"The Lord's Supper" / Gordon T. Smith

Just finished reading The Lord’s Supper: Five Views edited by Gordon T. Smith.  It features five views of what our Church calls “communion”. The five views represented are Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, and Pentecostal. The format of the book allows a spokesperson of each viewpoint to write an essay and then have the other four writers give a short critique.

I found this book helpful for clearing up misconceptions about the various views. There is in each view a passion on a certain aspect of the Lord’s Supper that I can appreciate. However, the passion is, in many of the views, the very thing that causes division over what was ordered by God to be a unifying experience.

As with most disagreements there is usually some truth in each side. People generally aren’t that stupid and the angle for their view often has merit. That being said, it breaks my heart to see Christians denying fellow brothers and sisters in Christ the opportunity to share in the Lord’s Supper.

Coming from a Pentecostal perspective, I believe the bread and the “wine” are symbols that when shared through obedience and faith becomes a meaningful experience by which the presence of the Spirit points to the past, present, and future work of Christ. This pointing to Christ isn't just an intellectual exercise, but an experiential one where Christ's presence by His Spirit, impacts us not only on a personal level, but also on a corporate level. In this process our being (both personal [mind, soul, and strength] and corporate [unified body of Christ]) is nourished in Christ. In doing this we experience Christ’s reality and power. In doing this we remember and proclaim His death. In doing this we are humbled before Christ and one another.

I don't have time to reflect on all the views presented, but I did think it important to note that Catholics do not believe that the bread and wine actually change physical properties to become Christ's actual flesh and blood. They prefer to describe it like this, "Externally, the bread and wine retain their appearance even after consecration. Yet at the same time the whole Christ is sacramentally present in them--the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity." (p.17). Because the whole Christ is present in the Lord's Supper (as far as Catholics believe), Catholics see the Lord's Supper as the source and summit of the Christian life, because the Lord's Supper re-presents the very Christ. It's easy to see why Catholics get criticized by other streams of the Christian faith as this view makes the Lord's Supper look like another appearance/need for Jesus to again do the work He did on the cross, instead of pointing to His once-and-for-all work on Calvary. It's often interpreted as idolatry (the elements are looked upon as divine). Catholics will argue that this is not what they believe, but it is easy to see how the optics and language of their practice make it look otherwise. My summary is not sufficient so if you want a greater look, buy the book.

This is a good book for those in, or interested in, pastoral ministry. It’s a quick and fun read.