Several years ago, I returned to my home church after a long absence. It had been some time since anyone had seen me, and I had put on a number of pounds. So, at first, people who had known me all my life did not recognize me. That was bad enough. Worse, however, was my extreme isolation. I had attended another church during my time away, and every Sunday service was followed by a boisterous, well-attended meal at a local restaurant. When I returned to my home church, however, I returned as a stranger and ate my post-church meals alone.

During those few lonely months that I ate alone, I learned an important spiritual lesson: Communion and community are inseparable. Communion is, of course, the bread and cup we share together in the worship service in remembrance of Christ’s death for our sins. Community is the friendship we experience as we “do life” with others over a long period of time. Worship must lead to friendship, for God’s love must be shared with our neighbors. By the same token, however, friendship must lead to worship, for if we truly love our neighbor we will share God’s love with them.

Unfortunately, just as they had gone wrong in so many other respects, the Corinthians had lost the connection between communion and community, between worship and friendship. In the early church, the members of the congregation gathered at the home of one of its wealthier members, since the wealthier members typically owned the largest houses. In addition to singing and teaching, the congregation would eat a meal together, the “love feast” (Jude 12; see also Acts 2:42, 46). As part of this common meal, the believers would eat the bread and drink the cup of the “Lord’s Supper.” At Corinth, however, it seems that the wealthier members would segregate themselves into the dining room for a lavish meal, leaving the poorer members to snack on the communion elements in an out court. In Paul’s highly rhetorical words, “One remains hungry, another gets drunk.”

To Paul’s mind, the problem is not the fact that the wealthy Christians have the means to eat more and better food. When they are alone in their own houses, they have every right to eat whatever they want. When they are hosting the church, however, the meal should be a common meal, with everyone eating from the same plate, so to speak. If one gets steak, all get steak. If one gets potatoes, all get potatoes. Communion with Christ demands that we be on equal footing with one another when we are gathered together in community. Worship must lead to friendship.

And friendship requires patience: “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.” Patience not only for those who are late, but also for those who are of little means. Christ calls the Christians of great means to wait on the Christian of little means, so that there may be equality (2 Corinthians 8:13-15).

After a few months back at my home church, I connected once again and began to share post-service meals with friends. But I had learned a valuable lesson. To worship God without connecting to God’s people is not God’s intention. Communion and community are inseparable. So I encourage you next Sunday to invite friends out (or over) for lunch or dinner. Eat with them, and during your meal, set aside time to remember Christ’s death. For through Christ’s death, God has called us to love him, and in loving him, to love his other children.