Questioning Communion
Reader be warned: there are very few answers in here
As someone raised within an Evangelical, Non-Denominational environment, there were very few times that I was ever pushed towards a serious consideration of The Lord’s Supper. Sure, through Bible classes, Bible studies, or various sermons, the topic would be covered. We would read through Holy Scripture and see the sacrament’s creation and its implementation in the early church. We would partake of it on Christmas and Easter, in addition to either or quarterly or monthly or some other variation—as long as it was not weekly! That was too Catholic!—which was up to that individual church’s discretion. For the longest time, pretty much until recently, I never thought twice about any of that. However, across the past two years my wife and I have been following the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan which has allowed us to read the The Psalter and the New Testament twice and the rest of the Old Testament once per year. In total, within a 24-month period, we have read The Psalter and the New Testament four times through and the rest of the Old Testament twice. It has been A LOT of reading and A LOT of hard work. Joyful work, of course, but also immensely difficult at multiple points. As a result of all that time in God’s Word, while our faiths are stronger and we are more assured in Christ than ever, we have encountered ideas or even entire passages that we have rarely, if ever, heard taught on in any meaningful detail. I could touch on all of the different things we now have questions about in respect to how the Church and its weekly worship are conducted—and I am sure I will in future articles—but the one of main things that stood out to us was with respect to the Lord’s Supper. We had questions about why we should or should not take Christ’s words literally, what power was present during the partaking, how often we should come to the Lord’s Table to break bread, and so much more.
Within this article, then, I am going to be presenting as many of my thoughts as possible regarding the Lord’s Supper through three main questions: 1) What is the Lord’s Supper? 2) What (if anything) does partaking in the Lord’s Supper do? And 3) How frequent are we as Christians to partake?
When broaching this topic, we must consider that initial question first and foremost: is the bread and wine merely a symbol or a memory of Christ and his sacrifice… or is it more? If it is simply a symbol, or simply a memory, then the conversation around function and frequency can become radically different than if it is something more. That phrase “something more” is intentionally vague because, to an extent, it does not matter if the bread and the wine are something more than a symbol or memorial by way of transubstantiation, consubstantiation, spiritual presence, or any other method through which mankind attempts to explain the mysterious ways of our Lord. After all, we are in a finite context attempting to understand an infinite reality. The only thing that matters for this particular conversation is whether or not the bread and the wine are more than a symbol. If it is only a symbol, if it is nothing but a memorial, if it is merely a creative method of displaying and preaching his resurrection, if it does not unite the body of believers in a unique way or does not in any way convey grace or deepen our relationship with God, then there is little to no obligation to practice it regularly. Nor does it make very much sense to treat the act with any semblance of reverence or grand circumstance, at least not with any more reverence or circumstance than we treat any other act of obedience. Accordingly, until—and unless—that question is answered, we cannot do justice to the following questions that I listed above.
The only counter, that I can think of at least, to my claim that a memorialist view of The Lord’s Supper gets rid of nearly any obligation to frequently observe it is that the Bible makes it clear that partaking in Communion is a command straight from the lips of Christ: “Take, eat … Drink of it” (Matt. 26:26, 27), “Take” (Mk. 14:22), “Take this, and divide it” (Lk. 22:17), and “Do this” (1 Cor. 11:24, 25). So, even if one does hold to a memorialist view, they could still justify partaking in it regularly by adhering to the exact instructions of our Lord. In the same manner in which an individual seeks to continually follow the commands of God by abstaining from lying, cheating, stealing, killing, and gossiping, or by worshipping, praising, teaching, reading, and growing in the fruits of the Spirit, so too would someone continually pursue an obedience to God in relation to coming to His table. However, then we still must ask ourselves: how regularly are we to follow this command of Christ? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Is there a justification to obey the Lord less frequently with Communion than we do with his other instructions? Is there not some level of pleasing God, and thus growth in either our relationship with or understanding of Him, that comes with obeying Him in other matters? And if so, why would Eating and Drinking at His table differ? Hypothetically, the only way that The Lord’s Supper could differ from any other act of obedience is if it were devoid of any spiritual dynamic, and does Scripture lead us to believe that there is no spiritual aspect to Communion? Per a strict memorialist view, would an utter absence of spiritual power not be necessary in order to maintain a memorialist belief? Otherwise, are you not prescribing to some degree of spiritual presence and have ceased to be a memorialist? Or is there a difference between spiritual power and the spiritual presence of Christ in or amongst the elements? Does it make sense in view of the entirety of Scripture to separate the presence of Christ, the one through whom all Creation was made, the one in whom dwells the very essence of life (John 1:3-4), from any potential spiritual power within The Eucharist?
I would also be tempted to ask to be shown a church within modern society that holds to a memorialist view in a consistent enough fashion to adequately respond to each of those questions. In my experience that church does not exist and I am tempted to say that it cannot exist while still remaining wholly memorialist. But that is a conversation for another time. Anyways…
Once the “is” of The Lord’s Supper has been established, one can then proceed to consider those two other questions that I mentioned at the onset: What (if anything) does partaking in The Lord’s Supper do? And, how frequent are we as Christians to partake? From just a cursory glance throughout Holy Scripture, I believe that it is obvious that there is a spiritual dynamic at play when it pertains to The Eucharist, otherwise we would not be warned that we may become ill or die if we partake unworthily (1 Cor. 11:27-30). The worst-case scenario is stated and warned against, and I think that the best-case scenario can be inferred or deduced. I mean that I cannot help but wonder that by the mention of death or illness happening if The Lord’s Supper is taken unworthily, could there not inherently be something that must occur if it is taken worthily? Or perhaps there is only a punishment for unrighteousness and no reward for obedience? Within Communion, does it make sense for there to be a path that leads to death and for there to not be a path that leads to life? What about Paul’s use of the word “participation” in relation to the Sacrament? Those are merely a few sub-questions that we must work through as we tackle the question of what Communion does.
All of this ultimately leads to concerns regarding the frequency of coming to the Lord’s Table. In addition to answering all of the above questions, when we try to figure out how regularly we are to partake, we must decipher which parts of the Bible are descriptive versus prescriptive. For example, when the Acts of the Apostles details the breaking of bread both daily (Acts 2:42, 46) and weekly (Acts 20:7), is that a practice we as the Church are to copy? Or, taking into account the fact that the Acts of the Apostles is a narrative, are details like that simply relating to the reader what happened instead of telling them what should happen? Yet, even if the concession is granted that those details are purely descriptive, I cannot help but wonder why we would want to stray from the practices of the Early Church if we truly believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within all believers. Now, it is not the case that the Early Church was unable to make a mistake, a brief look at any of the letters of the New Testament corrects that train of thought, but would not the apostles, in one of their letters, write to the Early Church to correct the practice if the churches were in error? Consequently, if the Holy Spirit lead them to observe the Sacrament of The Lord’s Supper with great frequency, and if the Holy Spirit did not spur on the apostles to clarify or correct the practice, would the Holy Spirit then tell us to do differently now? Maybe there is some leeway in how the practice is played out, but how much leeway, exactly? And what would be our justification in changing how regularly we commune? Is it a matter of finances or time? Does any reason hold water when it comes to why we may keep believers away from God’s Table unless it’s a matter of waiting for evaluation, confession, and repentance? There is obviously a lot to work through when it comes to The Lord’s Supper, and it is my hope that this articles serves as a springboard towards answers—or some level of clarity, at the very least— to some of the questions posed throughout the previous paragraphs. At the minimum, I pray that I can help establish a foundation, however small, upon which anyone else can develop an appreciation for the blessed Sacrament.
I ask these questions and post this article not to simply have an avenue of expressing my thoughts. Rather, I am writing all of this because I truly am seeking out answers. If you have anything that you would like to say, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below. If you have my number, calls or texts are appreciated as well.
Thanks for reading.
what you are doing with communion is a mockerly of true communion in Christ´s Church and the Most Holy Eucharist: https://sanctistulti.substack.com/p/against-the-reformers-on-the-mass