OPEN OR CLOSED COMMUNION?

When visitors attend our periods of worship on the Lord’s Day, they quickly observe that we partake of the Lord’s Supper as a part of our worship to God. Some ask, “How often do you partake of the Lord’s Supper?” The answer is that we partake of it on the first day of every week” (Acts 20:7). Another question is, “Do you practice open or closed communion?” That is an interesting question. The fact is the Bible does not use such terms. It becomes necessary therefore to inquire from the Word of God who may and who may not participate in the Lord’s Supper. The apostle Paul, in addressing this particular subject in his first epistle to the church in Corinth wrote, “So let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (11:28). Thus, the participation in the communion of the Lord is a very personal matter. In the churches of Christ, there are no brethren standing by to inform people who may or who may not eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine. That responsibility is not in the realm of decision making by the church leaders. It is an individual matter. In this sense, the church of the Lord does not practice ‘open or closed communion’. Each person must decide for himself. However, we must not construe this answer to mean that all commune with the Lord when they partake of the bread and of the fruit of the vine. To eat of the supper and commune with the Lord can and may be two different matters. Merely because an individual goes through the physical act of eating and drinking the elements does not necessarily mean he has actually communed with the Lord. The apostle Paul stated that the man who does not discern the Lord’s body “eats and drinks judgment to himself” (11:29). He also said, “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (11:27). For example, one may be a hypocrite during the week, eat the Lord’s Supper on Sunday and never commune with his Lord. An individual may harbor hatred in his heart or have his mind centered on carnal matters while eating the supper and never commune with the Lord. Instead, this individual brings guilt and judgment upon his very soul. Furthermore, a person who has never been “born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5) cannot truly commune with the Lord in the supper though he may eat the bread and drink of the cup. When Jesus instituted the supper, he mentioned that he would “not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). The “church of God” that was in Corinth was instructed as to how they should partake of the supper in an acceptable manner (I Corinthians 11:23-29). Therefore, he that is not in the kingdom/church cannot possibly commune with the Lord even though he may eat the bread and drink of the cup. This avenue of worship is a spiritual one. This wonderful privilege is for the Christian, the child of God, the member of the body of Christ, a citizen of the kingdom of God. It must be understood that the person who is not in the right spiritual relationship with God cannot truly commune with the Lord even though he may physically partake of the supper.