and a manifest mockery of the church. Is it not most improper that inside the temple of God, in the presence of the Master who has set before us a common table, you live luxuriously while the needy hunger and are put to shame because of poverty? "What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you." The Apostle is guided by his usual meekness. He reproves spiritually, not as a judge. Then he reminds them more clearly about the sacred mysteries.

How should this disorder be understood, that is, how was it possible to "eat one's own food before others"? This is not clear from the Apostle's words.

Probably it happened in this way. When the divine service was over and the time came to eat, the poor and needy delayed in approaching the table. This was due to the natural shyness and timidity of their condition, and to their expectation of brotherly kindness and an invitation.

They hoped for more room and greater freedom after the rich and distinguished had eaten and their number had diminished. Meanwhile these latter, along with the bolder and less conscientious, were not ashamed to consume quickly whatever was best on the table.

They imagined that they had a special right to rush upon what they themselves had brought. Thus brotherly love and care for the poor were trampled underfoot. All reverence for the holy thing, the Eucharist just celebrated, was forgotten.

From gatherings for eating things sacrificed to idols, the Apostle now turns in his discourse to Christian church assemblies. From one disorder observed there, he passes to another among the Corinthians in their participation at the sacred Christian meal.

In Corinth, as in all the earliest churches, this meal took place after the Eucharist had been celebrated at the Liturgy. This followed the example of the Church of Jerusalem, where this was greatly aided by the fact that all things were common among the Christians (Acts 2:44-46).

First of all, the Apostle notes the spirit of division which the Corinthian Christians were improperly bringing into their church assemblies.

“Or do you despise the Church of God?” (1 Cor 11:22). Hearing this apostolic word, the brethren of this temple will perhaps think it is a reproach. They will think it is an expression of indignation. Was this what should have been expected now? Was this deserved by those who used zeal, labor, and generosity to renew and adorn this temple, and who gathered fervently for the solemn prayers of its consecration?

Do not fear, brethren, that apostolic truth is ever harsh toward those who love truth, or that it burdens those who do righteousness. Its reproach of the negligent becomes praise for the diligent. Its indignation against the unworthy contains consolation for the worthy.

If the holy Apostle rebukes those who neglect the Church of God, this is because he acknowledges and approves pious care for the Church of God as a duty. Therefore, to those who have fulfilled the sacred duty of such care, not our weak word, but the firm and faithful apostolic word bears witness. It testifies that they have acted according to the rule and pattern of the first Christians of the apostolic Church. Consequently, there is apostolic approval for their work, and apostolic blessing for them.

Yet this is enough for consolation, which, like honey, must be used sparingly and in moderation. Let us then turn to the apostolic word in order to draw from it precautions against neglect of the Church of God. Such precautions are surely never superfluous. “Or do you despise the Church of God?”

The neglect of the Church of God, or in other words, inattention and disrespect toward it, was rebuked by the Apostle among the Corinthian Christians. To them he wrote the words we have cited. It consisted in this: the rich among them brought bread and wine into the Church for the Lord’s table, but used them in the Church at the agape without order, with excess, and with contempt for the poor.

To make them feel the impropriety of such behavior, he directs their attention to the lofty dignity of the Church of God, contrasting it with ordinary houses. “What?” he says. “Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God?” (1 Cor 11:22). The reproving question, “Do you not have houses?” plainly presupposes a firmly accepted conviction. The chamber in which the Lord’s table is set for communion in the Lord’s Body and Blood is no longer an ordinary house. It is a holy place, requiring special attention and reverence.

Thus it becomes clear that, even in apostolic times, as now, there were special holy temples for the celebration of the mysteries. We otherwise call them Churches of God. Yet at that time the power and strength of the enemies of Christianity did not permit them to be built with such splendor, or with such visible signs of their sacred purpose, as now.

A further confirmation of this is supplied by the Apostle’s other reproving question: “Or do you despise the Church of God?” Here the name “Church of God” is directly set against the name of ordinary “houses.” The feeling of indignation with which Saint Paul arms his word against those who neglect the Church of God is not accidental. It is nothing other than the reflected force of deep respect and reverence for the Church of God. With which his soul is filled.

Here one must also note that the Apostle does not use proofs in order to instill respect for the Church of God in the Corinthians. He speaks of this duty as already known to all and acknowledged by all: “Or do you despise the Church of God?” It is as though he said to them: You know that the Church of God is the house of prayer. It is the sanctuary of the mysteries, the dwelling of God. It is a temple, though made by hands, yet one in which living temples of God, not made by hands, are built. In it believers are enlightened by the word of God and sanctified by the mysteries of faith.

You know that it differs from ordinary houses as heaven differs from earth, and as the divine differs from the human. You know this, and you need no proof that one must behave reverently in the Church of God, as before the face of God Himself. Therefore I am astonished and do not understand how you allow yourselves to behave in the Church of God as though in an ordinary house. Have you truly come to such a point that you have lost proper attention and respect for the Church of God? “Or do you despise the Church of God?”

When the apostolic saying is understood in this way, everyone can easily see that reverent veneration of the Church of God is a faithful apostolic tradition. This is true of the Church as the assembly of believers in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and as the sanctuary of the mysteries of faith. It is also the common custom of the first Christians. If some Corinthians showed something contrary to this custom in their actions, the Apostle showed us the testimony of its reality and importance. He showed it no farther away than in their own mind and heart, in their own conviction and inward feeling.

I do not think, brethren, that I too need to extend my thoughts far in seeking reasons to persuade you that the temple of God requires deep attention and reverent honor from a Christian.

If you ordinarily acknowledge that the house of a master requires honor and respect above the house of a servant, and that a hospitable chamber deserves this above its vestibule, then you cannot fail to acknowledge something more. If a king’s house deserves this above the house of a subject, then the house of the King of kings and Lord of lords requires reverent respect, and trembling reverence.

If a school for children strictly requires silence and attention from those present, then what silence and attention are required by the house of prayer and divine teaching?

When here, as once in the temple of Jerusalem, on this elevation as on the mountain of Judea, as on the stern of Peter’s boat, the same Lord Jesus speaks to us in His Gospel, then what is required? The same word of life and salvation is uttered to us. When here also, as once in the upper room of Zion, the same Spirit of the Lord breathes in the word of God and in divine hymns, what can be enough?

O, how even the most silent silence and the deepest attention are still little before the dread and desired majesty of what is heard and at work. O, that the whole man might become hearing, and wholly become attention. Then he would be wholly penetrated by the light of the word of God, and wholly embraced by the life-giving power of the Spirit of God.

When on this holy table, as on the table of the mystical supper of the Lord, the Lord’s Body is seen broken for us, and the Lord’s Blood poured out for us, then the same thing is renewed. It is that which on Golgotha brought all creation to trembling, shook the earth, crushed the rocks, and brought mortal darkness upon the life-giving eye of the world.

Then is it not most fitting that our heart be broken with compunction? Should it not, as it is drawn into contemplation of the mystery, vanish in communion with the sufferings of Christ? Should not a trembling of reverence pass through our whole being? Or can man be more insensible than insensible nature? Or is this not only possible, but something that actually happens with our heart, hardened harder than stones?

The more exalted the dignity of the temple of God and of what is accomplished in it, and the deeper the reverence it requires of us, the graver a crime irreverence in the temple must be counted. For this reason every precaution against crimes of this kind is more important.

It would seem that we may boast before the Corinthian Christians that we do not dare, as they did, to eat and drink in the Church of God as in ordinary houses. The disorder struck by the apostolic rebuke seems to have vanished. But let us be careful. Let us examine whether other disorders have slipped into its place, no smaller, and perhaps even greater.

Does it not happen among us in the Churches of God that those who come to divine service forget God, before whom they stand? Do they not turn to one another, greet one another, and enter into conversations about worldly matters? They think all is still in order when they speak quietly. Sometimes they forget themselves so far that the sinful noise of idle talk battles against the holy sounds of church reading and singing. Now the Apostle says to us also: “Do you not have houses?” Do you really have no houses for your meetings, greetings, conversations, and disputes?

Do there not sometimes appear in the Church of God people whose inattentive appearance, wandering glances, and careless use of the signs of prayer reveal distracted thoughts and coldness of heart? They enter late without concern, leave before the time, and crowd forward out of curiosity to see. They do not “stand aright,” as the church order commands. They do not stand “with fear.” They do not choose the publican as their example, so as to be plunged at once into humility, silence, and prayer. Are these not new Corinthians? And does the Apostle not say to them: “Or do you despise the Church of God?” Do you really think that instead of reverence, curiosity, distraction, fickleness, and negligence are permitted in the Church?

Sometimes it is less noticeable to the human eye, but no less grave and disastrous, when the dignity of the temple of God is offended by another thing. Some enter it in the uncleanness of sinful passions and lawless deeds, without heartfelt repentance and without sincere desire for amendment. “Or do you despise the Church of God?”

How can such people fail to consider that the Lord, who heeds the voice of prayer in the Church, also hears the cry of sins? Only repentance can quiet that cry, so that it does not drown out prayer. How do they not fear, when the All-seeing One who dwells in the Church sees them entering the sacred bridal chamber of His Son without a wedding garment? They are not clothed with faith in the merits of Christ or with a life in Christian virtues. He sees them. Who knows how much longer He postpones the judgment of His justice, casting unprofitable servants into the outer darkness?

May the goodness of God grant that this dread parable not be marked by sad truth in any of us, brethren. And may our voluntary negligence not become an obstacle to the goodness of God, by keeping us from departing from evil and vice.

Let us not, brethren, neglect the Church of God. Let us strive unceasingly to adorn it with the most perfect and incorruptible adornment: spiritual attention, reverence, fervent prayers, unfeigned repentance, faith, and a good life. Then we ourselves shall be “temples of the living God” (2 Cor 6:16), and “the Spirit of God dwells” in us (1 Cor 3:16), now and unto the ages. Amen.

“Or do you despise the Church of God?” (1 Cor 11:22).

I do not now pronounce these words as a reproach to the brethren of this holy temple. With them the holy Apostle Paul reproached certain brethren of the Corinthian Church. No, you deserve not reproach from the ministers of the word, but praise and thanksgiving for your evident care for the Church of God. You have cared for this ancient temple. “According to your ability,” and perhaps, according to the apostolic word and example, “beyond your ability, of your own accord” (2 Cor 8:3), you have renewed what was old and adorned what lacked beauty. For the sake of more abundant prayers at the renewal of the holy place, you wished to move the Church council.

But to what can the apostolic rebuke of those who neglect the Church of God now serve? It can serve for the consolation of those who care for the Church of God. For if the holy Apostle rebukes those who neglect the Church, he would surely approve those who care for the Church in piety. Therefore, if you fulfill the sacred duty of such care according to your strength, then not our weak word, but the firm apostolic word bears witness to your conscience. It testifies that you act according to the same rules as the first Christians, and that the blessing of the apostolic Church is upon you.

"If you love luxury, do this in your houses. Here it is an insult and a manifest outrage against the Church. Is it not the most unfitting thing, inside the temple of God, in the presence of the Master who has set before us a common table, that you live luxuriously while the needy hunger and are ashamed because of poverty?" (Theodoret).

"Do you see how he transfers the insult from the poor to the Church, in order to strengthen his speech? Here is the fourth fault. They insult not only the poor, but also the Church. As with the Lord's Supper, he says, so also you appropriate the very place, using the church as though it were your own house.