Should the Lost Partake of the Lord's Supper?

A few good posts got me thinking about the Lord's Supper again (see here, here, and here).  As we celebrated the meal today as a church family, I thought even more about it.

Specifically, I've been pondering whether or not the lost should partake of the Lord's Supper when present at the gathering. My answer used to be an unequivocal "No."  That was based on a faulty interpretation of I Corinthians 11:17-34. What I failed to see is that passage is directed to believers who were abusing the supper; it doesn't deal at all with unbelievers.

Back to the question: should those who don't trust Jesus as Lord still eat the Lord's Supper? On a related note, should we invite them to partake of it?

I can still hear myself standing in a church pulpit as a salaried pastor and solemnly requesting that only followers of Christ eat the Lord's Supper that was about to be served. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing. Not so anymore.

The setting and method of the Lord's Supper have a huge influence on whether or not this question has much significance. For example, if the Lord's Supper amounts to little more than a few ounces of grape juice and a small wafer cookie served for a few minutes during a worship service, then it doesn't make any difference to the lost sitting there. Why should they care about a little snack like that? Soon afterwards they will depart the building to go get a real meal.

However, what happens if the Lord's Supper is eaten as a full meal? What happens when this meal takes time and is accompanied by much conversation? What happens when it is one of the main meals of the day? Would we ask the lost among us not to eat of it? Would we send them out to McDonald's while we eat the good food? If we do so, we would show that we have little understanding at all of how Christ expects us to treat the lost.

Those who do not know Jesus Christ will, of course, have no real understanding of the significance of the community meal. To them it is just good food. They do, however, understand hospitality, community, acceptance, and love. We can show the love of Christ be inviting them to eat with us. We can just as easily turn them off to Christ by saying "Please don't eat."

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.

In the end, I've come to the conclusion that we must invite any lost folks to partake of the entire meal with us when we gather. To do so opens all kinds of doors of communication. To not do so slams the door shut on gospel proclamation.

The table must be open to all who are present. To all believers, it is a blessed community memorial to what Christ has accomplished for us. To unbelievers, it's great food. To all, it's a fabulous time for relationship building.

We must invite all to partake enthusiastically.

The Lord's Supper Meal - A Great Unifier

Today we gathered with friends in a home to encourage one another in Christ. We read the bible, prayed, talked about how our weeks had gone, discussed opportunities the Lord had given to us, and sought the Lord's direction in what to do about how large we are getting (we now have close to forty people when everyone is present).

The goal in all this was to edify one another in Jesus Christ. I hope we are all now a little more like Him and closer to Him.

Oh yes. We also ate. If it was a good enough reason for the early church to gather, it's good enough for us, too. As we do each week, we celebrated the Lord's Supper as a full meal. Today we had burgers, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and baked beans. As we ate, we tended to talk in smaller groups of three to five. We dads discussed holiness of life and unity within the church.

House Church - The Lord's Supper Feast

I love celebrating the Lord's Supper.

We partake of this ordinance as a key aspect of our weekly meetings. As we conclude our time of sitting together and singing, praying, teaching, exhorting, etc., we all move to the kitchen and celebrate the supper together. We eat of the loaf and drink of the cup as part of our lunch.

The theology behind the Lord's Supper as practiced in the house church is very similar to that in most orthodox churches. We thankfully remember what Christ has done for us on the cross. Some may think of Christ as being more spiritually present at the meal than at other times, but we really don't get into much of that. The theology is best described by Paul in I Corinthians 11.

Acts 20:7 Gatherings

Acts 20: 7 says, "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight." Read the entire passage here.

The context is Paul's third missionary journey. Luke is with Paul (notice the word "we"), as are several others who assist Paul. They have arrived at Troas. Acts 20:7 and following describe what happens at a church gathering.

As we read 20:7-11, we see three aspects of the meeting that stand out. I'm not talking about the miraculous healing, but rather three characteristics of the gathering that would have been repeated when the church got together. First, they met on Sunday. Second, they gathered together to break bread. Third, they spent significant time talking with each other.

Since Paul was present, we can safely surmise that he gave approval to this church gathering. Since this is the case, it makes sense that our gatherings today should closely follow this model. But do they?

First, the church in Troas gathered on Sunday. Most churches in the USA still gather on this day. Does this hold much theological significance? I would say no. Certainly Jesus' rising from the dead on Sunday is important, but to say that a church gathering must occur on this day of the week seems rather silly to me. Despite this, most churches assemble this day.

Second, the church in Troas broke bread together. But notice something significant; this appears to have been the purpose of their gathering. The text says, "when we gathered together to break bread." The best assumption is that this describes the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which would have been a full meal. Does the meal have theological significance? It certainly does since we are commanded to celebrate it. It is a tangible reminder to us of Christ's death, resurrection, and promise to return. Despite this significance, most churches celebrate the Lord's Supper relatively infrequently.

Third, Paul talked with them long into the night. Luke uses a word that tells us that Paul talked, discussed, had a conversation with them (he did not "preach" to them. The KJV got that translation incorrect). In fact, the word Luke uses for what Paul did is closely related to our English word for "dialog." Take note that Acts 20:11 tells us, "And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed." Part of the reason he spent so much time with them most likely had to do with the fact that he wasn't in Troas very often. However, we still see that this church spent significant time conversing. Their gathering was one of multiple-direction conversation. Is this theologically significant? The simple answer: Yes! What might the people have said? Hebrews 10:24-25 provides us with a clue, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

In light of what we see of the church gathering in Troas, of which the Apostle Paul was a part, we should ask ourselves if our gatherings measure up. Do we look like them?

-Do we meet on Sunday? Frankly, this probably isn't that important as long as we are gathering regularly some time. Interestingly, this is the one aspect of the Troas gathering that most of today's churches emulate.

-Do we meet together to break bread? In other words, do we come together to eat, celebrating the Lord's Supper? This is certainly significant theologically. It is also an act of obedience. Let's celebrate this full meal together as a joyful occasion.

-Do we spend time talking, conversing, engaging in dialog with one another? This is extremely important. It is how we stir up one another to love and good works. We should ask if our gatherings provide us with ample opportunity to speak in a relaxed setting with one another. If not, then why not?

Let's let the bible inform all we do. This short passage tells us much about church gatherings. We would benefit a great deal from reading it and learning from it. May we strive to be a part of church gatherings that look like what we see in scripture.

Meeting and Eating Together

My friend Alan at The Assembling of the Church has written an excellent post describing his church family's latest gathering. This church is near-and-dear to my heart because it is the church we were a part of while we lived in North Carolina for me to attend seminary. I'm so happy to see how healthy (biblical) this church is being. In their latest gathering, they came together for bible discussion, fellowship, and eating - at the same time! It sounds fascinating and exciting. Click here to read about it.