Bible Reading Challenge #32

1 Corinthians 11:27–28

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

How we approach the sacred things of God matters.

In Corinth, the people were approaching the holy things of God carelessly—what was meant to be hallowed had become haphazard.

Unworthy Manners:

1. Ritualistically
   Simply repeating something over and over can cause it to lose its weight.
   If we treat the Lord’s Supper as a mere ritual, we rob it of its meaning, its message, and the power of what it represents.

   • Are you tempted to treat this meaningful meal as just another tradition? Pause and consider its true significance.

2. Indifferently
   Some come to the table simply because “that’s what Christians do.” They take it without reflecting on what it represents.
   Instead of being moved by the sacrifice of Jesus, they’re more concerned with not being embarrassed by staying seated when others get up.

   • Have you grown numb to the wonder of Christ’s sacrifice?
     Remember: we must never “graduate” from the gospel. The cross must never become common.

3. Unrepentantly
   Others partake with no intention of turning from sin. To take the Supper while refusing to repent is to misunderstand what it means to follow Jesus. We do not “sin so that grace may abound”—we fight sin because Christ died to set us free from it.

While Paul’s immediate focus here is on the Lord’s Supper, these same dangers apply to how we approach God in general.

So let me ask you:

• Are you a ritual Christian, going through the motions?

• An indifferent Christian, careless with holy things?

• An unrepentant Christian, unwilling to turn from sin?

Paul says, “Examine yourselves.” That’s the invitation—to come to Christ honestly, reverently, and repentantly, so that the meal becomes once again what it was always meant to be: a proclamation of His death, a celebration of His grace, and a renewal of our devotion.