That is, what was bothering Paul was less the issue of who was served first but the separation, segregation, privileging, and hierarchical nature of the gathering. This is clear in Paul’s concern over “differences.” The word for “differences” is haireseis, from which we get our word heresy. The later technical definition of heresy was a difference of belief, but the original and more primitive notion of heresy was sociological division and exclusion. The Corinthian Christians were heretical in how they were erecting divisions between themselves.
