“He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”
1 Corinthians 11:29

Because of this verse, many believers stay away from the Lord’s Table because they feel unworthy.
But Paul never said the person was unworthy — only the manner was.

The grammar matters.
“Unworthy” here is an adverb — describing how you partake, not who you are.

So what is this unworthy manner?

Paul explains it in the same breath:

“…not discerning the Lord’s body.”
1 Corinthians 11:29

The Corinthians weren’t making a distinction.
They were treating the bread and the cup as if they meant the same thing.

But the Scripture shows otherwise.

The Bible Always Separates the Bread and the Cup

In every Gospel account — Matthew, Mark, and Luke — and in Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11, there is a deliberate, consistent separation:

Matthew

“Jesus took bread…
Then He took the cup…”
Matthew 26:26–27

Mark

“Jesus took bread…
Then He took the cup…”
Mark 14:22–23

Luke

“He took bread…
Likewise He also took the cup…”
Luke 22:19–20

Paul

“The bread which we break…
After supper He took the cup…”
1 Corinthians 11:23–25

Four different voices.
Two different testaments.
One Spirit guiding all of them.

And every single one keeps the same order:
first the bread, then the cup — never merged, never blurred.

Why?
Because they represent two different gifts:

The bread speaks of His body given for your body.
The cup speaks of His blood shed for your forgiveness.

When the Corinthians treated them as the same, they were partaking “unworthily” — not because they weren’t holy enough, but because they weren’t seeing clearly enough.

This Is All Paul Was Warning About

Not your failures.
Not your mistakes.
Not your past.
Not your performance.

Just this:

Don’t take the bread without recognising what His body accomplished for your body.
Don’t take the cup as if it’s the same meaning as the bread.
Don’t lose the distinction Scripture keeps emphasising.

Because when you discern His body — when you receive the bread for what it truly represents — strength follows.

You come worthily when you see the worth of the One who invites you.

The unworthy manner isn’t about being unworthy.
It’s about forgetting the meaning of the bread.