Communion When Seekers are Present
By Craig Brian Larson
April 1, 1995
Communion has been a theological battleground for centuries. For today's working pastors, however, many of the issues surrounding Communion seem more practical than theological. No more so is that true than for churches filled with seekers--those drawn to, but not yet born of, the Spirit.
Seekers may not understand Communion--how to explain it simply? They may want to participate--how to explain your guidelines graciously without seeming too restrictive? How should the bread and the cup be served in the midst of those who have not made that first step of faith?
To get at this answer, I talked with respected pastors from a variety of theological traditions. Their varied answers provide a menu of choices to help better set the Lord's Table.
SETTING STANDARDS
Dawson Memorial Baptist in Birmingham, Alabama, keeps it simple: Communion is for those who have accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord; the question of who partakes is left to the conscience of the individual.
The issue of who decides who is qualified is a sticking point for other churches, however.
"The Bible doesn't say how we are to insure that people taking the Lord's Supper are eating and drinking worthily," says Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York. "Presbyterians have decided a person shouldn't be self-accredited. Instead a person should have his or her testimony heard by a church, which will judge whether the profession of faith is credible. People have odd and often deluded understandings of what it means to be a Christian, so others need to check it out."
In effect this means a person must be baptized or a member of some church, not necessarily theirs, to partake in Communion at Redeemer Presbyterian. "That's an inference from ...
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