<p>11:22&nbsp; <em>What, have you not houses to eat and to drink in?- </em>Paul has just been noting that some of them are drunk at the breaking of bread service because they turned the service into a feast similar to those of the idol cults. Paul is apparently telling them to go to their own homes and carry on like this. My response would have been to criticize them for getting drunk. But Paul's primary concern is for the church as a whole, and the damage done to other believers. And so he tells them to do this, if they must, in their own homes. Another possibility is that 'their houses' refer to the houses of the idols whose cults they were clearly still associated with. He would then be telling them to not serve two masters, and seeing they attempted to take the Lord's cup as well as that of idols (10:21) they were unable therefore to properly take the Lord's cup at all (11:20). He may therefore be telling them to go and carouse in the houses of their idols rather than in the Christian church.</p><p>Yet another possibility arises from the fact that the church was split into various house groups (listed in chapter 1); but they 'came together' at combined breaking of bread meetings.This wasn&rsquo;t the time to indulge in a huge party, with all the emphasis upon eating and drinking your own food and wine, rather than focusing upon that which God had provided in Jesus. Hence he comments: &ldquo;Have you not houses to eat and to drink in?&rdquo; (1 Cor. 11:22). Given almost every reference to &lsquo;house&rsquo; in Corinthians is to a house church or to the spiritual house of God, it would seem Paul&rsquo;s idea is: &lsquo;It&rsquo;s OK to eat and drink and have a collective meal etc. in your house church meetings. But don&rsquo;t do that when you all meet together for the breaking of bread- it&rsquo;s getting divisive, because of the social differences between the house groups which are made apparent by the choice of food and drink&rsquo;. They were to &lsquo;discern the body of the Lord Jesus&rsquo; at those gatherings- i.e. recognize that all of them gathered there, the various house churches of Corinth, were in fact the collective body of Christ (1 Cor. 11:29). If anyone was hungry and therefore in need of material support, the combined breaking of bread meeting wasn&rsquo;t the place to raise the issue- he should &ldquo;eat at home&rdquo;, i.e. take food and support from his local house church (1 Cor. 11:34). That&rsquo;s surely a more reasonable reading, for at face value it would seem the hungry brother lacking food is being heartlessly told &lsquo;Well go home and eat&rsquo;.</p><p><em>Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who do not have? What shall I say to you? - </em>The reference to shaming connects to the allusions to the trial of jealousy commented on under :5. To not offend others, to seek to save them, means that we will not despise them. 1 Cor. 11:22 accuses some brethren of despising others s.w. Mt. 18:10 about despising the little ones in the ecclesia by &ldquo;shaming&rdquo; them. If we perceive the value of persons, the meaning of others personhood, we will not shame them in our words, gestures, body language or actions. No &ldquo;shameful speaking&rdquo; should proceed out of our mouths (Col. 3:8 RV). Of course, the true believer in Christ cannot be ashamed- for whilst some stumble on Christ, the rock of offence, the believer in Him will not be shamed (Rom. 9:33; 10:11- s.w. 1 Cor. 11:22). For his or her sure hope of the Kingdom &ldquo;maketh not to be ashamed&rdquo; (Rom. 5:5). Again, if our hope of the Kingdom is real to us, nobody will make us ashamed, will in reality make us feel despised, or make us stumble. The reality ahead will transfix us so that all human unkindness toward us gains no permanent lodgment in our hearts. We do well to review our way of talking and acting to ensure we do not shame others.</p><p><em>Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you</em>- This connects to how he praised some of them in :2. But this group who behaved in this way were not being praised.</p>