The Lost Supper

Why is it that thousands every year pass by our churches on their way to 12 Step programs to seek freedom from various addictions? Why do we refer our emotionally troubled to therapists instead of to fellowship? Is God so short-sighted that He cannot provide a practical healing program for His people, even in this day and age? He did give us a way within the confines of biblical fellowship to maintain our emotional and spiritual well-being, one that is the basis for the popular 12-Step programs: Communion!

Many years ago, I began to wonder why a ceremony that seemed to hold the power of health, life, and death over members of the early church had become to most a 15-20 minute largely lifeless ritual. Through examining the Passovers of Exodus and Christ, the Acts 2 Church, 1 Corinthians 11, I came to find this was the ultimate tool for a believer to “maintain always a clear conscience, both before God and man;” where believers find the power to shatter the darkness of rationalized, un-reconciled, and denied sin; where they can attack the superficiality that is rendering the modern church irrelevant to most. I’ve witnessed hopelessly broken relationships healed, sins and traumas exposed that had been buried for years; even conversions of unbelievers here.

So why aren’t the majority of our churches gleaning these benefits? The keys to a powerful Communion are twofold. While we have the first key down (embracing the love of Jesus), we ignore the second in failing to be obedient to Paul’s instruction to “examine ourselves.” Like a door with a locking doorknob and deadbolt, if you unlock only one the door will not open.

At Moses’ Passover before the Exodus, Jesus with His disciples, and the Church of the Book of Acts, the model was consistently “house to house” with intimate family. Intimacy is critical to any thoughtful self-examination, and thus small group fellowships would be the proper venue. If examining ourselves includes only a few moments of silent confession before God, why are there so many flocking to counseling? James 5:16 tells us the way to healing is to confess our sins to “one another,” and to pray for “one another.” If we haven’t availed ourselves of horizontal, as well as vertical, confession to God can we truly say we have examined ourselves? Fifteen minutes in a large group setting, where no one is going to dare share intimate details of their sinfulness, is an impossible setting for Communion. And yet this unbiblical model is the norm in America.

And self-examination demands that we must get over the notion that the Lord’s Table is about only grace. We must stop truncating our reading of 1 Corinthians 11 at verse 26. Admonishment is critical to shattering hard hearts, as Jesus ministry and words at His Passover so vividly displayed, and the Passover is precisely the place to enter in. Admonishment is also clearly displayed in Paul’s instruction if one dares read all of it. The account of Jesus’ Passover in John 13-17, reveals what I call the perfect balance of “a love to embrace and an admonishment to consider.” We are told that Jesus came to earth “full of grace and truth.” We have over emphasized the grace available in Communion while largely forsaking the truth. One key: locked door.

The Lord’s Table can be our deeply probing periodical spiritual checkup, both before God and man, to discern where un-reconciled sin may exist, but it will only happen if we embrace the love and consider the admonishments of it with courageous leadership, the proper setting, given ample time. Of all the miracles, all the deeds, all the meetings, and all the events Jesus shared with His disciples, He said of this one alone, “I have earnestly desired to do this with you.” Do you feel Jesus’ passion to partake with you in our 15 minute Sunday rituals? Do you feel both His boundless love and the sting of His rebuke? Do you take advantage of both the love and confrontation of your fellowship?

            “The Lost Supper” contains miraculous real-life stories, 12-Step comparisons, and step-by-step instructions for observing a biblical Passover/Communion that will help your small group through this process.