1 Corinthians 11:21

Own supper. Owing to the divisions and factions that had developed within the church at Corinth, the spirit of love and brotherly fellowship that characterizes all true followers of Jesus had to some extent disappeared. This unfortunate condition was revealed at the celebration of the feast that was supposed to be the Lord’s Supper, by each participant bringing his own food and eating it himself, without any thought of sharing it with others. The rich had an abundance to eat, and the poor often had nothing. The supper that had been instituted to commemorate the supreme demonstration of love thus became a mere private feast, a proceeding without meaning or significance, which each one might as well have performed at home. This brought the sacred ordinance of the Lord’s Supper into disrepute. The schisms in the church were largely responsible for this state of affairs, and it is possible that members of different parties ate separately because of their pride, refusing to humble themselves by fellowship around the Lord’s table.

Hungry. The poor believer, trusting in the charity of his more fortunate brethren, came to the feast believing that his need would be provided, but he was disappointed by the selfishness and unchristian pride of the rich.

Drunken. Gr. methuō, “to be intoxicated.” This word refers definitely to inordinate use of intoxicants to the point of loss of self-control. Paul intimates that the Corinthians ate and drank to excess at these feasts, and as a result their professed celebration of the Lord’s Supper became merely a farcical rite.

It may be considered surprising that Christians who lived in apostolic days, and who had been taught by Paul himself, should so pervert the nature and purpose of the Lord’s Supper as to turn it into a copy of their former heathen entertainments. It must be remembered that the Corinthians had only recently abandoned heathenism. They had been accustomed to engaging in excessive feasting in honor of false gods, and it would be comparatively easy for them to imagine that the Lord’s Supper could be celebrated in a similar manner. The divisions and party strife that marred their spiritual experience would cloud their vision and make it easier for them to corrupt the observance of the ordinance. This experience of the Corinthian believers shows that new Christians need careful and prolonged instruction and wise, sympathetic leadership and supervision until they are firmly rooted in the fundamental truths of the gospel. Compromise with non-Christian beliefs and practices always results in departure from the purity and simplicity of the gospel (see Deut. 7:1–4; 18:9–14; 2 Cor. 6:14–17).