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Taking Communion
Alone Is An Oxymoron!
(Not to be legalistic, but…)
Taking communion (the Lord’s Supper) “alone” is indeed an oxymoron - it contradicts the very essence of what the act means.
Communion = Common Union
The word “communion” comes from the Greek koinōnia, meaning: fellowship, participation, sharing in common.
So, by definition, communion cannot exist in isolation.
It presupposes a shared participation, a table, a body, a bread, and a cup held in common.
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation (koinōnia) in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation (koinōnia) in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body.”
(1 Corinthians 10:16–17)
Paul’s entire argument
hinges on plurality,
“we bless,”
“we break,”
“we are one body.”
To “commune” means to share something sacred together.
The Biblical Pattern Of Communion Was Always Corporate.
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers… breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and singleness of heart.”
(Acts 2:42, 46)
Communion was woven into communal life - teaching, praying, eating, sharing.
It wasn’t a private act of piety but a public act of unity.
Paul rebukes the Corinthian church not for neglecting the elements, but for violating
the communal spirit:
(1 Corinthians 11:17–34)
“When you come together,
it is not the Lord’s Supper
that you eat…” (v. 20)
“For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal…
one goes hungry, another
gets drunk.” (v. 21)
Paul insists that the Supper’s purpose is to
“discern the body” (v. 29),
not only Christ’s body on
the cross but the body of believers.
To take communion “unworthily” is to disregard others - to act individually in what was meant to be collective.
Communion is not a private devotion - it’s a shared declaration.
It is the meal of the many,
not the meditation of one.
It is “we remember,” not
“I remember.”
It is a table, not a mirror.
Clarifying Note:
Private Communion.
There are rare cases where clergy or believers administer communion to the sick or homebound, but even then,
it is representative of the community.
The minister brings the corporate table to them;
it’s never a self-administered, isolated ritual.
#AssemblyRequired