The Communion Divide

Christians are divided over a variety of doctrines. Some people will argue and demand agreement over the most minor of points (doctrinal sectarianism). Others will allow any belief to exist in order to promote unity (doctrinal minimalism). And then there is the spectrum of people in between those two extremes. What is needed is some “theological triage”, where it is determined which doctrines are critical, which are important, which are less important, and which are unimportant. However, even then, different people will treat different doctrines differently, so what might be considered a critical doctrine by one would be considered less important by another.

Today, I believe, there are two big doctrines that divide people into many denominations. They are Baptism and Holy Communion (Lord’s Supper or Eucharist). 500 years ago during the Reformation, it was Holy Communion that prevented Protestants from uniting. (The anabaptists were few in number so baptism was not an issue like it is today.) We are going to take a look at the 5 major ways Christians view Holy Communion. Note I believe Holy Communion is an important doctrine, but a right understanding of Holy Communion is not critical for salvation.

I am Lutheran and because of that I am going to explain what theologically conservative (confessional) Lutherans believe and why. (At least how I understand it.) And we will compare that with the other 4 ways of looking at Holy Communion. You should expect some Lutheran taint since that is where I am coming from.

Let us look at what the Bible says, because it is the authority (the only authority for conservative Lutherans). Here is what Matthew 26:26-29 says:

²⁶Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ²⁷And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸for this is my blood of the^[^c^] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

For context see Matthew 26. There are also accounts in Mark and Luke and in 1 Corinthians. All four accounts are pretty much the same. The one important phrase missing from the Matthew account is “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19b). That phrase is found in the Luke and 1 Corinthians accounts.

Conservative Lutherans take the phrases “this is my body” and “this is my blood” literally. There is no scripture to suggest that the phrases only represent the body and blood. Lutherans believe that Jesus’ body and blood are physically present. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches also believe in the real physical presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. The Reformed Church (and Presbyterian Church) believe that Jesus is present in the bread and wine, but the body and blood are passed to the communicant in a spiritual manner. And the other belief of churches (hereafter referred to as Baptist) is that bread and wine only represent the body and blood.

Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ physically exists in, with, and under the bread and wine. So both, bread and wine and body and blood, are present as described in 1 Corinthians 10:16, which says “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” Roman Catholics believe that the bread and wine are changed into Christ’s body and blood while retaining the form of bread and wine. It is called Transubstantiation and uses some Aristotelian philosophy to define Transubstantiation. Eastern Orthodox has not doctrinally defined Holy Communion. It just calls it a mystery that bread and wine are turned into the body and blood.

Lutherans also believe that the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus’ death on the cross is given to us in Holy Communion (Matthew 26:28). The Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox

Churches also believe that the forgiveness of sins is found in Holy Communion. The Reformed Church sees Holy Communion as providing spiritual nourishment. The Baptist belief sees Holy Communion as only a remembrance of Christ’s death.

Conservative Lutherans also practice close or closed communion. This means that not all are welcome at the communion table. The scripture from 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 says

²⁷Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Holy Communion is serious stuff. One can eat and drink to their harm (v. 27, 29). One should also examine themselves (v. 28) before partaking of Holy Communion. That is why for Lutherans practice close/closed communion. Holy Communion is only for Christians who recognize that they are sinners in need of the sacrament and are willing with the help of the Holy Spirit to change their lives. They also need to recognize that the body and blood of Christ is present in the bread and wine (v. 27). Conservative Lutherans also believe there is a need for doctrinal unity/fellowship (Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:17).

It is out of pastoral concern that close/closed communion is practiced, so that no harm is caused. Some Lutheran pastors will only commune those they know. Many will commune only those in the same denomination that they are in. And others allow for more leeway, asking only those who believe what the Lutherans believe to commune.

All of the five different beliefs, whether open or closed communion beliefs, believe that Holy Communion is meant for Christians. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox also practice closed communion. Other denominations may or may not practice closed communion, even some Baptists practice close communion. However, most Protestant churches practice open communion, where they allow anyone to participate in Holy Communion.

In my very limited experience, these differences of closed communion has been the most offensive to other Christians. As Christians they are offended to not be able to share communion with their Lutheran brother as part of a united body of Christ. So where does this fall on the spectrum of doctrinal minimalism to doctrinal sectarianism. I do not know. It appears that the more theologically conservative you are the more likely you lean toward doctrinal sectarianism. I personally believe in the idea of closed communion, but I don’t want to end up as a sectarian. I want to allow for a broad view of Christianity with differing beliefs within the Christian boundaries, while holding strongly to my beliefs. That is why I am interested in “theological triage”.

Note there is a lot more that can be said about Holy Communion and the differences in belief, but I believe this is a decent summary.

Four Acts of Love in Action

From the last post we learned of four acts of love, Radical Hospitality, Fearless Conversation, Genuine Humility, and Divine Anticipation. What do these acts look like in the real world? These four acts will help you to show God’s love to others by letting God’s love to flow through you. To start you first should pray. Pray that your heart would be one full of love. Pray that you would show them respect and acceptance. Pray that you would notice the opportunities that God is placing in front of you in the conversation.

Radical Hospitality is welcoming people just as they are. Accepting the person does not mean you have to endorse their lifestyle, beliefs, behavior, or decisions. Ask God to give you the heart and eyes of Jesus when you meet a person. To show hospitality you need to seek out and build relationships. Let people know you are thinking of them. Note relationships and unconditional love take time, so be consistent. You build relationships by treating people with courtesy and respect. Let your words be good and helpful, an encouragement. Remember to forgive people, again and again. Relationships are messy, so expect surprises and disappointments. When in doubt, let love find a way. Smile! It makes a positive difference.

Fearless Conversation is a dialogue, which means you don’t lecture, rather you mostly listen and ask questions. Note it is also fearless, so that means we should not be afraid of having an open conversation. If you lose control of the conversation that is okay. Do not get defensive. Do not be afraid for God is with you. Always love the person you are conversing with. Sharing both ways can build a friendship. Listening, truly listening, is very important. Have an open mind and ask wondering questions. You can do that by starting the question with “I wonder”, “Could it be”, or “Some people say”. Asking questions is powerful. It is good to notice what people are really saying and doing. Pray often! Tell your own story and be personal. Be willing to admit that you don’t have all the answers and that you too have questions. Invite others to meet your friend Jesus. Be interested in people and their stories. Be willing to be vulnerable. Create a safe environment for discussion and disagreement to take place. Fearless conversation takes time. Don’t be afraid to ask the unexpected question. Remember you are seeking to understand the other person. Trust the Holy Spirit to work in the conversation. Use scripture and let scripture speak for itself. Encourage, thank, complement, and affirm people. Use direct communication. Ask permission for prayer and sharing.

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but it is thinking of yourself less” (C. S. Lewis). Jesus humbled himself for us (Phillipians 2:6-11). Genuine humility is relational: meeting people where they are at; being open to learn from others; and being willing to admit mistakes. Communicate in an open, clear, straightforward manner. Being humble can put you out of your comfort zone, and you may not end up in control of the conversation. Humility is wrapped in love and in serving others. We need to be truly present and paying attention when talking with people. Give them your undivided attention. Look them in the eye. Ask questions to clarify what is being said. Be intentional about relationships. Nurture the relationships. Be intentional about being with others. Be open to meet the person where they are at. Work on building trust and honesty rather than solving a problem. Let your loving presence infect those around you. Be vulnerable in your relationships. Let people know that you are thinking of them. Be authentic. Do not merely tolerate people but accept them. Be willing to say you have questions too. You do not have all the answers. Let your actions speak for themselves. Let the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control) speak for you. Seek to understand the other person. Be gracious and forgiving. Pray for even your enemies and leave the rest to God. Remember God is in control.

God is at work in our daily lives. Are we looking for or anticipating his actions? That is Divine Anticipation. God is here ready to connect with you in a fresh way. Since God is actively at work, we need to trust the Holy Spirit to do his work. Most of the time the supernatural is camouflaged in the natural. Remember that God’s mighty power is at work in and through us. God is relevant to everyone. Addressing the concerns of people is being relevant. Expect God to be showing up. You just don’t know when he will appear. He is the one in control. Trust that God will do what only God can do. We need to tell others our story in an authentic and natural way. Tell them what God is doing in our own lives and in the lives of others. People will express their faith in their own way. Look for God sightings (i.e. God working in your life). Go ahead and embrace your weaknesses. God can work through your weaknesses. Have a soft heart and be open to God’s action. Help people connect the dots and point them to Jesus and the cross. Be a safe place and welcome other people’s spiritual encounters. God can do some amazing things. Trust God and realize that you don’t know what God is up to. Pray! Pray! Pray! God always wants to be connected to you. You need to slow down, be still, pray, and listen to God by reading the Bible daily. Let the biblical truths sink in again and again. And be thankful in all things. It is good for you and being thankful makes us mindful of God’s presence.

When you do the four acts of love, be a regular person like Jesus, who got dirty in the details of life. Our job is to be a matchmaker. We connect people with Jesus. Remember God is the one who saves people, and he is the one in control. So don’t be afraid. Fear is your worst enemy.

Most of this information is from the book “Why Nobody Wants to be Around Christians Anymore” by Thom and Joani Schultz (2014).

Four Acts of Love

With all that has happened in the last week from the tragic death of George Floyd to the protests and to the riots, I debated whether to postpone or rewrite this post. But I believe that all that has happened has only confirmed the message of this post. It is not only a toxic online environment (discussed in the following paragraph) but the toxicity flows through everyday life. Though I am leaving the post as is, consider how in your life, in your conversations, and even in your thoughts to put into action the 4 acts of love listed below. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the messed up church at Corinth, “Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14), so we should strive to do that. Then the healing can begin.

There is a toxic environment online. It seems to me, many people want to demonize the opposing view and those people with it. This usually seems to happen in political social media posts. Conversation, dialogue, and civility are missing. It is very much a “us versus them” environment with the “I am right and you are so very wrong” as the prevailing attitude. It is not a friendly environment. How do we change that?

I believe we change it with love. Christians know that God loves us and wants each one of us. Our job is to love others. Our lives are a witness of his love, and we need to share that love. Note true love comes from God. If love is self sourced it ends up being about one’s self, and that is not really love. I believe to change this toxic environment, we need to practice the 4 acts of love in the table below.

When people say …	Imagine Jesus saying …	Christians practice …
“I feel judged.”	“You’re welcome just as you are.”	Radical Hospitality
“I don’t want to be lectured. You don’t care what I think.”	“Your thoughts are welcome; your doubts are welcome.”	Fearless Conversation
“Church people are a bunch of hypocrites.”	“We’re all in this together.”	Genuine Humility
“Your God is irrelevant to my life.”	“God is here, ready to connect with you a fresh way.”	Divine Anticipation

Radical hospitality is about being welcoming to even your enemies. You do not have to agree with their ideas, lifestyle, or talk, but welcoming acceptance and respect of them as a person is one way to show them God’s love. There is no need to judge, rather there is an opportunity to dialogue and build a relationship.

Fearless conversation is about sharing and conversing without fear. There needs to be a lot of listening with questions asked to understand each other. The welcoming respect of the person allows one to not worry about the conversation. Be natural, authentic, and humble because God has this. There is nothing for you to prove.

Genuine humility means you can be yourself. You can be vulnerable, because we are all in this together. Humility is not defined as one’s shortcomings or by self depreciation. It does not involve comparing yourself to others. There is no judging. Rather “True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but it is thinking of yourself less” (C. S. Lewis). Genuine humility is relational: meeting people where they are at; being open to learn from others; and being willing to admit mistakes.

Divine anticipation is recognizing that God is at work in our daily lives, and anticipating the work that God is doing around us and through us. Don’t be afraid. Tell your story in an authentic and natural way. Just love them and let God work. And remember to pray. God is ready to connect with you and with them.

Toxic environments can be overcome with love. Most of this information is from the book “Why Nobody Wants to be Around Christians Anymore” by Thom and Joani Schultz (2014).

Christian Worldview

What do you believe? Though 65% of Americans say they are Christian (Pew Research, 2019; https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/), I believe that most of them view the world in a very different way from the traditional Christian view of the world. Here is a short summary of what I believe. I believe this fits into that traditional Christian worldview.

When I look at myself, I see that I have a strong tendency to be selfish and self-centered. I look around and I see that I am not alone. Self centeredness is part of our human condition. Because of it all kinds of evil and injustice exist. We are able to dream of utopia, where everyone is well behaved and loved and everyone works for the common good, but we are unable to achieve that. That is because we are messed up and broken. Deep down inside of each of us we are selfish. This is the root of our problems, and this eventually corrupts every human institution and undertaking, no matter how noble.

I believe there is a solution. We can not fix ourselves but God can. God loves each and every one of us. Jesus came into the world to show us God and how much he loves us. He died for our selfish wrongdoing and wrong thinking. And he rose from the dead to show us that he has a good life of love for us. Trusting in him, starts a process of changing us into loving people and removing that self centeredness. We, who believe, will one day be fully renewed, and will be in a full and complete relationship with God. That is what I believe and what I have experienced.

For a much longer version, 22 years ago I wrote this “creed” of what I believe. If I wrote it today, it might look slightly different but it is a good summary of what I believe. Read it here: https://heinsite.blog/what-i-believe-the-creed-of-paul-f-hein/

Who am I?

What defines me? Who am I? What is my identity? Those questions get asked by a lot of people. I have asked those questions of myself over the years. I can come up with many different answers. I am a retired computer person, a retired research meteorologist, an American, a graduate of the University of Washington, a graduate of Camas High School, a Lutheran Christian, a husband, and a heterosexual white male. None of these answers really matter. What matters is that I am forgiven and loved, a child of God. That is who I am. That is what matters, and it is all because of what Jesus did out of love for me and you.

We tend to make a big deal out of our identities, many times too big of a deal. We get into “us versus them” tribalism. So we compare ourselves, our group identity, with others, and say something like this, “We are better than you because we are the great UW Huskies and you are only lowly WSU Cougars”, or vice versa. Rivalries can be fun, but they are not important and are not defining who we really are. Deep down inside we are all the same. There is no “us versus them”. We all are broken, corrupt, self-centered people. We are sinful people in need of help. The strange thing is God still loves us despite our many faults. It is his unconditional agape love (talked about in the last post, What is love? – heinsite) that restores us to him. We are loved and forgiven. We can be his, and that becomes our identity. We become forgiven and loved children of God. Turn to God and receive his love. That is what really matters.

What is love?

February is the month, where we make a big deal out of love, especially here in Loveland, Colorado. The English word love is not well defined. You can come up with several definitions of love depending on the context. I have found one definition that I think does a fair job of covering what it means to love. I think it is a good definition.

“Love is a commitment you make to act in someone else’s best interest. True love can only be known by the actions that it prompts.” (“God Space”, by Doug Pollock, p. 92)

Many think that love is a feeling. I would disagree. Love is not a feeling though feelings are many times connected with love. Love is altruistic. It puts the other person needs first.

A great description of love is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogantor rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never ends.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=ESV)

The Greek word for love in this passage is agape. It is a selfless unconditional love. (Greek has many words that can be translated as love.) It is the primary word for love in the Bible. It is the love that God has shown us. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This passage shows that God’s love is tangible, an action that is directed toward each one of us. It is also unconditional. We did not have to get our act together. We were “still sinners”. And it is a sacrificial love that cost Jesus his life.

Look back at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. Replace the word love (and it) with Jesus or God, and read it again. That describes Jesus. It is who he is. You can replace love with your name instead, and see how well you do. I know that I fail many times at these things. I tend to be selfish and not selfless. Many times it has been my needs and my happiness that have driven my love actions. My love has not been pure as it should be. Thank God that he is not like me. He loves us totally with that selfless unconditional agape love. Though you can not always count on me, you can count on God. His love is there for you. He always desires the best for you.