1 Corinthians 11:17-22
The Lord’s Supper must reflect unity and love, not selfish division.
17 But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.
19 For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you.
20 When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
21 For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
The Lord’s Supper must reflect unity and love, not selfish division.
Paul rebukes the Corinthians because their gatherings, particularly their practice of the Lord’s Supper, are marked by divisions and selfish behavior that contradict the purpose of the church assembly.
After addressing matters related to order and honor in worship, Paul now corrects a serious abuse occurring during the church’s communal meal associated with the Lord’s Supper. Instead of demonstrating unity in Christ, the Corinthian assembly reflected the social divisions of the surrounding culture. The wealthy arrived early and ate privately while others went without. Paul's rebuke exposes how their behavior undermined the gospel meaning of the Supper and fractured the unity Christ created.
Early Christian gatherings often included a communal meal before or alongside the Lord’s Supper. In Corinth, these meals reflected existing social divisions, with wealthier members eating privately while poorer members were marginalized.
Honor, Worship Order, and the Lord’s Supper Under the Lordship of Christ
Because the gathered church belongs to Christ and the Lord’s Supper proclaims his death, believers must conduct themselves in worship with ordered honor, mutual regard, self-examination, and discerning recognition of the body of Christ.