Christians can very
well miss the point of some scriptures. We can take things out of context and
miss what God is trying to communicate with us. This deals with taking
Communion or the Eucharist (the giving of thanks). There is one Bible verse used
often mistranslated or misused when it comes to communion, 1 Corinthians 11:27…
“So then, whoever
eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.”
Ouch. These are some
harsh words. I have seen people hear this verse and feel so much guilt they
feel they are a sinner and not worthy of taking communion. This isn’t right and
needs to be explained.
The church in Corinth
had issues just like every church (Remember a church is made up of sinners
including the leadership, people will make mistakes). Paul starts out this
section of scripture in verse 17 saying what I am about to say to you, I have
nothing good to say. Paul would often commend and encourage the people before
telling about the conflict or issues the people needed to work on. Paul is
blunt with the people and the mistakes.
The church had a
problem with cliques. The Lord’s Supper/Communion was considered an “Agape
Feast” a love feast. The purpose was to show love by sharing a meal with one
another. They would eat with their own group of people instead of the whole
church. They were selfish people. Rich people brought a lot of food and didn’t
share with poor Christians. For some of the poor Christians this might have
been the only good meal they would have all week. This is why Paul said if you
have an abundance of food, you can eat before you come and share your food with
poor church members.
Then people wouldn’t
feel worthy to take communion. It’s important to examine ourselves and remember
what Christ did for us on the cross. If we sinned and therefore didn’t feel we
should take communion because of sin, nobody would ever take communion in a
church service. Communion is to remember that Christ died for our sins. He was
our substitute, paying the price for our sins. We remember in the meal that
Christ was resurrected and came back from the dead and later ascended to
heaven. Last we need to look at ourselves. We need to look at our own sins
before communion and give those over to Jesus. The Corinth church loved to
examine everyone else but themselves. Look at yourselves before taking communion.
You don’t have to be perfect but you have to be able to turn your sins to God.
Every believer can take communion.
Communion is about
love. It’s not a guilt time, just a little confession. Overall it’s a joyous
part of worship. It’s a time of thankfulness for what the Lord did for us.
Let’s not focus on cliques, and instead focus on a savior who gave his life for
ours.
Have a great day.
