"Love is patient, love is kind."  These are familiar words.  But the original audience wasn't a couple on their wedding day, but a dysfunctional and divided congregation!

1st Corinthians presents us with a society and congregation divided by wealth, status and religious background.  Paul will have to marshal all the theological resources he has to reorient these people back toward Christ and toward each other.

Can Paul's rhetoric work on our hearts today, to bring us together across divides?

Read the whole letter, but at the very least:  Chapters 1, 3, 5, 11, 12, 13 and 15

1)  Does it disrupt or enrich your appreciation for "Love is patient, love is kind" to realize this was written to a dysfunctional congregation? Should it be used at weddings?

2)  In what relationships and communities do you experience love like Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians?

3)  Have you ever gone to worship simply because you thought someone else needed you there? To what extent does Paul's letter reveal the self-orientation of our faith communities today?

4)  In Corinth, religion and class were clearly intertwined.  How do you see religion and class working our world today?

5)  Do you think a church can be politically engaged without taking the side of a certain class of people?

6)  Paul offers a number of arguments / images / metaphors to unity in the congregation.  Which of these do you find the most convincing yourself?

6b)  What kind of experiences have you had within a faith community that have helped you see someone different as a brother or sister in Christ?

7)  Could we skip the rest of the letter and just have chapter 13?  Would that be enough to make us a loving community?