Can I Get Sick or Die If I Receive Communion While Unworthy to Do So?
No.
Paul did not warn the Corinthians about receiving communion in an unworthy state; he warned them about receiving communion in an unworthy manner, as is clear from the context. Receiving communion “unworthily” does NOT consist of doing so when God considers you unworthy. The “unworthy” problem was solved when you became a Christian! You are ALWAYS worthy to partake of the Lord’s Supper because of the blood of Jesus that is being commemorated! How ironic that a Christian could think himself unworthy when the blood symbolized by the fruit of the vine has made him worthy!
Even an unbeliever doesn’t have to worry about this – unworthily is an adverb, not an adjective. It describes HOW you partake, not the PERSON doing the partaking.
The “unworthy manner” consisted of pigging out so that other people had to miss out. Those doing the pigging out were mistreating the Lord’s Body (His Church). They were treating the elements as regular food instead of symbols of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood. Simply put, they were making light of something holy that Jesus commanded us to do.
Fear of partaking “while unworthy” has robbed many Christians of the very thing they need – a reminder of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus, when it was that shed blood that made them worthy in God’s sight!
See also: