Having communion while being a very liberal Christian

We don't take part in communion because we know everything about God, or have reached a state of perfection in everything we do and believe. We are not invited because we are worthy, but because of God's grace and unmerited favour towards us.

Before taking the bread and the wine, we confess our sins and receive God's forgiveness. During the sharing of the Peace, we are called to examine ourselves and show a sign of peace with one another, and make restitution to those people we have wronged.

I believe that Christ is very present with us in the Eucharist. The last time I attended, I felt spiritually very dry and very perplexed and muddled about a lot of things. After the service, I felt strengthened and encouraged and had a new experience of God's love.

I would say that if you identify as Christian, have been or are intending to get baptised, and are genuinely seeking Jesus and pursuing the path of love and forgiveness in your own life, then you should never be discouraged in taking part in Holy Communion.

A couple of things that may help...

At around your age I liberalised my faith because I knew that if I followed what I read in the bible I would become a radical Christian and risk being classified as insane or suffer serious rejection and misunderstanding.

What I didn't know then, was that total surrender was not the freak out I imagined for one very simple reason.
God is a God of order... This means that the more you surrender to Him the more He can establish His order in your life. So there is no freak out.

Understanding this takes away the fear of losing control.
Lets face it - under our control we haven't ended up fulfilled and at peace. Much better to let Him take over, after all He made us and understands what we need much better than we do.

On another matter - taking communion in an unworthy manner - here is my take...

Firstly let a man examine himself - and so let him eat...
What do all see when they examine themselves ???
Unworthiness !!!
Yet the scripture says - and so let him eat !!! Why ?
Because He is worthy for us.
This is what it means to 'rightly divide the body'
No one is worthy - we are all sinners.
His sacrificial death has more than covered our unworthiness.... and so we partake in faith mindful of His worthiness.

John... as Paul said - if Jesus isn't alive from the dead, our faith is useless.
That would also mean the bible is full of lies.
Remember that Jesus sent word back to John that folks were being healed and the dead raised. This was to confirm that He was indeed the Messiah with authority over death. This is a central pillar of faith. - Abraham knew this... Graves broke open and many were released from death at the time of the cross.

Remember this passage from John 2?

The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Hey - believe the words that Jesus has spoken...

Honestly without this we have a dead religion.

It is all or nothing.

Why would you follow a liar? What good is it to follow half the message and call the other half lies?

We either worship a living God or a dead God...

Can you imagine the creator of the universe sending His son to die with no resurrection?

The fact that He raised the dead confirmed that for Him to be raised was no issue.

The Father had it all arranged - a Glorious homecoming for a good and faithful Son.
You can read that here...

Dan 7:
13 In my vision in the night I continued to watch,

and I saw One like a Son of Man

coming with the clouds of heaven.

He approached the Ancient of Days

and was led into His presence.14 And He was given dominion,

glory, and kingship,

that the people of every nation and language

should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that will not pass away,

and His kingdom is one

that will never be destroyed.
=======================

Believe it fully John - Let Him have you whole life - you will be safe in His arms.

JohnClay said:

I wrote down the verse Romans 5:6-7 - I think it was the one they quoted: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die."

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This is what drives me in my christianity. The ethic presented is unmatched.

No matter what happens in the end, I will never regret committing myself to such an ethic ...

We don't come to communion because we're perfect or have everything all sorted.

We come because we need God's grace and trust God to be at work in us.

I would encourage you to take communion in that spirit.

JohnClay said:

I don't remember that happening at the church I was at tonight but I think that happens in the Lutheran service.

At the Lutheran service they also share the peace - where people shake each other's hands and say "the peace of the Lord be with you".

I think I'm sometimes borderline Christian at the moment.

The Anglican female priest asked me about that and I was baptised as a Lutheran when I was a baby.

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Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists follow a very similar structure in their communion liturgies and is modelled on one of the earliest records of the Eucharist, such as the one described by Justyn Martyr (100-165 AD).
St. Justin Martyr on the Eucharist and the Ancient Mass - Word on Fire

I believe in love and forgiveness... I think I am seeking Jesus to some extent.

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Personally speaking, I think at the end of the day, that is all that really counts

Hi John.

Without the bodily resurrection of Christ we all have no Hope. That is why Christianity rises or falls on the Resurrection.

Today I proclaim to you Jesus Christ is Risen and now Ascended into Heaven seated at the Right Hand of the Father and will come again in Glory!

To quote Jaraslov Pelikan,

"If Christ is risen, nothing else matters.
And if Christ is not risen--nothing else matters."

If Jesus is still dead, then Christianity, and everything about it, is meaningless faff. If Christ is dead, there is no Eucharist.

-CryptoLutheran

I think every Christian is a liberal. Nobody follows Jesus' teachings to a 'T', even those who claim they do.

Luke 14:31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

There are plenty of 'non liberal' Christians who take communion and yet do not give up anything they have.

The trick is to learn to explain away whatever it is you are doing.

Communion specifically focuses on Jesus' death rather than resurrection. So it's not surprising for one specific service not to mention resurrection. If it's never mentioned that would be a problem.

There are, of course, varying ideas of what really happened. While it's on the edge of Christianity, there are people who I accept as Christians who think Christ was present to people after his death through visions, but that the empty tomb is not necessarily true. (I'm not saying I believe this. I think it's hard to understand the existence of the Church without the empty tomb. But that if that's what you think, I could still accept you as a Christian if you're trying to be a follower of Jesus.)

As to taking communion in an unworthy manner, the reference is to 1 Cor 11:29. The immediate context was a congregation that seemed more interested in personal prestige than worship. He specifically used the phrase "without discerning the body." Some have argued that in context he was referring to the church as the body of Christ, and thus was talking about the attitude of the Corinthians who weren't acting as a real community. The more traditional view is that it was referring to Christ's body. While there's a tradition of understanding this to require you to accept that church's theology of the communion, it's more likely that he's saying that in communion you remember Christ's death. I.e. that Christ's body is a reference to Christ's death.

My impression from the OP is that you have the proper attitude to participate. We certainly don't have to have perfect faith.

BigV said:

I think every Christian is a liberal. Nobody follows Jesus' teachings to a 'T', even those who claim they do.

Luke 14:31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

There are plenty of 'non liberal' Christians who take communion and yet do not give up anything they have.

The trick is to learn to explain away whatever it is you are doing.

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The trick you suggests is hypocrisy.

Speak for yourself - there are many on this forum who have given up all at serious cost.

Carl Emerson said:

The trick you suggests is hypocrisy.

Speak for yourself - there are many on this forum who have given up all at serious cost.

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I speak from experience. Nobody gives up all. Most Christians in the West still have bank accounts.

Let me confirm this. Are you saying you don't have ANY possessions at all? You own no car, no home and no bank account?

BigV said:

I speak from experience. Nobody gives up all. Most Christians in the West still have bank accounts.

Let me confirm this. Are you saying you don't have ANY possessions at all? You own no car, no home and no bank account?

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I have given up all and followed.

In the process He has restored such things for His own purpose.

Carl Emerson said:

I have given up all and followed.

In the process He has restored such things for His own purpose.

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That's not an answer to my question. I have asked you if you have a bank account. It's a yes or no.

I suspect you do have an account, so your claim that you 'have given up all" is false. I may be wrong, but I don't so in this case.

BigV said:

That's not an answer to my question. I have asked you if you have a bank account. It's a yes or no.

I suspect you do have an account, so your claim that you 'have given up all" is false. I may be wrong, but I don't so in this case.

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Wrong,

I have given up all and had nothing, He has restored me over seven years, I am now married with five children. You think that to have a bank account is somehow sinful. This is absurd.
Jesus chided the man who buried his talent for not using one... Read Matt 25:27

Carl Emerson said:

Wrong,

I have given up all and had nothing, He has restored me over seven years, I am now married with five children. You think that to have a bank account is somehow sinful. This is absurd.
Jesus chided the man who buried his talent for not using one... Read Matt 25:27

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Aha... you are a game player. Of course having a bank account is sinful, because Jesus says, in Luke 14:33 and Luke 12:33, that you ought to give up your possessions.

If you have given up all your possessions while retaining a bank account, then I too have given up everything.

Matthew 25:27 is a parable, whereas Luke 12:33 and Luke 14:33 is a direct command. And a parable doesn't make the point you want it to make. The master, in Matthew 25 parable, critiques his lazy servant for not depositing his master's money so that the master could earn interest! You are not earning interest for Jesus, but for your own self and family.

I don't blame you for not following Jesus, don't get me wrong. I'm just pointing out that no one follows Jesus because that would bankrupt you in a modern world.

BigV said:

Aha... you are a game player. Of course having a bank account is sinful, because Jesus says, in Luke 14:33 and Luke 12:33, that you ought to give up your possessions.

If you have given up all your possessions while retaining a bank account, then I too have given up everything.

Matthew 25:27 is a parable, whereas Luke 12:33 and Luke 14:33 is a direct command. And a parable doesn't make the point you want it to make. The master, in Matthew 25 parable, critiques his lazy servant for not depositing his master's money so that the master could earn interest! You are not earning interest for Jesus, but for your own self and family.

I don't blame you for not following Jesus, don't get me wrong. I'm just pointing out that no one follows Jesus because that would bankrupt you in a modern world.

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You are welcome to your opinion. As the bible is understood by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, you being an atheist are hardly qualified to make correct interpretations.