More on the Supper

Eric Carpenter has an interesting take on the Lord's Supper and inviting unbelievers: Should the Lost Partake of the Lord's Supper?

What is of key importance is this statement:

One response to this might be to say that we should simply ask them not to eat the bread or drink the cup but still eat the remainder of the meal. The problem with this line of thinking is that it is a faulty separation of the bread and cup from the meal itself. The bread and juice/wine have no mystical power. They represent Christ, of course, but they are part of the broader meal, not in a separate category.

That is very contrary to the way we normally treat the bread and cup. We may eschew transubstantiation and all the trappings that go along with it, but in practice we still exhibit an unhealthy reverence for the elements of the meal over and above the meal itself (if you can call a cracker and a sip of grape juice a meal). Where Christ is found is in the communion of His redeemed sheep, not in the meal that they share.

This meal, this ages old act that transcends cultures, is more than a mere line item on a checklist of religious observation. It is not a passive act but one of the most active and intentional. The meal and the community of the saints partaking of it is itself an active proclamation:

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (1Co 11:26)

When we break bread and pass the cup, we are not just passively engaging in ritual. We are actively announcing Jesus Christ to the world. Who are we proclaiming this to? Believers who already know that Christ is risen indeed? Or to the lost? Interesting question.

Still...is every meal shared by the church the Lord's Supper? Or is there something special, something intentional that would preclude unbelievers from sharing it? I am not sure. I need to keep thinking through this. I know this for certain, sitting in a pew in silence while nibbling an oyster cracker or drinking out of a small plastic cup after the words have been intoned from a clergyman bears absolutely no resemblance to the meals shared by the church we see in Scripture. We need to return the breaking of bread and sharing of the cup to a proper place of prominence in the life of the church, more so than singing songs or listening to sermons. It should be the centerpiece of the church gathering, not an add on or a ritual.

Important stuff for us to ponder.