Exporting the Churches of Christ: Communion

Communion.

The Lord's Supper.

The Table.

If you've grown up in the churches of Christ as I have you are sure to be familiar with the above terms. Known by various names depending on where you are, the form has remained relatively the same for generations; someone to present the "communion talk" and various men grabbed at the start of the service to "pass the plates" with the "giving back to the Lord" talk shortly thereafter.

I'm not being disrespectful about the weekly practice of the Lord's Supper. I am glad to be counted among the churches of Christ that have faithfully administered the weekly ordinance. The practice was something undertaken by the earliest Christian disciples as a weekly reminder of the Lord Jesus' obedient sacrifice and the institution of the new blood covenant and therefore something that should be done today. Even though the broader evangelical movement has strayed away from a weekly remembrance the churches of Christ (and other restorationist groups) have remained consistent. We have not bought into other's justifications ceasing weekly observance for fear that "the supper will lose significance" even though doing so ironically robs it of all significance. While we have perhaps substituted our understanding of what elements actually constitute the Lord's supper (wafer and grape juice vs. a communion meal) our motivation remains pure; remembering collectively the great sacrifice of our Lord on a weekly, corporate basis.

Having returned to cross-cultural living again I have begun to see that we have been a little careless about what we're exporting regarding communion. American churches of Christ have exported not only the gospel but some of the bad habits that make a church of Christ service, well, a church of Christ service. Regarding communion, the most harmful is the traditional communion talk. No matter where I've travelled the tendency has always been the same, to use the communion talk to talk about communion. You know the scriptures well because they're repeated every week ad nauseam:

1 Corinthians 11 or Matthew 26:26. Rinse and Repeat

They've been repeated so often that a pattern has emerged at the weekly commencement of communion, a communion talk about communion. That's like the master chef describing his sumptuous creation by talking about the scientific theory of hunger! Every week our people around the globe are being reminded, not about the sacrifice of Jesus and the eternal purposes behind that event, but about the reasons why communion should be a weekly ordinance! That people ought to be prepared to receive the Lord's supper is not in dispute but the few moments before we partake of the communion meal are wasted when we use the time to talk about the communion meal itself. What a waste. As I've been leading and teaching our people to think differently about this here are some of the ideas I've used to assist our members to think not about the communion meal but about God:

1) The cross, wrath, mercy, judgement, and propitiation.

2) The holiness of God.

3) The grace of God.

4) The resurrection of Jesus.

5) The worthiness of God.

6) Repentance and reconciliation.

7) Jesus, the Greater Adam.

8) The Once-for-all Sacrifice.

9) Forgiveness (horizontal & vertical).

10) Jesus, the Great High Priest.

There are a multitude of scriptures for each of these, all capable of leading us through the worship event of communion. They are the things that stir our hearts, wills, and emotions to a deeper more profound love for God. They are the doctrines that serve as conduits to the mercies of God that overflow into soulful adoration.

Stop using the communion talk to talk about communion and start talking about God. Stop reminding them that they ought to be talking communion every week and lead them to scriptural truths that will produce their desire to do so.

God deserves it and our people need it.