One of the problems that occurs during the call for self-examination during the LORD’s Supper is that members of the body of Christ judge themselves subjectively, and then wrongly excommunicate themselves from the sacrament. In other words, they base their freedom to partake in the LORD’s Supper upon their own judgment of themselves, and their own feelings.
As G.I. Williamson and fellow committee members write:
By our calling for self- examination and “discernment” on the part of communicants as part of their preparation for each observance, we direct attention (perhaps unwittingly) away from the objective character of this sacrament.
People are making judgments about their subjective condition every time communion is celebrated, and as a result they often “suspend” or ”excommunicate” themselves on a week-by-week, or month- by-month basis.
And often the criteria for this evaluation are highly emotional and subjective. The effect of the whole is a tendency to obscure Christ, as the object of faith, from our view, and to hinder the very effectiveness of the sacrament in the life of God’s people which we are concerned to promote (Majority Report, Paedocommunion, OPC 55th GA, 1988.)
All of this subjective judgment is based upon the following verse:
28 But a man must test himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:28-30)
The problem is that far too many take this verse out of context and apply the verse to the entirety of the Christian life. What Paul is writing against is division in the church. This is one of the major themes and sins of the Corinthians. They were finding all manner of ways to divide themselves, when they were to be one body, and one in Christ.
Many Divisions
For example, the first critique that Paul makes against the Corinthians is that they have set up factions among themselves, some following Apollos, some following Cephas, and some boasting of only following Christ (I Cor. 1:11-17). There are many other issues as well that result in division, but those other issues are not the point of this post.
The point of this post is that the very issue of divisions were coming up in the observance of the LORD’s Supper. Then in 1 Corinthians 11 we see the following:
- They were being divisive: Paul writes, “I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.”
- They were letting that division flow over into the celebration of the LORD’s supper: “one takes his own supper first…”
- They were neglecting others in the body: “one is hungry…”
- They were abusing the wine: “another is drunk.”
- Then the ultimate sin of the Corinthians: “despising the church of God…”
- And the last one: “shaming those who have nothing.”
This is the reason why Paul writes that a man should examine himself. The man is to see if he is causing division, taking communion first, neglecting the poor who are hungry, getting drunk, and despising the very church that Christ died for, shaming the poor in the process.
Paul is not calling for a general inventory of every personal sin that then licenses self-exclusion. He is speaking directly to these relational failures—the attitude of despising or fragmenting the body—during the sacrament that is meant to show forth not only the beautiful sacrifice of our Savior, but the end of His glorious work: uniting sinners to Himself and feeding them at the table.
The one who is committing the listed sins in this passage, and taking the cup, is the one who is doing so in an unworthy manner. The form of these sins may look different among us today, yet the underlying attitude of despising or dividing the body remains a live danger. We may not get drunk or leave the hungry alone in the same dramatic way, but the temptation to treat the Table casually or to overlook the weaker members of the body is still real.
But the real problem comes when we expand taking the cup in an unworthy manner to all the sins of our lives. This is what leads to so much self-excommunication, and unhealthy navel gazing. We see that even though we confessed our sins (hopefully there is time of confession in your worship), that we still feel the weight of that sin and think that we must excommunicate ourselves, or we will be drinking judgment upon ourselves.
The truth is, we can fall on our knees, confess every sin we can think of, and even those we cannot, and stand up from that confession, and still have sin in our lives, especially if we stand up and go to the table thinking that we are now somehow worthy of the cup.
The reality is that we are never worthy of the cup. We are coming to the table of grace in grace. We are coming because we are sinners and we need to be fed by our LORD. If we think we can come in a worthy manner, as it is applied in today’s churches, then we are not worthy. We must confess, as the tax collector did: “‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ (Luke 18:10-14)”
Jesus was showing us who those are who are justified. The one who comes in faith, in humility, knowing that he should not even look up to heaven, knowing he should not be at the table. But he goes nonetheless. Why? Because our LORD told us to go. Jesus tells us to take, to eat, to drink, and to go out into the world as His representative.
Notice something else about the tax collector. He didn’t come before God and recite all he knew about soteriology, or the Trinity, or other deep theological understandings. He came, out of obedience, and accepted the reality of who he was, confessing his sin in faith to the Father.
Was there still sin in his life? Probably. But when we come to the table in faith and out of obedience, confessing that we are sinners who are unworthy apart from the righteousness of Christ, then we are made acceptable to join the body of Christ, and dine with our Savior. Our unworthiness is precisely why Christ invites us; the only “worthiness” required is the faith that receives the invitation.
