By Matt Haste
What do we believe?
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is given to believers to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ and to anticipate His glorious return.
Why do we believe this?
1 Corinthians 10:16-22 – The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Why does it matter?
Our church celebrates the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis because it is one of the primary means that God has given to us to commemorate the death of Christ and consider its implications for our life. 1 Corinthians 10 reminds us that what we celebrate reveals our allegiance.
In first-century Corinth, the church was surrounded by pagans who made food offerings to their false gods. Because these gods were mere idols, the food was unconsumed and the leftovers were routinely eaten afterwards. Paul’s point in this passage is that Christians ought not to eat this food because those who do are “participants with demons” (v20). He is not so much saying that “you are what you eat” but rather, “you become what you celebrate.” Paul’s concern was that eating food offered to idols during pagan celebrations would confuse Christians and muddy their allegiance. To put it another way, he didn’t want the church to waste its celebration on anything less than Jesus.
When we take the Lord’s Supper, we celebrate his death and declare our allegiance to His glory. This passage reminds us that we must be careful what we celebrate in life. Do you think of the Lord’s Supper as a celebration of what Jesus has done? Are there other things you celebrate more than your salvation?