Paul condemned the brethren at Corinth for abusing the Lord’s supper. They turned the supper into a physical feast, reducing it into a common meal in which some would eat and some would go hungry (1 Corinthians 11:21). Paul reminded them that the Lord’s supper is a communion between fellow Christians and Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17), and that whenever a Christian partakes of the supper, he is to do so in remembrance of Christ, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes again (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The Lord’s supper is a significant event that is to take place every Lord’s day (Acts 20:7). Thus, any abuse of it results in the damnation of the soul (1 Corinthians 11:29).

As Paul condemned the saints at Corinth for their abuse of the Lord’s supper, he reminded them of something else – our assemblies are not the time and place for feeding the physical appetite. In the fashion of a rebuke, Paul asked the brethren, “What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not” (1 Corinthians 11:22). Then in the 34th verse, Paul specifically told them to eat at home if they were hungry. Sadly, many brethren, have failed to take the admonition of Paul seriously . Many feel as if the real fellowship that takes place on the Lord’s day between brethren happens after the worship service (in the basement or the so-called fellowship hall) when brethren devour some good homecooked meals and talk mostly about worldly things. Kitchens and fellowship halls paid for with the Lord’s money are the favorite places to be in the church building for some brethren. I remember someone telling of a liberal preacher who got up after worship service and said, “There will be no fellowship tonight.” You see, something happened that caused the church to cancel the get-together that they regularly had after services. I guess their worship services did not count as fellowship.

Brethren, there is no more authority for building a fellowship hall or a kitchen than there is for musical instruments in our worship. We come together to worship God, not partake of a physical meal. The brethren at Corinth forgot that, and many brethren today have forgotten it as well.

Someone may ask, “Where is the authority for the church building?” The answer is found in Hebrews 10:25. The Hebrews writer commands us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. God wants and expects us to assemble to worship Him. Thus, we must have a place to assemble. The meeting house is authorized by generic authority. It helps us carry out the command to assemble much the same way that a song book helps us carry out the command to sing. A song book is not an addition to the commandment to sing; it is an expediency or aid we use in keeping the command to sing. Is the song book absolutely necessary? It depends on the situation. There are some songs I could not sing without a song book and others that I could. The song book is simply a help. The church building falls into this category. We could in some cases meet without a building. In other cases, it would be quite impossible. A small group of Christians could meet in a home, but it might not be feasible for a group of one or two hundred to meet in someone’s home. Still, Christians are commanded to assemble. While we do not have specific authority to build a building in which to worship, the command to assemble would allow for a building to be built.

The question is, where is the authority, generic or specific, to build a kitchen in the meeting house so that brethren can cook and eat physical meals? Have we been commanded to do such when we assemble? The answer is no. We are commanded to assemble in order to worship God. The building, then, should be used for that purpose. If we want to engage in recreation or entertainment, we can go to facilities that were built for those kind of things (park, school yard, YMCA, etc. If we want to share a common meal with other Christians, we have homes for that. That is not only what Paul would say, it is what Paul did say. We should listen to an inspired apostle, don’t you think?