The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum The Lord's Supper/Communion practices

tj,

There can be no doubt that today in many churches, the Lord's Table is practiced in a less than formal manner, without even considering eating a full meal in conjunction with it. I have been in some churches, yes including those who belong to Reformed denominations, where the participants are dressed more for the beach than for worshipping the thrice holy God. There have been "rock" bands playing in some and the atmosphere was far from anything that could possibly considered reverent. (cf. Heb. 12:28; 29).

Too often when people read through 1Cor 11 in regard to the Lord's Supper, they begin at verse 23 and somehow either miss and/or ignore verses 20-22:

1 Corinthians 11:20-22 (ASV) When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's supper: for in your eating each one taketh before [other] his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this I praise you not.

In this passage, Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for its misuse of the Lord's Supper by their having an actual meal at least relatively close to the administration of the Lord's Supper and asks them, rhetorically, why they are doing this when they have their own homes in which they can eat their regular meal. From this text, it appears to me that Paul is making a demarcation between the worship of the Lord and that which we do normally, aka: secular vs. sacred, a division which is not looked upon favorably today or even recognized.

Thus, from reading this passage, it seems to me that eating a regular meal as part of the Lord's Table or ancillary to it is unacceptable.

In His Grace,