“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.”

Paul shames the Corinthians. They had desecrated the Lord’s Supper; their behavior was reprehensible. They had treated it in “an unworthy manner.” Paul writes as though all of them were guilty. One can imagine him saying to any who objects, “If the sandal fits, wear it.” If you are one of those “whoevers” who treats the Lord’s Supper in this way, then you are guilty!

In today’s world, the reaction to formal ritualism has gone to the extreme so that many Christians approach the things of God rather casually, nonchalantly, to the point that commands of the New Testament are taken as optional requests, from which a person can pick and choose his own pattern of “following Christ.” More often we hear sermons that speak of “God’s invitation” or “His request,” when in fact it is Christ’s command: “Do this…”!

We must remember now that even though all things are lawful (that is, there is no law that we can violate which will cause us to lose our salvation), not all things are profitable (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:23). Profaning the Lord’s Supper is one of those “unprofitable” things. The Lord takes this command quite seriously, and we should as well.

It is expected that if we understand “Christ and Him crucified,” then we will remember the Lord with “gladness and sincerity of heart” as the first believers did (Acts 2:46). But time often brings callousness, and we easily forget the profound truth central to our salvation and instead our focus turns inward.  That was the Corinthians’ problem. And that’s our problem when we don’t discipline ourselves to keep Christ and Him crucified central to our lives. And that is why we need to be devoted to “breaking of the bread” like the early church (Acts 2:42). In Paul’s teaching, the essential elements of the meal were not for the culinary or gastronomic value, but the symbol of the bread and drink.

So, yes, Christians are guilty when they disregard what our Lord Jesus Christ has explicitly told us to do. Nothing could be more explicit in all of the NT.  It is difficult to understand why so many churches relegate “communion” to once a month, once every quarter, or even once a year. Others hold it as a sacrament, way out of proportion to Jesus’ intention. Both errors are “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” Jesus simply commanded it as a remembrance of Him, and it should therefore take a high priority in our church life and our personal life. Is that too difficult?

Lord, I want to remember You, and I need the symbols of bread and wine every week to help me do that.