The Lord's Supper

“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.  (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).” The other day at work, one of our vendors brought the staff some chips and salsa; presumably for Cinco de Mayo. A short time later I enter the break room, where the food was placed, and the chips are all, but gone. The only thing that remained were those broken up chips at the bottom of the bag that are pretty much useless. I shared with another coworker about how rude it was for others to not consider the entire staff before devouring the bag of chips. Oh well, it was only tortilla chips, right? However, this got me to thinking about the Lord’s Supper. How many Christians will sit during a Communion service with their wafer or piece of bread and their cup of wine or grape juice and be hesitant to consume it? They are made to feel this way because they are under the impression that if they don’t get all their sins confessed in order to get their heart right before God they are in danger of eating and drinking God’s judgment on themselves? Honestly, I’ve never seen anybody get struck by a lightning bolt or anything during this time, so either they were “fessed up” or the teaching is in error. I believe the teaching is in error.

This passage of scripture has nothing to do with God judging a person for eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. The main reason is that all our sins were forgiven at the cross. God is no longer counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19) and we are saved from His wrath (Romans 5:9) through our faith in Jesus Christ. So, what is this passage about? Paul gives the answer a few verses earlier. “When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk (1 Corinthians 11:20-21).” This passage about one set of believers eating and drinking all the food before everybody gets a chance to have some. He clearly says, “each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else” and because of this one “remains hungry” and another “gets drunk.” Paul is chastising a group of believers for being rude and not showing any manners towards others in the group. That is why he goes on to say, “Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not (1 Corinthians 11:22).” He asks them if they have homes to eat and drink in. This is basically him saying if you are so hungry eat at home, don’t come here and eat up all the food. The bottom line is that the judgment these Christians face doesn’t come from God, but from other believers who didn’t have a chance to eat or drink because of the inconsiderate behavior of those Christians. Simply put, show some love for your fellow Christians by displaying some manners when you come together to partake of the Lord’s Supper or any meal for that matter.