The Lord's Supper and Me
When you get what you want in your struggle for self, and the world makes you king for a day, just go to the mirror and look at yourself, and see what that man has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or wife, who judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life is the one staring back from the glass.
Some people may think you a straight-shootin' chum and call you a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum if you can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest, for he's with you clear up to the end.
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test, if the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years and get pats on the back as you pass. But your final reward will be heartache and tears if you've cheated the man in the glass.
Concerning the Lord's Supper, Paul told us to examine ourselves and partake of the Supper in a worthy manner. In self-examination, we must control our thoughts and think about the proper things while communing with the Lord. You can't fool the man in the glass! But, what does it mean?
Of particular interest for this article are the words in I Corinthians 11:27-32. “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.” (verse 27). The Lord’s Supper must not be a haphazard event. Just partaking of the emblems is not enough. The text states that there is a proper manner of partaking that we must recognize.
The manner of partaking is further emphasized in verse 28, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” The proper manner of partaking includes an examination of oneself.
Skip verse 29 and consider verse 30. “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” The manner in which we examine ourselves is so important that the Christians in Corinth were called “weak and sick”. They also were sleepy! Can we even imagine that Paul was talking about a physical condition? Doesn’t it make more sense that he was addressing a spiritual problem?
Furthermore, Paul states that the proper observance of the Supper will help us avoid being judged. “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.” It makes sense to me to connect our examination of ourselves with judging ourselves. When we do this properly, we will not need to be chastened by the Lord and condemnation with the world will not be on the horizon.
Now consider verse 29. "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” Here is the pivot point of the passage. Our examination and judgment of ourselves as well as the avoidance of the condemnation that the world will face hinges on the phrase “not discerning the Lord’s body.”
Now consider this. Ephesians 1:22-23 records, “And He (the Father) put all things under His (Jesus’) feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” If the Church is the body of Christ, is Paul instructing us to discern the Church during the Lord’s Supper? Is he telling us to examine ourselves and to judge ourselves with respect to our place and involvement in the body?
— Mike Johnson
