What do poorer people bring to a potluck supper?
At a potluck supper, poorer people bring what they can afford. That usually amounts to mundane or cheaper foods rather than costly dishes. In Corinth, the congregation included slaves, bond slaves, and wealthy merchant men, so the potluck reflected a whole cross section of society.
Les explains that in Corinth, before the official Lord's Communion table of unleavened bread and the cup, believers would have a potluck supper. The Corinthian congregation was made up of a few Jews and more Gentiles, from the whole strata of society—slaves, bond slaves, and wealthy merchant men. People are people, he says, and at a potluck the bottom echelon bring what they can afford, which is more or less the mundane, cheaper things. This helps explain the circumstances Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 11.