Communion When Seekers are Present

Communion has been a theological battleground for centuries. For today’s working pastors, however, many of the issues surrounding Communion seem more practical than theological. No more so is that true than for churches filled with seekers–those drawn to, but not yet born of, the Spirit.

Seekers may not understand Communion–how to explain it simply? They may want to participate–how to explain your guidelines graciously without seeming too restrictive? How should the bread and the cup be served in the midst of those who have not made that first step of faith?

To get at this answer, I talked with respected pastors from a variety of theological traditions. Their varied answers provide a menu of choices to help better set the Lord’s Table.

SETTING STANDARDS

Dawson Memorial Baptist in Birmingham, Alabama, keeps it simple: Communion is for those who have accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord; the question of who partakes is left to the conscience of the individual.

The issue of who decides who is qualified is a sticking point for other churches, however.

“The Bible doesn’t say how we are to insure that people taking the Lord’s Supper are eating and drinking worthily,” says Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York. “Presbyterians have decided a person shouldn’t be self-accredited. Instead a person should have his or her testimony heard by a church, which will judge whether the profession of faith is credible. People have odd and often deluded understandings of what it means to be a Christian, so others need to check it out.”

In effect this means a person must be baptized or a member of some church, not necessarily theirs, to partake in Communion at Redeemer Presbyterian. “That’s an inference from the Bible,” says Keller, “that I couldn’t prove directly, but we are trying to safeguard the table by telling people they can’t be self-appointed.”

Since all churches require that those who take Communion meet certain conditions, some people present in the service will be excluded from participating. That idea doesn’t always go over well in our broad-minded society. How do church leaders explain that without unnecessarily alienating seekers?

Daniel Brown, pastor of The Coastlands Church in Aptos, California, stresses to the congregation, “It’s the Lord’s Table and not ours. He’s the one who made the bread and cup possible. Anyone who has a relationship with Jesus Christ can partake of Communion. If you don’t have a relationship with Christ, partaking of Communion would be at best a meaningless exercise, and at worst it could be a kind of mockery or sacrilege. If you don’t yet have a relationship with the Lord, just be at ease and wait to partake until you do.”

Churches that emphasize ministry to seekers have a unique challenge. South Coast Community Church has no formal membership; they expect and encourage the presence of not-yet-committed people in their ranks. Therefore they celebrate the Lord’s Table in settings where they expect the family of God to be together, which primarily is their Wednesday night service.

Even so, seekers are present. Pastor Bob Shank explains to the congregation, “Communion is for those who are clear about their relationship with Christ. They have experienced on the inside something they are about to experience on the outside. While the church in most of its meetings is very inclusive, Communion by God’s definition is exclusive.”

SETTING SEEKERS AT EASE

Just because seekers may not be invited to join in Communion, that doesn’t mean they have to feel uncomfortable.

Daniel Brown feels it’s his job to make sure seekers don’t stand out or feel awkward. For example, he will say, “When everybody else in your row stands up to file up to the front, if you stay seated, people will trip over you coming and going. So the best thing for you to do is stand up with everybody else and file up front. If you don’t take any bread when you file past me, I’m not going to say, ‘Hey, buddy, you forgot to take the bread.'” Such comments help disarm seekers.

Gary Fenton, pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, presents Communion to unbelievers as a learning time: “This service is an opportunity to observe and sense the reality behind the symbols.”

Redeemer Presbyterian gives people who are not taking the Lord’s Supper spiritual exercises in the bulletin, skeletal prayers they can use during that time. “We invite everybody to do business with God,” Keller says to the congregation. “We are not excluding anybody. You who are not yet believers should not partake, but we invite you to do business with God.”

During Communion, Bob Shank invites those who are not yet believers to do one of two things: “One, feel completely free not to participate without any sense of being uncomfortable. Or two, recognize that this is a moment when a personal expression of faith can happen for the first time.”

Shank says that Communion can almost be seen as “walking the aisle.” For that reason the church intentionally schedules several Communion services during the year in settings in which seekers will be in attendance, such as at Christmas services.

One hundred or more first-time visitors attend Redeemer Presbyterian every Sunday. At first Tim Keller thought that would present major obstacles to serving the Lord’s Supper.

“I discovered an amazing thing, though,” says Keller. “When the Lord’s Supper comes around, the unbeliever is forced to ask, ‘Where am I?’ Communion is a specific and extremely visible way to see the difference between walking with Christ and living for yourself. The Lord’s Supper confronts people with the questions: Are you right with God today? On which side of the line are you?”

One woman came up to Keller after a service and said, “I’ve been coming here for three months. I thought I was a Christian when I started coming, even though I hadn’t gone to church since I was a little girl. I haven’t come here every week, so somehow I missed other Communion services. When I got here today, I read the things about Communion in the bulletin and realized that I wasn’t sure I was a Christian.”

She decided she wanted to make sure. She gave her life to Christ as the bread and cup were being shared. She participated in Communion and told Keller that she felt her whole life changed.

“I don’t think there’s any more effective way to help a person do a spiritual inventory,” says Keller. “Many seekers in the United States will realize they are non-Christians only during the Lord’s Supper. At our church we may begin doing the Lord’s Supper more often because we’re realizing what a powerful evangelistic tool it is.”

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Craig Brian Larson is a contributing editor to LEADERSHIP.

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