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 the Sacrament 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 in the right way (11:29)? 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 of Christ. In 11:21, 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.

I Corinthians 11:23-34 (NASB)

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you may not come together for judgment. And the remaining matters I shall arrange when I come.