The year was 2011. 

During a worship service at OGC, a buddy of mine passed over the communion table during the Lord’s Supper. At lunch, I asked him why.

“I don’t know. I just feel like my heart wasn’t right with the Lord – I’d been sinning a lot this week and felt ashamed to take communion.”

At the time, I was at the peak of my Calvinism cage stage and had all the comforting power of Job’s friends, so we moved on to another subject with the subtext of “Well, I guess try again next time.”

The thing is, he was repentant of his sin and had a gentle and contrite spirit. So from where were both of our incorrect assumptions about communion coming?

Strong Language and Deep-Seated Misconceptions

The Heidelberg Catechism (and our confession, incidentally) spends a lot of time talking about the Lord’s Supper.

I believe this is because the doctrine is so prone to error in the Church. 

Here’s one of the questions we’ll be confessing next Sunday (emphasis added):

Q & A 81

Q: Who should come

to the Lord’s table?

A: Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins,

but who nevertheless trust

that their sins are pardoned

and that their remaining weakness is covered

by the suffering and death of Christ,

and who also desire more and more

to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life.

Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however,

eat and drink judgment on themselves. ¹

¹ 1 Cor. 10:19-22; 11:26-32

Indeed, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:19-22 that “Whoever… eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”

He continues, “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

But what is this judgment? What does it mean to eat and drink unworthily? Perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t it mean?

In this article, I want to address three common misconceptions about the Lord’s Supper:

1. What it means to partake in an unworthy manner
2. What it means to eat and drink judgment on ourselves
3. Why the Lord’s Supper is not the same as “leaving a sacrifice at the altar”

What Does Unworthy Mean?

We can find some clues to what Paul has in view by examining the attitude and heart posture of the “unworthy drinkers” in the Corinthian church. 

They were:

• Flippant and cavalier - many in the church were not waiting for the other members of the church before partaking, thus defeating the entire purpose of how communion is designed to unite the body of believers together and to Christ. Others were going so far as to get drunk on the communion wine.

• Partaking in ignorance and without faith - others treated communion as any other worldly gathering, either as a way to get free food or as a way to garner social capital with the community.

• Humiliating those with less - Paul says, “one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk… Do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?” (11:21-22) Dr. Zachary Cole writes, “The most likely scenario in this situation is that those who had means, resources, and flexible schedules (i.e., the rich) were going ahead and enjoying their meals while those without (i.e., the poor) were going hungry, being humiliated, and being left behind.”

• Unrepentantly self-righteous -  Based on how irreverently the Corinthian church approached other aspects of worship and spiritual gifts, we can infer that some were coming to the table in an ungodly way with the attitude of earning grace, or even celebrating one’s own entitlement to grace, instead of receiving grace. This self-righteous attitude can lead individuals to approach the Lord's Supper as a mere ritual or a badge of their spiritual superiority rather than a humble means of grace. By doing so, they undermine the very essence of the sacrament, which is a reminder of our utter dependence on Christ's sacrifice and a symbol of our unity with Him and each other. It is because of this Paul says, “It is not the Lord’s supper you are eating.” (11:20)

If I were to sum up these errors in one phrase, it would be celebrating worldly status rather than the grace of Jesus.

Some of us go too far in the other direction. Our self-examination quickly turns to self-flagellation for our sin, and before long, we take the path of my old friend and forsake the grace of the Lord’s Supper altogether. 

But this isn’t humility. Both this attitude and the self-righteous one of the Corinthians are rooted in the same error – believing our efforts earn us the right to partake in the table.

So when Paul says “unworthy,” he’s not referring to the moral failings of the partaker but rather how they partake. Or perhaps even more to the point, why they partake.

As a general rule, the mere fact that you’re engaging in godly self-examination is a sign that you should absolutely partake in the table –  so long as you’re using it to see your need for Jesus rather than to gauge your own status compared to others.

A Judgment Leading to Repentance

We can’t escape the strong language of these unworthy participants “eating and drinking judgment on themselves.” 

So what’s going on here?

Cole writes, “... those who partake of the Supper must “discern the body” (11:29), which obviously includes having solemn respect for the sacrament itself, but also means more. Just a moment ago [Paul] stated: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (10:17).

So, the bread in the Supper symbolizes the unity of the body of Christ, which is violated and mocked when the less fortunate are neglected. This is why many in the congregation are sick and some have died (11:30).”

Paul draws a direct causal link between their unworthy drinking and many of them falling ill and dying. The “judgment” Paul mentions in this passage is not an eternal condemnation but a temporal judgment God gave to bring their congregation to repentance.

This is why it’s the responsibility of the communion officiants to “fence the table.”

That is, to correct the ignorance of those who may be tempted to drink unworthily and provide the same warning that the Holy Spirit gives us – that eating and drinking in a careless, faithless, or selfish way may very well incur the discipline of God in our lives.

As a sacrament, communion is meant to assure us of the gospel it signifies. It is not a time for doubting the sufficiency of God’s grace or wondering if we’re “measuring up” to earn our ability to receive it. 

Also, it’s worth mentioning that unworthy partakers usually don’t just come out of nowhere. They’re often formed due to a lack of pastoral care and catechesis (instruction in Christian doctrine).

This is why we take seriously things like the Heidelberg Catechism in worship and our Ecclesiology and Sacraments class we just wrapped up in Equipping Hour. 

All this is to say that if a wavering believer with a guilty conscience partakes in the Lord’s Supper, they’re not imparting eternal condemnation onto themselves. 

If anything, a wavering believer with a guilty conscience (much like my friend) is the one who needs the spiritual nourishment of the Lord’s Supper the most. 

Not a Sacrifice But a Gift of God

In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus says, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

I’ve heard many Christian voices draw a straight line between this and the Lord’s Supper, claiming the same requirement for those who can participate in communion.

But there are many significant differences between Jesus’ excerpt here and the institution of the Lord’s supper. 

Firstly, there is no clear reason in Scripture for us to link these two doctrines together. One is a sacrifice, the other is  Secondly, and most importantly, Protestant Christians believe the Lord’s Supper is not a sacrifice or gift we offer God but a gift we receive from Him.

I’ve been in seasons where I’ve been in long-standing conflict with other believers. The truth is, some things aren’t resolved in a day (or a week, or a month). But I’ve also been deeply repentant of my sin and desperate for grace from the Lord.

Both of these things can be true.

In fact, it may be the grace the Lord imparts from the table that our souls need to strengthen us to pursue reconciliation zealously.

Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

If you take away one thing from this article, it’s that communion is a gift for sinners. It is spiritual nourishment for those who are hungry and cleansing for those who are dirty.

Starving beggars don’t consider whether or not they’re worthy of the food offered to them. In the same way, those weary from sin and thirsty for Christ need not hesitate to drink deeply from the Fountain of living water. 

As Robert Jackson told me when we discussed this, “We don’t clean ourselves up to go to Jesus; we go to Jesus to get clean.”

If I could go back in time and sit with my discouraged friend again, I’d probably just quote to him the following verse from that sweet song of assurance we sang last Sunday:

Let not conscience make you linger

Nor of fitness fondly dream

All the fitness He requires

Is to feel your need of Him