What was the social and ethnic makeup of the Corinthian church?
The Corinthian church consisted of a few Jews and more Gentiles, drawn from the whole social spectrum. It included slaves and bond slaves at the bottom, as well as wealthy merchant men whose ships operated from Corinth, making the congregation a cross-section of society.
Les teaches that the Corinthian believers were a make-up of a few Jews, more than likely more Gentiles, but from the whole strata of society. He explains that in that day and time the bottom of the social totem pole were slaves and bond slaves, while there were also wealthy merchant men who probably had ships out at sea, and Corinth was their home bay. So within that little congregation there was a whole cross-section of society. He notes that when they had a potluck supper before the Lord's Supper, people are people, and the bottom echelon people would bring what they could afford—the more mundane, cheaper things.