About 10 years ago I wrote about Participants
in the Lord’s Supper and pointed out that the views related to
participants can be broadly divided into two basic types of communion,
restricted and unrestricted. I still think this is a good broad categorization.
Nevertheless, when we start trying to define variations of those broad categories,
things can get difficult. Different people with different backgrounds who use
different definitions of terms come together to discuss it, and there can be much confusion.
Perhaps we would be better off discarding terms
such as closed communion, close communion, open communion – not altogether, because
they are in use and not going away anytime soon. But when discussing who should
participate, the important question we are asking is not, “Do you believe in closed
communion, close communion or open communion,” or “Does the Bible teach closed
communion, close communion or open communion?” Better rather, the question is, “What
restriction does the Bible place on participation in the Lord’s supper?[i]
I wonder if the following scenario might be
helpful illustrating this.
- The entry door to the communion table is closed.
- Those who approach give the doorkeeper their password.
- If they give the right password they can come in.
- In some churches “the password” is “I’m a believer.”
- In some churches “the password” is “I’m a baptized believer.”
- In some churches “the password” is “I’m a baptized believer who is a member of a Bible-believing church.”
- In some churches “the password” is “I’m a member of this church.”
[i] Any Bible-believing church
believes there are some restrictions. There may be possibly full-fledged
ecumenists and universalists who argue there are absolutely no restrictions.
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