"When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.” – 1 Corinthians 11:20-21
Have you ever wondered: Did churches in New Testament times hold potlucks? Well, the answer is … yes!
Since Christians didn’t have church buildings back then, they met in homes. Some of their meetings were called “Agape Feasts,” or “Love Feasts” (Jude 12). At these love feasts, church members gathered to pool together whichever food items they wanted to share. And their big meal would culminate in taking communion together.
Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? The problem was, in the church of Corinth, not everyone was getting the same helpings at the table. Some may not even have gotten a seat. Instead of using the feast as a time to bring Christ’s Church together in love and unity, they were using it as an opportunity to exclude certain Christians and selfishly stuff their own faces.
In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul addresses the issue of confusing and disorderly potluck meals and communion services in the Corinthian church. He identifies two problems in this passage:
Problem #1: Your Communion Services Are Too Cliquey (vs. 17-18). The way the Christians held their love feasts and communion services was, in Paul’s words, doing “more harm than good.” The gatherings were cliquey and divisive. When we piece together the biblical and historical details, it appears that the rich brought most of the food and wine to the feast – and they weren’t ABOUT to share it with those who could only afford to contribute a couple of biscuits.
Problem #2: Your Communion Services Are Too Self-Centered (vs. 19-21). Paul points out one good thing about having cliques in the church: It made it easier to recognize the mature Christians. They were the ones who DIDN’T exclude certain Christians. They were the ones who denied themselves and put others first. Meanwhile, immature Christians were selfishly gorging themselves, instead of humbly sharing their food with those who needed it the most.
One of the clear messages in this passage is this: Having NO love feast is better than having a divisive and humiliating love feast. And skipping communion is preferrable to making a mockery of it.
For one reason or another, as centuries passed, Christian churches around the world stopped holding love feasts. But churches have never stopped celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. Communion always has been and always will be observed by Christians in every tongue, tribe and nation. But it must be observed by Christians who are unified, not divided; and selfless – NOT selfish.
