I Corinthians 11:28 But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
We looked at I Corinthians 8-10 the other day, and we were talking about the fact that the glory of God should be our guide in determining what is right or wrong. We talked about the fact that the question is not always about whether what I am doing is right or wrong but if the context in which I am doing it is right or wrong. That is to say that some things may not be intrinsically right or wrong but the way or the place in which they are done can be intrinsically right or wrong.
In I Corinthians 11, Paul has not greatly changed his subject. He is talking about the Lord’s Supper. In chapters 8-11 Paul talks about meat offered to idols, charity for other people, and then the Lord’s Supper. If the chapters we looked at the other day talk about where and how, the context of how we do things, then chapter 11 is all about the motive, the reason for which we do things. That, likewise, is important.
First Corinthians 11:20 says, “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” What is it for then? He is talking here about motives, pretending to be coming to a religious function, the Lord’s Supper, and instead it is the exact opposite, a place where some people went hungry and others were satiated. There was a lack of love, decorum, and remembrance of why they were having the Lord’s Supper. Paul says, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.” What he delivered was the Lord’s Supper which we are to do in remembrance of Jesus. It is a new testament. We show the Lord’s death until He comes. That is the reason for the Lord’s Supper, but that had been lost.
Paul says, “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.” So, it was not that they weren’t taking the Lord’s Supper; it was that they were doing it unworthily. “Unworthily” is an adverb, not an adjective. “Unworthy,” the adjective, is what I am, but that is not what it is saying. I am worthy, made fit, by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Unworthily is something I choose. Unworthily is an adverb, how I do something. Christ makes me worthy, but I choose to partake of the Lord’s Supper in a way that is either worthy or unworthy.
He goes on to say, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” In other words, there is no discernment of why I am doing it. I am taking the Lord’s Supper in a fleshly, carnal way and not even discerning or thinking about what I am doing.
Then he says, “But let a man examine himself… for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” He is talking about motivation. Motivation shapes what we are doing and why. When it comes to the Lord’s Supper, a man should examine himself. The bottom line is that motives matter. Remember your reason.
It was wrong to eat in the idol’s temple meat intended to show fellowship with an idol, and it is equally wrong to eat the Lord’s Supper when you do not intend fellowship with the Lord. Something may be right or wrong, not just by its intrinsic value as good or evil, but by the context surrounding it and the reason for which you are doing it.
I am not suggesting that we be introspective in a harmful way, but there is a place for judging ourselves, for discerning and examining ourselves. We should examine what we are doing, the context in which we are doing it, and the reason for which we are doing it. Here, it is specifically concerning the Lord’s Supper. We are to do this with a pure heart in remembrance of the Lord Jesus.