Many Christian denominations teach that Christians should not share in the Lord’s Supper with non-believers and/or Christians from other denominations. We do not share that understanding and here are a few reasons why:
- One of the most frequent ways that Jesus touched the lives of others was by participating in dinner parties. He went out of his way to show that EVERYONE was invited to his dinners – including “sinners and tax-collectors,” who the ancient Jews considered the worst people. The Pharisees expressed their displeasure when Jesus ate with these kinds of people, but Jesus just kept on doing it. When Jesus sent his disciples out to minister, he instructed them to eat with whoever invited them to dinner and to eat whatever was given to them (Luke 10:7). This would have been a revolutionary thing for a Jewish teacher to say, because other Jews were very careful about only eating “kosher” foods according to Jewish cleanliness laws. Jesus told his followers to follow his own example and be willing to eat “unclean” food with supposedly “unclean” people!
- Even at the Lord’s Supper itself, Jesus invited Judas and ate with him – knowing full well that Judas would betray him in the next few hours!
- The Apostle Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 11 that we must take the Lord’s Supper very seriously. In the context of the Bible’s teaching on covenant relationship, it seems that both Jesus and Paul understood the Lord’s Supper to be the “sign of the New Covenant” itself. Yet, when you read what Paul was concerned about, it wasn’t that they were eating with non-Christians. Rather, he was upset that the wealthy people were eating and drinking too much and weren’t sharing with the poorer people.
And so, throughout the New Testament there is a strong theme of being willing to eat with anyone in order to love and build relationships with them and impact them for the Kingdom. And there is no teaching that says not to include non-believers in the Lord’s Supper.
However, all that being said, it is still true that the Lord’s Supper is the sacred “sign” of the New Covenant. And so, whenever it is celebrated, Christians need to be very clear as to its purpose and meaningfulness. If a non-Christian is present, they should be told very clearly WHAT this special symbolic meal is and WHY Christians celebrate it. They should be clear that the very meaning of the meal together is as a celebration and remembrance of Jesus’ love for them and his life given for them. At this point, it would be up to the non-Christian to decide whether they want to share in that meal, now that they know its meaning. In a sense, it becomes one way of sharing the gospel message with that person.
Recommended Resources
- “The Lord’s Supper Debate” in Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology by Greg Boyd and Paul Eddy
- The Lord’s Supper: Believers Church Perspectives edited by Dale Stoffer
