More Than a Meal

The Lord’s Supper, or communion, should have been a time for believers to celebrate their common union in Christ. It was, after all, a meal that looks back to the establishment of the new covenant through the death of Jesus. But, in the church of Corinth, it had become a source of division. Warren Wiersbe describes some of the ways the Corinthians abused the Lord’s Supper, and then instructs us in how we can participate in the meal in a way that honors the Lord and one another. These notes were taken from the Wiersbe Study Bible.

Abuses of the Lord’s Supper

“Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
1 Corinthians 11:17–22

11:17–22 Since the beginning of the church, it was customary for the believers to eat together (Acts 2:42, 46). It was an opportunity for fellowship and for sharing with those who were less privileged. They called these meals “fellowship meals” since the main emphasis was commemorating the Lord’s love and showing love for the saints by sharing with one another (Jude 12). No doubt they climaxed this meal by observing the Lord’s Supper.

11:18 At Corinth, some serious abuses had crept in to this common meal. As a result, they were doing more harm than good to the church. For one thing, there were various cliques in the church, and people ate with their own “crowd” instead of fellowshipping with the whole church family.

11:21 Another fault was selfishness: The rich people brought a great deal of food for themselves, while the poorer members went hungry. The original idea of the fellowship meal was sharing, but that idea had been lost. Some of the members were even getting drunk. It is likely that the weekly fellowship meal was the only decent meal some of the poorer members regularly had; but they were being treated scornfully by the richer members. The divisions at the dinner were but evidence of the deeper problems in the church. The Corinthians thought they were advanced believers, when in reality they were but little children. Paul did not suggest that they abandon the meal, but rather that they restore its proper meaning.

The Lord’s Supper

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you . . .”
1 Corinthians 11:23

Evangelical churches recognize two ordinances established by Jesus Christ for His people to observe: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus Christ took the cup and the bread—the ingredients of a common meal in that day—and transformed them into a meaningful spiritual experience for believers. However, the value of the experience depends on the condition of the hearts of those who participate, and this was the problem at Corinth. The condition of the heart will affect the “looks” that Communion allows to those who participate fully.

We should look back (vv. 23–26a).

The broken bread reminds us of Christ’s body, given for us; and the cup of wine reminds us of His shed blood. It is a remarkable thing that Jesus wants His followers to remember His death. Most of us try to forget how those we love died, but Jesus wants us to remember how He died. Why? Because everything we have as Christians centers in that death.

We should look ahead (v. 26b).

We observe the Supper “till He comes.” The return of Jesus Christ is the blessed hope of the church and the individual Christian. Jesus not only died for us, but He arose again and ascended to heaven. And one day He shall return to take us to heaven. Today, we are not all that we should be; but when we see Him, “we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2).

We should look within (vv. 27, 28, 31, 32).

Paul did not say that we had to be worthy to partake of the bread and cup, but only that we should partake in a worthy manner. If we are to participate in a worthy manner, we must examine our own hearts, judge our sins, and confess them to the Lord. To come to Communion with unconfessed sin in our lives is to be guilty of Christ’s body and blood, for it was sin that nailed Him to the cross. If we will not judge our own sins, then God will judge us and chasten us until we do confess and forsake our sins.

The Corinthians neglected to examine themselves, but they were experts at examining everybody else. When the church gathers together, we must be careful not to become “religious detectives” who watch others while failing to acknowledge our own sins. If we eat and drink in an unworthy manner, we eat and drink judgment to ourselves, and that is nothing to take lightly.

We should look around (vv. 33, 34).

We should not look around in order to criticize other believers, but in order to honor the Lord’s body (v. 29). This perhaps has a dual meaning: We should honor His body as symbolized in the bread but also in the church around us—for the church is the body of Christ. The Supper should be a demonstration of the unity of the church—but there was not much unity in the Corinthian church. In fact, their celebration of the Lord’s Supper was only a demonstration of their disunity.

No one ought to come to Communion who is not a true believer. Nor should a true believer come to Communion if his heart is not right with God and with his fellow Christians. This is why many churches have a time of spiritual preparation before they observe the Lord’s Supper, lest any of the participants bring chastening on themselves.

More Than a Meal

Abuses of the Lord’s Supper