At the Table | The Same Bread

16 Isn’t the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Isn’t the loaf of bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one loaf of bread, we who are many are one body, because we all share the one loaf of bread.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (CEB)

When you break a loaf of bread and share it with others, something beautiful happens. Each person gets a different piece – some bigger, some smaller, some from the crust, some from the center – they all come from the same loaf. They all share the same essence, the same source.

That's Paul's image for the church. We're all different pieces of the same loaf. We come from different backgrounds, have different personalities, hold different preferences, but we all share the same source...Jesus Christ. We all partake of the same spiritual nourishment. We're all part of the same body.

And this isn't just a nice metaphor. Paul is making a practical point about how communion should shape our relationships with each other. When we drink from the same cup and eat from the same bread, we're declaring that we belong to each other. We're saying that what happens to one of us matters to all of us.

Think about your physical body for a moment. When your foot hurts, your whole body adjusts. Your other muscles compensate. Your brain focuses on the pain. Your hands might reach down to massage the injured area. The rest of your body doesn't ignore the foot or criticize it for being weak. No, it rallies to help.

That's how Paul says the church should work. When one member suffers, we all suffer. When one member rejoices, we all rejoice. We don't get to pick and choose which parts of the body we want to care about. We're connected whether we like it or not.

This has profound implications for how we treat each other, especially the people in our church community who are different from us, who annoy us, or who hold opinions we disagree with. They're not just fellow churchgoers – they're part of the same body we are.

Personal Application: How does seeing other Christians as part of the same body change your perspective on people you find difficult or disagreeable? What would it look like to treat them as essential parts of the same body you belong to?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for making us one body through communion with you. Help us see other believers not as strangers or opponents, but as essential parts of the same body we belong to. When others hurt, help us feel their pain. When others rejoice, help us share their joy. Make us truly one. Amen.