The Lord's Supper and 1 Cor. 11:27-29

In 1 Cor. 11:17-34, Paul, while he had commended them previously, was now correcting abuses in the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian church. See v. 17, this starts the immediate context. In v. 20 he gives the reason he cannot endorse their conduct, which was selfish and not taking the body of Christ among them into account. In the context of v. 27 the unworthy eating of the bread and drinking of the cup may have had to do with their sinful attitudes and actions towards each other, which was sin against God.  The examination of v. 28 in their context had to do primarily with whether they were harboring sin in their hearts and lives – most likely in the form of an attitude of a party spirit or lack of compassion towards others in the body who were not as well-off (I understand they often celebrated in the homes of the wealthier members – bigger place to meet) – and therefore against what the Lord and His sacrifice had purchased with His blood – a basic discrediting of Christ’s sacrifice for us and others by bringing sin into the gathering and celebration of the very thing meant to kill sin and eliminate man-made distinctions between people. “The ground is level at the foot of the cross” and all that. Hence the “in an unworthy manner” means “not in accordance with its worth”. V. 29, failure to recognize the body of the Lord – either what it meant to their salvation or their community life – and therefore the body of believers among them - which ought to have resulted in their judging themselves and coming back in line with God and what He wants to do in and through His family.
 
The interesting thing to me is we are being called to do all this while in community with other believers. Our corporate gatherings have individual aspects to be sure – we are people, who live in households, who operate in many spheres and it must first be applied in our own hearts and then in the larger body. Re: 1 Cor. 11:27-29 and the larger context in which it is found, these verses actually lean away from being individualistic, if by that we mean just me and Jesus in a vacuum, which is easy to do in our Western individualized mindset. The issue being addressed by Paul, and corrected, was actually their attitudes and actions that were causing a break in fellowship and worship. Paul is writing to a group of people. Each in the group was to examine himself individually, and correct any sinful attitudes and actions that might be present so fellowship can be restored and the family that was created due to Christ’s death for sin could operate as it was intended to operate. They are being called to look within, so that they might realize they are a part of a body, where order and unity were to be preserved, not broken. If they were guilty of breaking fellowship with any in the body, especially those present, they needed to repent.

At the same time and in the same moment, there can be present intensely corporate and personal applications. We are never instructed in Scripture to celebrate the Lord’s Supper alone. We are called to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together because we are interconnected and related by faith.