A Look at Communion

Communion

“the Lord’s Supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20)
“the Lord’s Table” (1 Corinthians 10:21)
“cup of blessing” (1 Corinthians 10:16)
“breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42)
“eucharist” (giving of thanks) – (see Matthew 26:27)

Communion is one of the most important yet underemphasized ceremonies in the evangelical church today. Thankfully many are hearkening back to a more serious observance of the Lord's Supper, although this is often not as deep as it seems. A lot of people (and consequently churches) are simply tired of being part of a tradition that has no tradition, so they go running back to something that is "old school" thinking that if the old dead guys did it, then it must be good and spiritual. While there is certainly a lot of truth to that, a decision to take anything in the Church seriously must go beyond mere fads and into the depths of theology and scripture.

Ordinances (Sacraments).
Before we talk about Communion, we first need to place it within its context as an ordinance, or sacrament. And to do that, we must delve into what sacraments are, which means the sticky situation of comparing Roman Catholic and Protestant theology.

An ordinance can be defined as an outward and visible sign of an inward reality. Water Baptism and Communion are the only two ordinances set forth by Christ as a biblical testimony for His Church to observe until He returns. (Matt. 28:19; Luke 22:19–20; Acts 10:47–48; 16:32–33; 18:7–8; 1 Cor. 11:26). These cover both the beginning of the Christian life (Baptism) and its ongoing nature (Communion). They are done as an expression of hope in the reality of Christ’s future presence among His people, and as such they are temporary, for when He returns they will no longer be necessary.

Sacraments in Roman Catholicism. If you come from a Catholic background, you have probably been taught something different about sacraments. Within Roman Catholic theology, the sacraments are a means of grace, whereas in Protestant theology, “they are signs and testimonies of God’s good will towards us” (Martin Luther, Augsberg Confession). The difference is in each camp’s understanding of what it means to be saved.

Roman Catholics say that upon believing in Christ, we become righteous, but lose that righteousness as we continue to sin throughout life. As a result, we do not possess all the grace we will need for salvation, and so are in need of more grace in order to be fully acceptable in God’s eyes. This needed grace is dispensed through the sacraments from a treasury of grace, or merit, that Christ Himself won through His work on the cross. In a sense they are an infusion of grace. As we sin, grace leaves us, and as we partake of the sacraments and perform good works, it is reinserted. Salvation therefore is not something that happens at the initial moment of faith, but is a gradual process accomplished through a life of good works and building up of merit as received in the sacraments. The hope is to earn enough grace to make it into heaven. Upon death, there will always be left over sin in the life of the believer, as no one is perfect, so the concept of purgatory has been developed by Roman Catholic theologians as the means by which God purifies any remaining imperfections. Upon completion of purgatory (once all the left over sin is burned off), believers, now purified, can enter His presence. It is unclear whether or not purgatory is temporal (as in it takes a certain amount of time depending on how much sin there is, etc.) or occurs instantaneously. Some have described purgatory as God giving an individual a big holy hug upon death, thus burning off any leftover sin.

Protestants, on the other hand, speak of an alien righteousness, one that is not our own but is credited to us by the work of Christ. When we believe, we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness, so that God always sees us in light of what Christ did and not what we do. Any lack in righteousness (which is inevitable because we remain sinners) is not to be paid for by us but was paid for by the work of Christ. Upon death we are accepted into God’s presence not because we are without sin, but because Christ’s work on the cross was such that it purified us from all of sin’s effects for all eternity. That means that Christ's blood not only saves me from my past sin, ongoing sin, and future sin, but it also covers me and allows me to come into God's presence until the end of time and beyond. In addition, His blood makes for the transformation of our resurrection bodies that will be free from the effects of sin. To mirror the illustration of God's big hug, in this scenario, God will hug Jesus instead of us, and since He is perfect, there is nothing to burn off. We are just the friend who got in on His dime, thankful and appreciative to be there.

These vast differences account for such dissimilar views of the sacraments. The Roman Catholic view says that sacraments bestow grace on us and make us more righteous. As such, this view elevates man and his works in partnership with God in salvation. The Protestant view says that they do not save us, but powerfully and symbolically remind us that we are saved and in what way that salvation was accomplished. As such they point us to the glories of Christ’s work on the cross, not our own efforts and good works, and in so doing inspire us to a life of good works in the service of our King. The Protestant view magnifies the work of Christ as sufficient to save us from our sins…past, present, and future.

With this in mind, it is the position of Grace Community Church that the sacraments do not contribute to our justification before God, though they do contribute to our growth in godliness. To say that one is saved by his own works, regardless of whether or not they are sanctioned by an institution that is almost two thousand years old, is to make a mockery of Christ’s great work, as if there were some lack in what His death and resurrection accomplished. We do not believe that this diminishes their importance, but in fact makes them more important than ever! For they remind us of our great mission as part of Christ’s body, namely what it is that we are committed to, who we belong to, and how we got there. It is upon serious and consistent reflection of these things in the midst of God’s people that each believer is literally strengthened in his or her Christian walk. The elements (i.e. water, bread, and wine) have no power in and of themselves; it is their faithful use that matters.

Baptism.
Key biblical texts: Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:1-7
When an individual trusts Christ as Lord and Savior, they undergo baptism as an act of obedience to symbolically identify with His death and resurrection. Forgiveness (Acts 2:38), cleansing (Acts 22:16; cf. Eph. 5:26) and spiritual quickening (Col. 2:12) are associated with baptism. Just as Christ died and was raised, so too are believers with Him (Romans 6:1-7), and thus are born again (John 3:3) when they receive Him and His work on the cross on their behalf. Baptism does not save us, and so the new birth is a reality apart from Baptism. Rather, it is most importantly a public declaration of an individual’s identification with Christ and His body, the Church.

Communion.
Key biblical texts: Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19, 20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-26
Believers take part in communion to symbolize their ongoing relationship and dependency on Christ. It is called “communion” because each of us are brought into communion with Christ in his death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 10:16). There are two aspects of this: The body of Christ (bread) and the blood of Christ (wine). As believer’s partake of the bread and wine, they are identifying Christ as the source of their strength for righteous living.

His body is the Church to which all believers belong (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:1-16). And so in identifying with His body by eating bread, every Christian is affirming their dependence and responsibility as members of such a body (1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:27), namely in the ongoing exercise of spiritual gifts for the purpose of building one another up into a “mature man” (Ephesians 4:13), and in the holiness with which God’s people are to be marked as a new priesthood (1 Peter 2:5).

His blood provides the basis upon which we are accepted into His body. In identifying with His blood, we are acknowledging that Christ accomplished for us what we could not accomplish for ourselves, namely, the forgiveness of sins, which made possible a life-giving relationship with our Creator. It not only secures membership into His body, but is the ongoing basis of our relationship with God, and thus our strength in holy living as God continually looks at us through the blood of Christ, and gives power through His Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

How Often Should we take Communion?
In our church plant we have not yet approached this question, but here are a few things that we will consider when making the decision. A few churches take communion on a weekly basis, whereas others elect to take it on a monthly, quarterly, or even yearly basis. There are many reasons for spreading it out, but at the bottom of it is either a desire to keep communion from becoming a meaningless ceremony, or a fear of communicating to participants that taking communion is salvific in nature (i.e. taking communion plus Jesus saves you).

Our belief is first and foremost that we should be a gospel preaching, Christ worshipping church, and when you are something like this, you are just going to do some churchy things. This doesn't mean we have to wear long dresses and live with no electricity, but we can't be faithful witnesses to our culture and throw the Bible out the window. And we can't be faithful to the Bible if we don't take very seriously the commands of Christ to "do this as often as you will." In light of this, however often we as a church take communion I would like for us to keep in mind the following:

First, we must see communion as a vital part in the life of every one who bears the name of Christ. Such is how the Bible portrays it, not as a bunch of drones scarfing crackers and grapejuice, but as those desperate for the truth that Christ is their lifeblood, and looking forward to partaking in the symbol of their salvation and purpose in life in anticipation of the day when they won't have to do it symbolically, but will dine with Him face to face at His table.

Second, our view must be intimately tied to our philosophy of what a church service is supposed to be, namely a sanctifying time of refreshment, conviction, inspiration, and the continual reminder of who we are as God’s people. Sunday Church is there to reorient us to the mission of God. It is the time to recast the biblical vision of what it means to be Christian. This happens through the preaching of the word of God and the consistent and meaningful observance of Communion. While both the word of God and Communion are static in their content, we do not remain static in our life situations, and so when we worship at church, we continually encounter God, each of us in different ways, as our lives are brought into intimate contact with Him as we hear about and affirm who we are as a people. This of course is at our disposal every day, but Sunday church acts as a shoving off point for the rest of the week.

Third, these things all must happen in the context of a vibrant community of believers. While we may administer or receive the ordinances/sacraments on Sunday, we must bolster this with a solid community structure where people are experiencing growth in godliness through accountability, spiritual care, fellowship, and service.

These three points must figure into our understanding of what is happening in communion, and therefore must figure into our decisions about how often we do it. God cannot be satisfied with the flippancy with which we approach His table nowadays, for it is not merely the act we are neglecting, but our very identity as the Bride of Christ.