Understanding the Meaning of Eating the Lord's Supper Unworthily

By far the most popular passage in Protestant churches concerning observing the Lord's Supper is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. A particular focus has been placed on verses 27-31 quoted below from the King James Version that many of us grew up with.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. (1 Cor. 11:27-31 KJV)

Pastors often point to these verses as a warning to would be partakers of the Lord's Supper that they should first examine themselves so that they don't partake unworthily and come under God's judgment. Usually, before the observance of the Supper, a time of self-reflection is provided where each person is encouraged to examine his life for any sin and confess it to the Lord before continuing on in the service. To participate in the Lord's Supper unworthily (with sin in your life) could result in sickness or even death.

You might be familiar with the above scenario. Like me, you take these verses very seriously. You truly examin your heart for sin before partaking, and at times elect to not partake for fear of eating and drinking damnation to yourself even though you don't know of any unconfessed sin in your life at the moment. And, like me, you have questioned whether you are worthy of participating in such a sacred occasion.

I think perhaps we have misunderstood the gist of this passage. There are two main reasons why we should reexamine our understanding of this passage. The first reason is a vocabulary reason and the second is a context reason. The vocabulary reason has to do with the way the King James Version translates the Greek word anaxiōs as simply "unworthily" in verse 27. A survey of most modern versions such as the HCSB, NASB, NIV, and ESV shows that they all translate anaxiōs as "unworthy manner" or "unworthy way", etc. This is an important difference between the KJV and the modern versions. A consult of Strong's Concordance gives the meaning of anaxiōs as "in an unworthy manner". Thayer's Greek Lexicon defines it the same way. Anaxiōs is an adverb which means that it refers to the action of partaking rather than to the participant himself. The emphasis of this verse then is not upon the worthiness or unworthiness of the person about to partake, but rather upon the manner in which he is about to partake. After all, not one of us is worthy of one drop of Jesus' precious blood, nor one piece of His broken body. If this verse was referring to our worthiness, then none could ever participate. When we are called to examine ourselves in verse 29, we are not called to determine our worthiness or unworthiness. Rather, we are called to examine our behavior towards the body of Christ.

The emphasis of this verse then is not upon the worthiness or unworthiness of the person about to partake, but rather upon the manner in which he is about to partake.

This leads us to the context reason for reexamining this passage. Sadly we often neglect the verses surrounding this passage and the context of the whole book of 1 Corinthians. In verse 17, Paul says that when the Corinthians gathered together, instead of being for the better, it actually ended up being for the worse. Why? It was for the worse because of fleshly divisions among them.

Paul addresses divisions among them in the very first chapter. He pleads with them that they get rid of the divisions among them (1:10). Some were calling attention to themselves by claiming to be disciples of either Paul or Peter or Apollos or even Christ Himself. This was causing division and pride among the various factions. Paul reminded them that the only legitimate boasting is that done about Jesus and what He has done (1:31) Their envy and strife was a sign of spiritual immaturity and walking in the flesh (chapter 3). Their fighting among each other was so bad that they were even taking each other to court in front of ungodly judges, Christians suing other Christians because they couldn't get along (chapter 6). Paul's exhortation was for them to lay down their rights for the sake of peace (6:7). They are encouraged to lay down their freedom if their freedom causes another to stumble (chapter 8). Paul says "No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person" (10:24).

In the immediate context of chapter 11, Paul addresses the Corinthian's abuse of the love feast and Lord's Supper which followed it. Apparently some of the Corinthians were feasting on the food before others even arrived and the rich were making the poor feel ashamed. Some were even getting drunk during the love feast and were then entering into the observance of the Lord's Supper inebriated!

The Corinthians were treating each other with contempt, jealousy, and fighting. They were looking out for their own rights and their own interests, even when it came to spiritual gifts. They were acting exactly opposite of the Savior who gave His body and blood for unworthy sinners and who humbled Himself to wash fishermen's feet. In short, they were making a mockery of the meaning behind the Lord's Supper because of the unworthy manner in which they were treating each other. Therefore Paul warns them to examine their attitudes and treatment of the body of Christ lest they make a mockery of the Savior they claimed to follow.

They were making a mockery of the meaning behind the Lord's Supper because of the unworthy manner in which they were treating each other.

In conclusion, the passage is not a warning against an unworthy person participating in the Lord's Supper, but rather that each of us who do participate in it do so in a way that honors Jesus by treating each other in the same way that Christ treats us.

I hope this article has given a better understanding of this passage. I know that I have personally been convicted by what I have discovered. May God help me live and act more like my Lord who gave Himself for me.