Why do we need to examine ourselves before we take the Lord’s Supper? Isn’t the whole point of the gospel that we are forgiven and freed from the power of sin and death? Isn’t the Lord’s Supper supposed to be a celebration of what Christ has accomplished?

Yes, of course. But what if someone were to take the Lord’s Supper without really knowing what it means? After all, when we take the bread into ourselves, we are saying in a very obvious way that Christ is within us. When we take the fruit of the vine into ourselves, we are saying that the blood of Christ has washed our hearts clean from sin. What if someone were to take these elements without trusting Christ as Savior and bowing the knee to Him as Lord, without, as Paul says, discerning the body of Christ? Surely it is not a good idea to treat such a sacred sacrifice in a casual or ignorant way. Surely, such an action would not be pleasing to the God Who made that sacrifice.

But there’s another way we can fail to discern the body. In the rest of the chapter, Paul condemns those who act selfishly when they come together for a communal meal, refusing to share the food they had brought with their Christian brothers and sisters. How could people who thus withdraw from their fellow believers nevertheless participate in the Lord’s Supper, a sacrament which emphasizes not only our union with Christ but our connection with all others who share our faith in Him? How can we draw near to Christ when at the same time we are estranged from His Body, the Church?

No, the sad truth is that it is possible to kid ourselves about our spiritual condition. It is possible to think that we are one with Christ and to express that belief when we take the Lord’s Supper, but all the while be pulling ourselves away from Him and from others. That’s why we need to examine ourselves, not just on the days when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, but every day.

So let us pray that God would fill us with His Holy Spirit, helping us trust in Him more and more. Let us ask God to reveal the sin in our hearts to us. Let us study His Word and seek to bring all our thoughts, feelings, and actions into line with it, as we rely on the indwelling power of the Spirit. But in all things, let us celebrate the good news that Christ died and rose again, accomplishing all that is necessary to forgive us and make us clean. That’s the best way to make the meaning of the Lord’s Supper real in our lives.

1 Corinthians 11:27–32 (ESV)

Whoever, 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. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.