The meaning behind the names for the Lord's Supper
Very good stuff Fide-O. Jason Robertson looks at the meaning behind the several different terms for the Lord's Supper: the Supper, ordinance, sacrament, communion. I will admit that it has been my experience that in many, if not most, Baptist churches the Lord's Supper/communion is given inadequate attention. It is celebrated rarely and in a perfunctory manner at the end of the service (note, our current church does not treat it in a perfunctory manner, but I still wish and have expressed the desire that we celebrate it more often!). The Supper is not a passive act. When we partake we are publicly doing something, making a declaration. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Cor 11:26) It is not a snack, it is a renewed public profession of our belief in and faith in Christ Jesus, crucified, buried and risen again.
It is something that weighs pretty heavily on my mind that we give inadequate importance to the Supper. I think few things are more needed in the church than a renewed appreciation of the Supper. A right understanding and frequent, proper administration of the Lord’s Supper would be of immense benefit to the spiritual life of the church, coupled with deeper Scriptural study and understanding and a fervent, God-centered prayer life.
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At our observance of the Supper this past Sunday evening, I told the story of the church I was at where the pastor didn't even mention the Supper at all until after the service and after the business meeting (which I'll admit was a necesary meeting; I wonder, though, could it have waited a week?).
The pastor had the men start distributing the elements while he finished the announcements. When he "administered" the Supper, he didn't even crack open his Bible but simply parahrased the Lord's commands with no explanation as to its significance or why we even do this to begin with.
While this is no doubt an egregious example, many churches still fail to give it the proper place in the life of the body; they just tack it on at the end of the service because that's what they do a few times a year.
Thanks for the link. I read the post at Fide-O and it was good. I have covered those things before in our church and, I admit, I was amazed that people had not heard these things before. Teaching like this will serve to teach believers (and pastors) the importance of the Supper and the blessing it is to the church. And Jason is right; its proper observance will help keep the church healthy.
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