How to Eat and Drink “Unworthily” (1 Cor 11:27)

In 1 Cor 11:27, Paul says, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily is culpable of the body and the blood of the Lord” (Ὥστε ὃς ἂν ἐσθίῃ τὸν ἄρτον ἢ πίνῃ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ κυρίου ἀναξίως, ἔνοχος ἔσται τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ κυρίου).

In my experiences at contemporary church services, these words get applied in one of two ways. Before communion is served, the leader (1) asks non-Christians to not partake in the elements, or (2) admonishes Christians to inspect their life for any recent sins. Neither of these practices was the intent of Paul’s words.

Three interpretative mistakes lie behind the incorrect applications of 1 Cor 11:27. One, people read the passage as Paul’s general teaching about how Christians should practice the Lord’s supper, though Paul was fixing a problem specific to the community in Corinth. Two, people read the verse independently of its rhetorical context, yielding interpretations separated from Paul’s full argument (11:17–34). Three, people read this passage in the context of modern church services, but the original social context was home meals. Thus, contemporary interpretations and applications of 1 Cor 11:27 must better consider the historical, literary, and social contexts of Paul’s words.

The Context in Corinth

Paul’s concern in 11:27 is directly related to 11:17–22, where some Christians in Corinth practiced the Lord’s supper in such a manner that “despised the church of God and humiliated those who have nothing” (v. 22). Status divisions and social hierarchy shaped the Corinthians’ behavior at the Lord’s Table. The Corinthian’s degrading and mishonoring meal practices (11:17–22) were the context for Paul’s instruction in verse 27.

In the Roman world, elites with large homes regularly hosted dinner parties to schmooze and project status. People ate these meals in the triclinium, the dining room with three couches around a central table. Three to four people could recline on each couch, so the meals accommodated 9–12 people in total. While the honored guests feasted on the choices portions in the triclinium, lower-class servants and clients waited in the central courtyard (atrium) for the leftovers. Status determined how people ate.

The first-century church gathered and dined in the homes of wealthy leaders. Apparently, the wealthy hosts in Corinth were conducting the Christian meal like their regular social feasts. Some of the privileged members were getting better and larger portions, a marker of belonging and status in Roman society. They were devouring and consuming all the food, leaving very little if anything for others (v. 21). This sort of action dishonored fellow believers for whom Christ died. By treating some people as second-class inferiors at the Lord’s Table, the wealthy “despise the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing.” The Corinthians’ behavior was ironic because the meal was supposed to “remember” and “proclaim” Jesus’ death (vv. 24–25)—the moment he suffered great shame to welcome us as equals into God’s family.

The Meaning of 1 Cor 11:27

The term “unworthily” (anaksiōs) is an adverb describing an action, not an adjective describing a person. Paul is referring to “whoever partakes in an unworthy manner,” not to “whoever partakes as an unworthy person.”

To eat “unworthily” means to eat in such a manner that does not ascribe proper worth. The term works at several levels in the context of the Corinthians’ misguided meals. One, the “haves” presumed they were worthy to consume the food, but Paul counters their notions of worth; their manner of eating actually diminished their status. Two, eating “unworthily” also had a transitive sense. Their behavior communicates that others are not worthy of equal status within the community. Three, and most significant, they were not granting proper worth to the sacrificial death of Christ. Their exclusionary meal practices undermined the very purpose of the cross to create a unified community of God’s people (1 Cor 1:10; 10:17; 12:12–27; cf. Gal 3:28; Eph 2:11–20).

The Corinthians who ate “unworthily” were “culpable of the body and blood of Christ.” This phrase denotes the crime itself; they are “answerable for the body and blood of Christ” (NRSV). The Corinthians were participating in Jesus’ death as the aggressors who crucified him—not with the Lord but against the Lord. Their dishonoring action towards Christ’s body at the table places them under the same liability as those who dishonored Christ’s body at the cross. Those “culpable for the body and blood of Christ” were we could say, “responsible for his death.” In the words of Hebrews 6:6, “They are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm and are holding him up to contempt.” The Corinthians’ anti-community, hierarchy-imposing behavior voids the cross; it demeans the God-glorifying reconciliation achieved through Christ crucified.

To correct the Corinthians’ unworthy behavior, Paul instructs them “to examine themselves” and “judge themselves” before eating (v. 27, 31). This does not refer to deep personal introspection but awareness of one’s behavior towards others at the table. What was their attitude towards the “have-nots” during the meal? In modern parlance, “Check your privilege!” Eating habits should properly remember the Lord’s reconciling death and proclaim the gospel about all peoples united with and in Christ. But whatever was happening in Corinthian was dividing and despising rather than uniting and honoring (v. 20).

The Corinthians needed to correct the ways they attributed worth and status, which involves humbling themselves and honoring others at the table. Paul encourages the Corinthians to take action themselves, lest God intervene to rectify the situation. Either by the Corinthians’ self-correction or by God’s judgment, peoples’ true status and worth would be recognized.

Paul’s ideas come together in the metaphor of  the “body.” The Corinthians’ disregard for the church as Christ’s body disregarded Christ’s body sacrificed for us. The Corinthians must “recognize/discern” (v. 29) the body of Christ in their sharing of bread, a symbol itself of Christ’s body given to a new body (1 Cor 10:17).

Our actions affect the body. When we rightly recognize and honor Christ’s body through our embodied behavior at the Lord’s supper, then the body works as God intends—the church experiences unity and the self-giving death is recognized as our means of reconciliation. But when eat unworthily, the body suffers—members are humiliated, the church is fragmented, Christ’s death is belittled, and even the health of our physical body suffers (v. 30). In short, the body matters, in every sense of the word. Therefore, Christians must rightly honor the body of Christ, especially at the Lord’s Table. 

The events in Corinth mirror the story of Eli’s wicked sons (1 Sam 2:11–36). As leaders in the community, they too turned meals intended for God’s honor into lavish feasts for themselves at the expense of others. Because they did not turn from their self-honoring and God-shaming behavior, God would judge and demote them (v. 30). In the ancient world and Bible literature, meals carry theological import. For this reason, God’s people must “eat in a worthy manner.”

About the Contemporary Interpretations

A great irony is that the two conventional interpretations of 1 Cor 11:27 perpetuate the very problems that Paul sought to correct. A verse that rebukes people who excluded others from the Lord’s Table, gets used to exclude certain people from the Table!

As for common interpretation #1, biblical teachings appear to suggest that we should allow non-believers to take communion. Jesus ate open meals with sinners as a symbol of the Kingdom; Jesus allowed Judas to participate in the original Lord’s Supper (John 13:26); Paul broke bread and ate with all 276 people on the ship (Acts 27:33–37); and unbelievers were present at the Corinthians’ gathering (1 Cor 14:22–23). The Pharisees and Corinthian elites put fences around meals, but Jesus and Paul broke down those fences. The practice of not serving non-believers has been common practice since the second century (Didache 9.5; Justin Martyr, First Apology 66) and remains standard in all branches of Christianity (Orthodox, Catholic, Reformed, independent, etc.), but practice can be supported by 1 Cor 11:27.

As for common interpretation #2, encouraging believers to examine their lives (before communion or any other time) is a great practice (2 Cor 13:5). However, let’s also ensure that those leading communion are examining their behavior towards the “lesser” members, as Paul intended in 1 Cor 11:27). Also, conviction of sin should not cause believers to refrain from communion (which is the implication of leaders’ instructions) but push them to the Table to receive the free gift of Christ. 

Conclusions

Paul’s words in 1 Cor 11:27 are not Paul’s general guideline about believers’ personal introspection before (or non-believers’ abstention from) the bread and cup in a formal church service. Rather, it is a specific correction for the Corinthians to (re)consider their dishonoring and anti-communal behavior during group meals in the home.

In light of the differences between the original context of 1 Cor 11:27–30 and how we “do church” today, Paul’s instruction may better apply to our fellowship times after the church service (when people are socializing around coffee or going out to lunch together) than the liturgical moment during the church service (when people hold their grape juice and cracker fragment in solemn isolation).

How might you apply Paul’s teaching about eating “unworthily” in your setting? Share thoughts below.