The Lord’s Supper

By Tim Boyd

November 2010

I want to continue the series on Baptist distinctives that I began earlier this year by focusing on our beliefs about the Lord’s Supper. According to B. H. Carroll, “ The Supper is a festival observed by the church as a body, and commemorates the atoning death of our Lord and anticipates his second advent.”

Early in the history of the church, the Lord’s Supper became a focal point for worship and emphasis. With that focus came doctrinal aberration. By the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Lord’s Supper was thought to be a source of grace with the actual body of Christ present in the bread and cup.

Many Protestant reformers had difficulty divorcing themselves of these false ideas. Luther continued to maintain a doctrine of the “real” presence of the body of Christ in the elements. The Church of England also maintained this idea. Calvin promoted the idea of a “spiritual” presence, which promoted grace in the believer.

Baptists, however, have seen the Lord’s Supper as an ordinance not a sacrament. We have insisted upon the idea of a totally symbolic meal. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper to “remember” the body and blood of Christ.

We have been criticized for degrading the Lord’s Supper by this theology. But I would assert that we have actually elevated Christ by the way in which we celebrate. Our focus in the Lord’s Supper is not on the elements but upon Christ, Himself.

Rather than seeing the “presence” of Christ in the elements, we believe that the elements point to the spiritual reality of the bruised, broken, bloody Christ who died for our sins, was raised for our justification, and will return to glorify His church.

We (most of us anyway) agree that this ordinance is a commemorative meal not a vehicle of grace.

One of the greatest areas of disagreement among Baptists over the Supper has been the question of closed or “close” communion and open communion. “Close” communion means that only those who belong to a local congregation can participate in the Supper. This practice reflects a strong emphasis in Baptist life on the autonomy and independence of the local church. Thus, the Supper is only for the local body.

Open communion sees the Supper as a celebration of worship for all believers who are present when the Supper is celebrated. This practice reflects a conviction among some Baptists that the Supper was given to the whole church and is a time of fellowship among like-minded believers. Thus, the Supper is for the larger church not just the local congregation.

The latter position has been my personal practice during my entire ministry. Open communion is the predominant practice among Southern Baptists today, although there is still a strong tradition of “close” communion in some areas of the SBC.

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