The Hypocritical Christian

"In the following directives, I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent, I believe it. No doubt, there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!"

 "Brothers and sisters, I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over, took bread, and, after He had given thanks, broke it and said, 'This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' " --[ 1Corinthians 11: 17-26].


In the early church, the Christian community would have come together in one of the larger, wealthier homes in the town. There was a small inner room, with space for only a few to lounge on benches and partake of the supper that took place before the Eucharist. This inner dining room would have been furnished and heated. It was called the Triclinium.

The rest of the masses would have been shunted to the outer courtyard, or Atrium, which was open to the elements. The folks there would have sat on the ground, and would have received very little of the choice foods available to the inner few. --[Source: "St. Paul's Corinth", (c) 2002 Liturgical Press).

This is why Paul chides the Corinthians,  "One remains hungry, another gets drunk. . . Do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?"

I am struck by the Gospel for Pentecost,  [John 20: 19-23], in which Jesus "came and stood in the midst of [the disciples].  The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' "

St. Paul goes on to say, "I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus. . . said, 'This is my body which is given up for you.' "

In Jesus' breathing on His disciples, they received the Holy Spirit-- the equivalent of receiving Jesus and His Father Himself.  In Jesus' breaking of the bread, His disciples -- and we -- receive the body of Christ.

Literally, we live and breathe and embody the Christ, as His descendants and ambassadors.

And yet, we foment divisions among us:  not only in the church, but in the world. As Christians who live and breathe Jesus, HOW do we DARE ?

Pope Francis has said that one of the worst sins is Hypocrisy. He calls Hypocrisy "a virus". In a homily delivered last fall, (10/16/15), he stated, "Hypocrisy does not have a color, rather it plays with halftones. It creeps in and seduces 'chiaroscuro' [hazy and impressionistic], with the charm of the lie.'"

A Christian hypocrite is one who proclaims himself or herself as a "Christian", but who shunts off those considered 'less classy', into a forgotten netherworld-- much as the Corinthians created a second class of Christians, simply by dint of their segregated architecture, and their two-tiered menus.

I grew up in a family such as this. We called ourselves Christians, because we attended a well-respected and wealthy church in town -- sturdy fieldstone, with a stone porte-cochere, plush burgundy interior carpeting, needlepoint kneelers, glorious stained glass, gilded Scriptures on the soaring rafters, and an Old Master painting of the Madonna in a golden frame.

But,  all that beauty of the sanctuary handed off little Christian humility to my parents, as they boasted each day of how superior they were to the other church members. My father had a callous name for every ethnic group he encountered, as well; and if my brother and I laughed nervously at his cruel appellations, my father would roar at us, "WHY are you laughing? I am deadly serious!"

I have learned in a painful way from these memories, that the church is not merely a sumptuous building, crafted to glorify God. IF that is "Church", then it is hollow and misleading, bearing all the sinuous charm of a lie.

No-- the church is US.

As Christians, we are ALL the body of Christ.  Like Christ Himself, we are to live this, breathe this, feed each other with this, love each other in this way.

As St. Paul so beautifully said in Romans 10, "For there is no difference between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord of all."

I prayerfully wish that we could all live and love this way! As Mother Teresa used to say, "We forget that we belong to each other."

[Related Postings: "The Body", 6/15/15; "The Forever Bread", 6/22/14; "The Body and Blood", 6/2/13; "Holy Body and Blood of Christ," 6/7/11; "Corpus Christi", 6/27/11.]

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