A brief look at 1 Corinthians 11:29

For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself.

The Greek word which is translated 'body' is the same word which is used to talk of the 'body of Christ', meaning the church.

It would be convenient to believe and understand this to mean recognising Christians as fellow Christians but I think that is rather too simplistic.

Let us bear in mind that this was a letter which was not written in chapters and verses but as a continuous piece of text with standard punctuation rather than verses etc..

Virtually the whole of the letter up to this point has been talking about divisions in the church caused or threatened by different matters, or manifest in different ways.

Recognising fellow Christians as such would still allow room for division for whatever reason and would not be in line with the unity that Paul was working so hard to promote.

What I believe Paul was actually saying was, "recognise in each and every member of the Body of Christ, the working of the grace of God, His power and authority invested in and used through them, and treat all brothers and sisters, in love, with all due respect and submission."

The longest prayer of Jesus found in John 17 was almost entirely on the subject of unity within the family of God. Whereas Paul's letter was written at the time specifically to the church at Corinth, Jesus' prayer was addressed to the Father and was for believers worldwide. Unity, in other words 'recognising the body', is for all believers and between all believers.

I believe that 'recognising the body' is particularly and practically worked out in a lifestyle of submission.

We must be submitted first and foremost to Christ's working and purposes in our life. If his Lordship in our life is not our hearts desire and evident in our lives, then unity is not possible. The result of this is alienation from Jesus, and the Spirit of God working in our lives being quenched. Our hearts need to be surrendered and submitted to God to do His work of changing us according to His pattern. A lack of God's grace in our own lives (and grace comes from an ever-deepening knowledge of Jesus) will hinder us recognising the working of grace in another's life.

Next we need to be submitted to our church leaders.
Staying or being in a church is not submission. Judas stayed as a disciple of Jesus, yet his heart was far from Him and in no way submitted to Him.
An example of submission is this: A leader asks me to do 'A'. If I do not think this is a good idea, then I should say so constructively, humbly and with respect for my leader’ position. If he asks me again, then I should do it, eagerly, without complaining, fully supporting his decision because he is God's anointed leader. Our leaders have Christ's authority in church and Kingdom matters, they are also held responsible for what he does so decisions are not taken lightly.
Consider King David, he had two opportunities to kill Saul, but his submission to God's authority structure would not allow him to do it. In human terms, David taking Saul's life could be considered wholly justified.
Within Kingdom authority structures though there is no justification (except as shown in matters of church discipline) for lack of submission to godly authority.
Even if I believe wholeheartedly and am totally convinced that a leader may be wrong, submission is accepting who and what he is in the Kingdom, and I must support him in that role.
If we are unable to respond in this way then we are not accepting his leadership, his authority and anointing, and we have no right to be in that church.
Submission is not slavery. We submit to others from a heart of love. The heart of love overflows in expressions of support.
If things do go wrong later, or a decision proves to be a wrong one, a heart of love does not say "I told you so". It helps pick up the pieces, supports through any crises, states continued support, and rejects criticism or critical attitudes that foster and create division.

Thirdly, and not least important, is submitting to one another. I may not agree with what a brother does, but if he is doing it in faith believing that is what God is saying at that time, then I should support him in it. I ought to sacrifice my opinions and submit in favour of the deeds prompted by my brother’s faith.
I may not agree with the way the worship leader is leading the meeting but he has been appointed to that position by those who have authority to do so and I must submit to the wisdom expressed in that appointment.
Submission is not slavery, but it is servitude. An attitude to serve. To serve a brother or sister is to submit to being a blessing to them, to submit to meeting their needs, not in their own (selfish) interest, but in the interest of the building of the body of Christ and the extending of His Kingdom.

One other aspect in recognising the Body is, recognising the status, in our own hearts, towards Christians from other churches. They may well worship differently to ourselves. They may well believe additional bits or take away certain beliefs we hold. They may well put the emphasis on something differently to ourselves. But they are still brothers and sisters in Christ. They are equals. Recognising the Body means recognising Christians of all denominations equally, without judgement and in mutual and/or appropriate submission.