Letter To Laodicea (part 69)

Looking at Paul’s discourse concerning the communion in this way, in the larger context of what precedes it in the eleventh chapter and in consideration of the general tone of the letter, while also holding on to the reality of a general and public reading to the group, rather than an individual and private reading, prompts us towards a better way of coming to terms with what follows.  The twenty-seventh verse reads “For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (11:27).  When isolated from what prompted Paul to write about that which he had received from the Lord, this verse prompts all types of interesting thoughts concerning what it means to take in an unworthy manner.  When one goes on to hear “A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup” (11:28), an even larger range of potential interpretations come into view. 

In fact, it is proof-texting that almost immediately comes into view, and accordingly, a statement from what is presented as Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, that of “Put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (13:5a) is brought into service, so as to aid the unsure reader of the first letter in their comprehension.  That won’t do at all, of course, as ideas communicated in the second letter would have zero bearing on the way the hearers of the first letter are to understand Paul’s directions.  Nevertheless, herein lies much controversy, as rightly introspective Christians grapple with what it means to examine take the bread or cup in an unworthy manner, or what it means to examine oneself, in light of the fact that Paul continues on to write “For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.  That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead” (11:29-30). 

Naturally, judgment, weakness, sickness, and death are to be avoided.  Unfortunately, large numbers of Christians, down through the centuries, have not only looked at the words of these verses and attempted to understand them in isolation from the larger picture into which they are painted, they have also looked at them from within the overarching idea that the goal of the Christian life is simply to achieve heaven and avoid hell.  Therefore, words such as “guilty” and “judgment” are associated with the proverbial and everlasting fires of hell.  In addition, individualistic concerns and notions of personal salvation, and the corollaries of heaven and hell (as salvation and judgment) have further colored the interpretation in a way that would not have been in the minds of Paul’s original hearers, especially if they had already been well-instructed by him in the fundamentals of all that was implied by the kingdom of heaven, and by concepts such as justification (the means by which one enters into the kingdom of heaven). 

If personal concerns are at the fore, then attempts taken to determine what it would mean to take the elements in an unworthy manner, along with an examination of self, juxtaposed with the irrelevant notion of examining oneself to see if one is in the faith, generally devolves into an idea that sins must be confessed before taking communion, so that the participant will then be worthy to receive the body and blood.  Conversely, some would declare that this type of self-examination is precisely not what is to take place, as it puts the focus on one’s own self, rather than on Jesus, and that Paul is indicating that the focus must be on Jesus, with the bread and the cup acting as useful symbols that allow such a focus to be maintained.  Therefore, in a strange twist, it is declared that confession of personal sins in order to become worthy is that which makes one unworthy, as doing so is nothing more than attempting to work towards one’s salvation, and is therefore a denial of grace, which is ultimately a denial of Jesus. 

Beyond that, semantics and grammar are brought into play, and it is declared that proper understanding is had when one sees that “unworthy” is not the word that is used, but rather “unworthily,” which then makes all the difference in the world.  Now, this is not the place to delve into whether or not the proper word is the adjective, unworthy, or the adverb, unworthily, and then basing an entire communion methodology upon what is implied by the differences between the two.  Getting focused on such a thing would seem to miss the point either way, as determining if one is supposed to be focusing on self and sins as opposed to Jesus and His sacrifice, may be an unwarranted flight into a disconnected and individualized spiritualization in the realm of personal concern and the final destination of one’s eternal soul.  This would be another instance of losing focus on the larger movement and forgetting the environment into which Paul writes and the concerns that he is raising and addressing within this entire section that runs as one unit from at least the seventeenth verse through the thirty-fourth verse, while also failing to consider the very real and known situation that would be readily identified by Paul’s intended hearers.  Quite frankly, though the thoughts and actions of individual persons are in view here, it seems clear, based on the way that Paul has introduced the specific topic of communion, as well as what follows (verses twenty-seven through thirty-four), that it is the actions of this church as a group---as a body---that is the concern, and the demand that is placed upon us is to see, hear, and understand the situation in this way.  The same will hold true for any conclusions to be drawn from the letter to Laodicea.