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Authors: Paul Ellis
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not
that God is reaching down from heaven and smiting the scornful with the
damnation stamp, but they are damning themselves. They’re actually in a worse
place than when they were ignorant because now they know. They have heard the
good news of God’s grace and have hardened their hearts to it.
I hope
you can see that Paul is not referring to Christians in these three verses. A
Christian can no more eat and drink judgment on their heads than they can
blaspheme the Holy Spirit. In this passage Paul is not describing those who
have received God’s grace, but those who have tasted the goodness of God and
rejected it. They’ve heard the gospel and dismissed it.
Being
“guilty of the blood and body of Jesus” in 1 Corinthians 11 is analogous to
“trampling the Son of God underfoot” in Hebrews 10:29. Who does this? Think of
the Pharisees. Think of Judas. They tasted the goodness of God and concluded “this
is not for me”. By hardening their hearts to God’s love, they placed themselves
beyond the reach of his grace and mercy. Not a good place to be!
And this
brings me back to the question I asked at the beginning.
Can unbelievers take communion?
Many churches say, “No, it’s
inappropriate. Since unbelievers don’t value the cross, they shouldn’t be
allowed to drink judgment on themselves by taking communion.” But don’t you
find it interesting that Paul never says this. He never says,
When you
do communion, make sure you don’t give any to the unbelievers among you. But be
nice about it. Say something like, “If you’re visiting with us today, let the
cup and plate go past. Communion is for Christians only.”
Paul never says this because it’s
a bizarre thing to say! It is not our job to play the Holy Spirit. Our part is
to proclaim the finished work of the cross and one way we do that is through
communion. Denying communion to unbelievers is like denying them the gospel.
It’s like saying: “I am going to proclaim the good news, but if you’re visiting
with us today, have the freedom to jam your fingers in your ears. The good news
is for Christians only.”
Can you
see how absurd this is?
Communion
is a symbol of God’s grace. It represents the awesome price God paid to redeem
you from the prison of sin. An appropriate response is to say, “Thank you,
Jesus, for your death on the cross!” An inappropriate response is to dismiss it
as irrelevant. “This is not for me.” But no one will respond unless they are
given the opportunity to respond.
Paul
never says, “Don’t let unbelievers take communion.” Instead, he says, “Everyone
ought to examine themselves first.” And what is the proper way to examine
ourselves? Answer: In light of the cross. “Jesus died for me! The world says
I’m nobody special and I know I am a miserable sinner, but if Jesus died for
me, then he must really love me. Thank you Jesus!”
Coming to
the communion table in an unworthy manner is surely a big deal, but it’s no
worse than rejecting the gospel. If we are indiscriminate with the gospel, we
should be equally generous with the table.
So the
next time you do communion, don’t worry about who’s saved and who’s not. That’s
not your concern. Instead, proclaim and celebrate the good news of God’s love
and grace and let each one respond as the Holy Spirit leads them. Communion is
a time for celebrating Jesus’ death. It is a time for proclaiming the
awesomeness of his grace. It is not a time for playing judge and jury.
A word after
Communion is not complicated. In
two words, it’s simply “remembering Jesus.” But judging by the feedback I
received on this article, for some people communion remains a bit of a mystery.
I have
been asked many questions about communion. Most of these questions can be
easily answered if we replace the word communion with the word gospel.
“Can
unbelievers receive communion?” Can unbelievers receive the gospel? Of course
they
that God is reaching down from heaven and smiting the scornful with the
damnation stamp, but they are damning themselves. They’re actually in a worse
place than when they were ignorant because now they know. They have heard the
good news of God’s grace and have hardened their hearts to it.
I hope
you can see that Paul is not referring to Christians in these three verses. A
Christian can no more eat and drink judgment on their heads than they can
blaspheme the Holy Spirit. In this passage Paul is not describing those who
have received God’s grace, but those who have tasted the goodness of God and
rejected it. They’ve heard the gospel and dismissed it.
Being
“guilty of the blood and body of Jesus” in 1 Corinthians 11 is analogous to
“trampling the Son of God underfoot” in Hebrews 10:29. Who does this? Think of
the Pharisees. Think of Judas. They tasted the goodness of God and concluded “this
is not for me”. By hardening their hearts to God’s love, they placed themselves
beyond the reach of his grace and mercy. Not a good place to be!
And this
brings me back to the question I asked at the beginning.
Can unbelievers take communion?
Many churches say, “No, it’s
inappropriate. Since unbelievers don’t value the cross, they shouldn’t be
allowed to drink judgment on themselves by taking communion.” But don’t you
find it interesting that Paul never says this. He never says,
When you
do communion, make sure you don’t give any to the unbelievers among you. But be
nice about it. Say something like, “If you’re visiting with us today, let the
cup and plate go past. Communion is for Christians only.”
Paul never says this because it’s
a bizarre thing to say! It is not our job to play the Holy Spirit. Our part is
to proclaim the finished work of the cross and one way we do that is through
communion. Denying communion to unbelievers is like denying them the gospel.
It’s like saying: “I am going to proclaim the good news, but if you’re visiting
with us today, have the freedom to jam your fingers in your ears. The good news
is for Christians only.”
Can you
see how absurd this is?
Communion
is a symbol of God’s grace. It represents the awesome price God paid to redeem
you from the prison of sin. An appropriate response is to say, “Thank you,
Jesus, for your death on the cross!” An inappropriate response is to dismiss it
as irrelevant. “This is not for me.” But no one will respond unless they are
given the opportunity to respond.
Paul
never says, “Don’t let unbelievers take communion.” Instead, he says, “Everyone
ought to examine themselves first.” And what is the proper way to examine
ourselves? Answer: In light of the cross. “Jesus died for me! The world says
I’m nobody special and I know I am a miserable sinner, but if Jesus died for
me, then he must really love me. Thank you Jesus!”
Coming to
the communion table in an unworthy manner is surely a big deal, but it’s no
worse than rejecting the gospel. If we are indiscriminate with the gospel, we
should be equally generous with the table.
So the
next time you do communion, don’t worry about who’s saved and who’s not. That’s
not your concern. Instead, proclaim and celebrate the good news of God’s love
and grace and let each one respond as the Holy Spirit leads them. Communion is
a time for celebrating Jesus’ death. It is a time for proclaiming the
awesomeness of his grace. It is not a time for playing judge and jury.
A word after
Communion is not complicated. In
two words, it’s simply “remembering Jesus.” But judging by the feedback I
received on this article, for some people communion remains a bit of a mystery.
I have
been asked many questions about communion. Most of these questions can be
easily answered if we replace the word communion with the word gospel.
“Can
unbelievers receive communion?” Can unbelievers receive the gospel? Of course
they
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