Question
he leaders in this congregation is unsure about allowing non-Christians to partake of the Lord’s supper. At the moment the men in this congregation feels it is unscriptural and this has offended a few ladies in the congregation who has threatened to leave the church because of this. This church has always allowed non-Christians to partake at the Lord’s table and it is only recently that the men felt it was wrong.
Answer
I’m sorry you are having this problem. However, after studying the scriptures relating to the Lord’s Supper, I see no justification for stopping anyone who wants to from partaking. In 1 Corinthian’s 11, Paul clearly states it is up to the individual to decide if he or she is worthy to partake of the Lord’s memorial:
27 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. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
Certainly it doesn’t do a non-Christian any good to partake of the Lord’s Supper. However, no where does the Bible instruct members of the church to prohibit non-Christians from partaking. In fact, the only instructions concerning the partaking of the Lord’s memorial (1 Cor. 11:27-29, quoted above) tell us that every person who wishes to partake must decide whether he or she is worthy to do so.
Based on this passage, Paul tells us that we are all individually responsible only for ourselves. He does not say to prevent anyone from partaking, only that those who do so in an unworthy manner, such as a non-Christian would be doing, are “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”
When a church comes together on the 1st day of the week, we try to do just what the New Testament church did. According to Acts 20:8, they broke bread. There is no mention of who partook and who didn’t, only that they did it.
The church today offers the Lord’s Supper even as they did. Then, according to 1 Corinthians 11, each of us must decide if we are worthy to partake. If we are unworthy, whether a Christian or not, God judges us. No where does the Bible instruct us to try to judge anyone else’s heart.
By Gary Hunt
