1 Corinthians 11:21
“For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.”
What does 1 Corinthians 11:21 mean?
Paul is describing a serious problem in the Corinthian church's communal meals, where wealthier members were bringing plenty of food and eating it all before poorer members even arrived. Instead of sharing a meal together as a unified body, people were going hungry while others overindulged. His words paint a picture of division and selfishness masquerading as fellowship, where the basic act of eating together—meant to build community and remember Christ—had become a way to highlight wealth gaps and neglect those struggling. He's calling out how their behavior contradicted the very meaning of gathering as Christ's body.