Extended emergency lockdown measures have revealed many issues of importance to the Church.
As many churches comply with governmental mandates to cease in-person services, one of the important questions to emerge has been whether we can take Communion alone in our homes.
By extension, this question should be asked of all the sacraments. Can we validly confect a sacrament alone in our homes? Is individual observance permissible?
What Is the Importance of Communion?
Sacraments are specific acts appointed by God as a means of grace and to equip us for sanctification. They are a part of the sacramental practice of the Body of Christ — the Church.
While I know it is a popular saying, “We don’t go to church, we are the church” the fact of the matter is, that statement is slightly misguided.
The Church is the society of disciples who come together for mutual support, learning, and worship. On this, we agree.
However, it also has a very real, material nature. The Greek word ἐκκλησία translated as “church” in the New Testament literally means an assembly.
It refers specifically to a physical gathering. So, while the Church transcends the confines of the building, it can never transcend its temporal requirement for physical gathering.
Being the Church proper means that we come together in one physical place to worship as the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:18; 14:19; Acts 7:38; 1 Timothy 3:5).
We are a part of the Body of Christ proper when we are a part of that assembly. If our hand is for some reason cut off, can we say it is part of our body?
Even if we were to get a prosthetic hand (a virtual hand), unfortunately, it does not replace the physical hand in any real sense.
It might make us feel better and we can still use it to manipulate objects with, but it isn’t really our hand and can’t ever replace the true thing.
Likewise, virtual “church” may make us feel better, and be the best option in this unique circumstance, but it isn’t a replacement for the real thing.
What Is the Lord’s Supper
That said, we can now turn our discussion to our central focus, the administration of the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper.
Sacraments are a means of grace for the Body of Christ, and only properly observed within the context of that Body.
That is the physical assembly. When we study the topic of sacramental theology and practice in the New Testament, we find this to be true. The Church gathered together for the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42), and we are instructed to do so within the physical assembly of the Church (1 Corinthians 11:17-34).
In fact, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that we should not think to participate in the Agape (Lord’s Supper) in our homes, but rather only as the assembled Body (1 Corinthians 11:33-34).
The very basis upon which our observance of the Eucharist is built is that of the physical gathering of the Israelites together to observe the Passover Seder.
Our Lord said that as often as we drink of the cup of His blood in the sacrament, that is, physically gather to worship the Lord in sacramental form, we are to do so in his memory (1 Corinthians 11:25).
Sacramental theology tells us that three things are necessary for the valid observance and confection of a sacrament. You must have the proper matter, the proper intention, and the proper form.
In the case of the Eucharist, the proper matter is wine (or grape juice), representing Jesus’ blood shed for us, and unleavened bread, the body of Christ.
The proper intention is to carry out our Lord’s command as the Church has always done and understood it. The proper form is the use of Christ’s words of institution as we assemble together physically to worship Him.
Referring back to my severed hand analogy; the Body of Christ is not a virtual one, in the long term, but a very real Body that comes together to physically worship, study God’s Word, and execute the Great Commission.
Virtual “communion” lacks the necessary element of physically gathering together as the Church proper to observe the sacrament as our Savior intended and as is taught in Scripture.
Would the advocates of virtual “communion” also advocate for virtual baptism, wherein the individual pours a bucket of water over themselves, in effect “baptizing” themselves apart from the community of disciples that they’re supposed to, in part, be baptized into?
Would they dare suggest that one could virtually anoint the infirm for healing? And if they do, can they justify any of these virtual acts with Scripture? The answer to the last question is clearly no.
If it isn’t appropriate to virtually mimic any of these observances, then how can one claim the most important sacramental act of the Body of Christ, the Lord’s Supper, can validly be observed by any virtual means?
The proper matter is present, certainly. However, one can question the intention, since it isn’t the intention of those taking part to observe the sacrament as the Church has always understood it to be observed, but to do so in a very modified and doubtful way.
At the very least, there is some doubt with regard to intention. And when we turn our intention to form, it absolutely does not meet the criteria of the proper form.
The very suggestion violates everything the Church has understood regarding sacramental theology and practice in its entire 2,000-year history.
Why Does This Matter?
While I understand that conditions such as government-enforced bans on public worship are challenging and make it difficult to worship as we ought and desire, this does not mean we should take shortcuts, nor invent novel ways of worship.
We must meet the biblical principles of Scripture. It is much better that we make an act of spiritual (personal) communion in prayer than take part in something that violates biblical guidelines (communal).
The Eucharist is an act of worship for the Church proper — the physical assembly of the saints — and any attempt to administer it outside that context may be viewed as invalid.
For further reading:
Why Is There So Much Disagreement about Holy Communion?
When Should We Not Take Holy Communion?
What Ordinances Should the Church Keep?
What Is Holy Communion? Bible Meaning, Verses, and Modern Forms
Should Wine or Grape Juice Be Used for Communion?
What Is the Meaning of the Body of Christ?
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/jhc
J. Davila-Ashcraft is an Anglican priest, Theologian, and Apologist, and holds a B.A. in Biblical Studies and Theology from God’s Bible College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a recognized authority on the topic of exorcism, and in that capacity has contributed to and/or appeared on programming for The National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, and CNN. He is the host of Expedition Truth, a one-hour apologetics radio talk show.
