When exactly does a couple become a husband and wife? The moment they say «I do» to each other? When the minister pronounces them husband and wife? Or when the marital union (intimacy) occurs?
In a sense, each of these moments is essential for the formation of a marriage. But at the same time, each of them depends on the others. That is why, for example, if the marriage was never consummated (there was no intimacy), there is reason to believe that the marriage is not yet fully formed. This difference even has legal significance: the dissolution of such a union is considered not a divorce, but an annulment.
And what is the Lord's Supper for anyway?
Many Christians seem to view the Lord's Supper as an intensified personal devotion. I come to church, listen to the Word, take the bread and wine, remember the death of Christ and the forgiveness of my sins—and go home.
Of course, we associate the Lord's Supper with church—at least in the sense that it takes place during a service. But for most Christians, that connection ends there.
But I want to argue: The Lord's Supper is crucial to the formation of the church itself. The communal celebration of the Lord's Supper is a key step that makes the church the church. In a very concrete sense, it is during the Lord's Supper that a group of believers becomes one body. It makes the many one.
I focus on this thought for two reasons.
First, it is often overlooked by evangelical Christians. I am convinced that the apostle Paul clearly teaches that the Lord's Supper unites many into one, as we will see later. But too few pastors and churches pay attention to this truth, allowing it to shape their view of the Lord's Supper and the church itself.
Second, understanding how the Lord's Supper shapes the local church is crucial to many practical questions that arise for ministers and members: who can participate in the Supper? who has the right to celebrate it? which gatherings can be considered "churchy" enough to celebrate it?
To wisely approach the observance of the Lord's Supper, we must constantly keep before our eyes the biblical view of it.
HOW THE LORD’S SUPPER UNITES MANY INTO ONE
Let us recall the words of the Apostle Paul from the First Epistle to the Corinthians (10:16–17):
«The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.».
Paul reminds the Corinthians that when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we have fellowship with Christ and experience the blessings of His death.
From this «vertical» communion—between Christ and believers—Paul moves to the «horizontal» conclusion in verse 17: «Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.» Paul’s main point in this verse is that we, who are many, are one body. And he reinforces this truth twice by mentioning our common participation in the Lord’s Supper: «Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.» The fact that Paul emphasizes this foundation twice does not allow us to interpret the bread as merely a symbol or image of the unity of the church. Paul roots the unity of the church precisely in its participation in the Lord’s Supper. There is one body because there is one bread.
In other words, the Lord's Supper truly unites many into one. It gathers "we, the many," and makes us one body. In this sense, the Lord's Supper is an act that forms the local church.
Of course, Paul is not talking about technical details here—as if a larger church that needs more than one loaf is no longer one but plural. The expression «one loaf» is a concise designation of the common, gathered together celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s idea is that in the Lord’s Supper, when we have fellowship with Christ together, this unity in Christ creates one body—the church.
In other words, the Lord’s Supper is a renewal of the covenantal oath that is the sign of the New Testament. In it, we reaffirm our commitment to Christ and to each other. And it is this dual commitment—to Christ and to our brothers and sisters—that makes the church the church.
THE LOCAL CHURCH — IN TWO STAGES
God forms the local church in two stages. First, He makes Christians. How? He sends preachers who proclaim Christ (Rom. 10:14–17). He sends His Spirit, who gives those who hear the ability to receive and confess Christ (1 Cor. 12:3). He makes His Word effective in their lives, giving them a new birth in Christ (James 1:18). God forms His church by sending the Word and the Spirit, who makes that Word alive and active. Thus He forms the people of the Gospel—those whom He has saved through faith in Christ. This is the first stage.
When people come to Christ, they become part of His universal Body. They are spiritually united with Him. But for a church to be established, it is not enough to come to Christ; it is also necessary to come to each other. It is necessary to come together. And that requires commitment. A local church does not automatically spring up every time two or more Christians find themselves in the same city or even in the same room. If it were otherwise, every chance encounter with another Christian in a supermarket would give birth to a new church—which would disappear as soon as you passed by. The church is more than just a collection of Christians. It is more than the sum of its parts. There must be something that unites people together.
THE PEOPLE, THE GOSPEL, AND THE GOSPEL ORDER
So, to create a church, the people of the Gospel must form the order of the Gospel. The church comes into being when Christians commit themselves to being the church together. This is the second stage.
Let us recall the analogy with marriage: marriage comes into being when a man and a woman make a commitment to be husband and wife. The vow creates the marriage. Similarly, a church is born when a group of Christians make a commitment to each other to do all the things Jesus commanded His churches to do: to gather for worship, to build one another up in love, to bear one another’s burdens, to perform baptisms, and to the Lord’s Supper.
All this is also God's work, for it is his saving and strengthening action that enables us to respond properly to the Gospel, including in the form of mutual commitment. God's action and our responsibility are not contradictory. We can come together as a church only because God first made us Christians. God forms the church by creating Christians—and by empowering them to make commitments to one another.
BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
How exactly can a group of Christians demonstrate their commitment to one another? Two ordinances play a key role here—baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In baptism, a person publicly dedicates himself to Christ and his people. Baptism is when faith becomes manifest. It is the moment when the new convert becomes visible to the world and to the church as a believer. In other words, baptism separates the believer from the world. In baptism, the church proclaims to the world, «This person belongs to Jesus!»
During the Lord’s Supper, we renew our commitment to Christ and his people. But unlike baptism, the Lord’s Supper is a communal act.. It sets apart the whole body of Christians as one body, drawing a line between them and the world. Thus, while baptism and the Lord's Supper draw a line between the church and the world, they also delineate the church itself. It is through these institutions that we can point to something specific and say, "This is the church," and not simply, "These are Christians.".
Imagine a Christian moving to a new town, starting to preach the gospel, and several people coming to Christ at about the same time. That Christian baptizes them. When and how does this group of baptized people become a church? The most basic, most essential answer is when they take the Lord’s Supper together. Let us remember that the Lord’s Supper is an expression of our commitment to Christ and to one another. To receive the blessing of Christ in the Lord’s Supper is to receive Christ’s people as brothers and sisters. In the Lord’s Supper itself, we make a commitment to one another—it is the moment when we move from a «group of Christians» to a «local church.» It is for the Lord’s Supper that we come together as one body. As the Scriptures say:
«Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread» (1 Cor. 10:17).
For reasons of wisdom, it is usually advisable for churches to clearly state what they are doing when they are formed as a church—through a verbal promise that members make to each other. In the Congregationalist and Baptist traditions, this is often called the «church covenant,» which is sometimes made together each time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. This is a good practice. But we should not think that this verbal promise constitutes the church independently of participation in the Lord’s Supper. On the contrary, the church covenant merely states out loud what is already established in the Lord’s Supper itself. The verbal promise helps us to become more aware of what we are doing when we partake of the bread and cup together.
Again, the beginning of the church can be compared to the beginning of marriage. This analogy is not perfect, as all analogies are, but it is quite telling. Marriage comes into being when a man and a woman make vows, when a minister pronounces them husband and wife, and when the couple physically witness their union (intimate intercourse). The vow of «I do» begins a new relationship, but that union is confirmed by physical union.
Similarly, a congregation of believers does not become a local church until they have confirmed their unity through the Lord's Supper. If a group of Christians who intended to be a church never observes the Lord's Supper, not only has Jesus' command been broken—in a sense they are not yet a church. The Lord's Supper is the completion of that commitment that makes Christians a church.
How does the Lord’s Supper shape the local church? Together with baptism, it is the means by which the people of the Gospel shape the order of the Gospel. The Lord’s Supper is the moment when Christians come together, dedicate themselves to one another, and move from «many» to «one.» In the Lord’s Supper, our unity with Christ creates our unity with one another. The Lord’s Supper makes the many one.
BEAUTIFUL SIMPLICITY
There is a wonderful simplicity in God's plan for the church. What is needed for a church to come into being? The preaching of the Gospel, which creates a people of the Gospel, who participate in the institutions of the Gospel. The church is the form into which the Gospel and its institutions form the people of God. Baptism unites one to many, and the Lord's Supper unites many into one.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper inscribe the Gospel into the very form and structure of the church. That which makes one out of many is the sign of the Gospel. When Christians come together to form the church, they do not depart from the Gospel—they immerse themselves in it.
