COMMUNION — OPEN OR CLOSED?
A Dirt Road Devotional
(1 Corinthians 11:28)
“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
There is a lot of discussion among Baptists about communion. Some churches practice open communion. Some practice close communion. Others practice closed communion.
But here is where the Dirt Road gets real simple: before we decide what our church tradition says, we ought to ask what the Bible says.
The Lord’s Supper was given by Jesus to His followers as a remembrance of Him. Paul reminds the church at Corinth of those instructions in 1 Corinthians 11. And when Paul explains how we are to approach the table, he says, “Let a man examine himself.”
That is mighty important.
Paul does not say, “Let the church examine his membership card.”
He does not say, “Let the pastor determine whether he belongs to the right denomination.”
He says, “Let a man examine himself.”
Now, that doesn’t mean communion is something to approach casually. Quite the opposite. Paul warns us that we can partake “unworthily.” The Corinthians had turned something sacred into something selfish and divisive. They were coming together, but they weren’t acting like the body of Christ.
So Scripture gives us some clear principles.
Christ is to be remembered.
His sacrifice is to be proclaimed.
The believer is to examine himself.
The Lord’s Supper is to be treated with reverence.
But here is where we need to be careful: Scripture never plainly says, “Only members of this particular local church may partake.”
That restriction may be part of a church’s policy or tradition, but we should be mighty careful about calling something a biblical command when the Bible doesn’t actually make that command.
I understand why some churches practice closed communion. They want to protect the meaning of the ordinance, maintain church accountability, and preserve doctrinal unity. Those are serious concerns.
But there’s another question we have to ask:
Are we protecting the Lord’s table according to Scripture, or are we protecting our tradition?
There’s a difference.
The Lord’s Supper isn’t a trophy for belonging to the right Baptist church. It’s a remembrance of the One who gave His body and shed His blood for us.
We don’t come to the table because we’re worthy. We come because He is worthy.
And before we eat the bread and drink the cup, Scripture tells us to examine ourselves.
That’s something every believer can understand, whether he sits on the front pew, the back pew, or somewhere down a dirt road.
Don’t put a fence where God didn’t build one, and don’t tear down a fence where God did.
@Sir_Charlsss