The Lord's Supper and self-examination

10:14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 10:15 I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say. 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 10:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. 10:18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 10:19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? 10:20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 10:22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is? 10:23 "Everything is lawful," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful," but not everything builds others up. 10:24 Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person. 10:25 Eat anything that is sold in the marketplace without questions of conscience, 10:26 for the earth and its abundance are the Lord's. 10:27 If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is served without asking questions of conscience. 10:28 But if someone says to you, "This is from a sacrifice," do not eat, because of the one who told you and because of conscience - 10:29 I do not mean yours but the other person's. For why is my freedom being judged by another's conscience? 10:30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for the food that I give thanks for? 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 10:32 Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, 10:33 just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved. 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 11:2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 11:3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 11:4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. 11:5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. 11:6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. 11:7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. 11:8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 11:9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. 11:10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11:11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 11:12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. 11:13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 11:14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, 11:15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 11:16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. 11:17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 11:18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. 11:20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord's Supper. 11:21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. 11:22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this! 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, 11:24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 11:25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me." 11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 11:27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 11:28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. 11:29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. 11:31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. 11:33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 11:34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Paul commands believers to flee idolatry because sharing in a worship meal expresses real fellowship and allegiance. Christians cannot partake of the Lord’s table and also join pagan sacrificial meals. At the same time, ordinary food may be received with freedom, as long as that freedom is guided by the good of others and the glory of God.

Website-Ready Commentary Main Point: Paul commands believers to flee idolatry because sharing in a worship meal expresses real fellowship and allegiance. Christians cannot partake of the Lord’s table and also join pagan sacrificial meals. At the same time, ordinary food may be received with freedom, as long as that freedom is guided by the good of others and the glory of God. Commentary: Paul now brings the discussion to its central command: flee idolatry. This is not a minor caution. It is the controlling point of the passage. After warning the Corinthians through Israel’s failures earlier in the chapter, he calls them to stay far from anything that would join them to idol worship. He addresses them as those who should think carefully. He is not merely repeating a rule without explanation. He wants them to weigh his reasoning. His argument centers on shared meals. In the Lord’s Supper, the cup and the bread signify real participation, or fellowship, with Christ. Paul is not trying here to give a full explanation of how Christ is present in the Supper. His point is that this meal involves true communion with Christ and also with one another. Because there is one bread, the many believers are one body. The Supper, then, is not only about Christ and the individual believer. It also declares the unity of Christ’s people. Paul then points to Israel. Those who ate from Israel’s sacrifices were linked to the altar. In other words, eating in that worship setting expressed participation in the act of worship itself. That example helps make his meaning plain: sacred meals express fellowship and allegiance. At that point Paul makes an important distinction. He is not saying that idols are real gods or that idol food has power in itself. He has already said that an idol is nothing in itself. But pagan sacrifices are not spiritually neutral. Though the idols are nothing, the worship offered through them is connected with demons, not with God. So the danger is not that the meat has somehow become magically changed. The danger is that joining the meal means joining the worship and the fellowship it represents. That is why Paul says he does not want believers to become partners with demons. For that reason, the issue is absolute. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Paul does not treat this as merely unwise. These two loyalties are incompatible. To try to combine them is to provoke the Lord to jealousy. This is covenant language. God does not tolerate rival worship. To sit at both tables is to act with divided loyalty toward the Lord. Paul then returns to the Corinthians’ slogan, “Everything is lawful.” He does not deny that Christians have real freedom. But freedom is not the highest rule. Not everything is beneficial. Not everything builds others up. So the question is not only, “Am I allowed to do this?” It must also be, “Is this helpful? Does this strengthen others?” Therefore believers must not seek only their own good, but the good of the other person. This leads to an important clarification. Christians do not need to live in constant fear about food. If meat is sold in the marketplace, they may eat it without investigating where it came from. If an unbeliever invites them to a meal and they choose to go, they may eat what is set before them without raising questions. Paul supports this by quoting Scripture: the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord. Ordinary food, outside a worship setting, may therefore be received with freedom. But if someone specifically says, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then the believer should not eat it. The reason is not that the food has suddenly become inherently defiling. Paul makes clear that the concern is the other person’s conscience, not the believer’s own. Once the food is openly identified as sacrificial, the act now carries public religious meaning. Eating it could communicate approval of idol worship or damage the other person’s moral perception. In that case, love requires abstaining. Paul knows this raises a question about freedom. Why should another person’s conscience affect my liberty? Why should I be criticized for something I can receive with thanks? His answer is not to deny liberty, but to place it under a higher purpose. The believer’s choices must be governed by the glory of God and the spiritual good of others. So Paul gives the ruling principle: whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Even ordinary actions must be measured by this standard. He then adds a second principle: do not place needless obstacles before Jews, Greeks, or the church of God. In this context, “do not give offense” does not mean pleasing every preference or surrendering to every complaint. It means avoiding avoidable spiritual confusion, harm to conscience, and unnecessary barriers to salvation. Paul presents himself as an example of this way of living. He seeks to please others in all things, not by compromising truth, but by refusing to seek his own advantage. His aim is the good of many, so that they may be saved. This shows the real goal of Christian self-restraint. It is not empty rule-keeping. It is love for others, concern for the church, clear loyalty to Christ, and a life directed to the glory of God.

• “Flee from idolatry” is the main command of this passage. - Sharing in a sacred meal expresses real fellowship and allegiance. - The Lord’s Supper involves real participation with Christ and expresses the unity of the church as one body. - Idols are nothing in themselves, but pagan worship is still connected with demons. - Christians may not join idol feasts, because the Lord’s table and pagan worship are incompatible. - Christian freedom is real, but it must be governed by what is beneficial, what builds others up, and what serves the other person’s good. - Ordinary food may be eaten without anxious investigation when no act of idol worship is involved. - If food is openly identified as sacrificial, abstaining may be necessary for the sake of another person’s conscience. - The final measure of Christian conduct is the glory of God and the salvation of others.

• Do not treat idol-feast participation as harmless simply because idols are nothing in themselves. - Do not confuse Paul's permission to eat market food or dine with unbelievers with permission to join pagan worship meals. - Do not turn 'do not give offense' into appeasing every demand
• Paul is addressing avoidable spiritual confusion, harm to conscience, and barriers to salvation. - Do not reduce participation in the Lord's Supper to empty symbolism, but do not force this passage into later sacramental debates beyond Paul's purpose here.

Ancient table fellowship helps explain Paul's distinctions. Sacred meals were acts of allegiance, not mere calorie intake. That is why idol-feast attendance is forbidden outright, while market meat and meals in an unbeliever's home are permitted. The Supper therefore cannot be reduced to a private act of remembrance; it marks communion with Christ and with the one body. The conscience language also resists modern individualism, since Paul weighs not only what I may do but what my action comes to mean for the other person.

- Refuse any ceremony or meal that publicly identifies you with worship contrary to Christ. - Use Christian freedom without ritual anxiety in ordinary life, but never in ways that confuse others about loyalty to the Lord. - Before exercising liberty, ask whether the action is beneficial, whether it builds others up, and whether it serves their spiritual good. - Measure even ordinary choices like eating and drinking by the glory of God. - Let your conduct seek the salvation and good of others rather than your own private advantage.

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