Well, 3 weeks have come and gone since my last update here - and even that isn’t online, yet, due to me not knowing how to put photos into my blog with ease. I’ll figure it out.
Here’s a quick re-cap since March 19th:
March 12th - I met with the pastors from our central Slovakia region - and some from the Eastern side. Great bunch of guys. This next weekend, we’re supposed to spend Sunday night and Monday together - skiing, swimming and discussing the Lord’s Supper - theology, practical application, exercise in church, etc. This should prove to be a very interesting discussion. Let me explain:
On March 4th, I led the Lord’s Supper at our church. I am 1 of 3 men who are ordained for ministry and, therefore, am 1 of 3 men who can perform the Lord’s Supper - at least that is the current thinking. Nowhere in the Confession of Faith, the Constitution or the By-Laws of the Baptist denomination in Slovakia is it written that ONLY ordained people can perform the Lord’s Supper. HOWEVER, it is understood by all that only ordained men should perform the Lord’s Supper.
On another front, the dispersion of the elements and participation of the Lord’s Supper is quite ritualistic. It is ALWAYS on the 1st Sunday of the month in the morning service (why don’t we call it the Lord’s Breakfast or Brunch? I guess that would be blasphemy), always lead by an ordained minister, always at the end of the service and always done in the same way:
the bread is passed around, each person takes a piece of bread, places it in his mouth and passes the plate. Likewise, the cup is passed, each person takes the cup, passes the plate, drinks it and places the cup in the 2nd tray (for the empties) that comes immediately behind the first tray of cups.
On March 4th, I explained that we would do the Lord’s Supper a little bit differently. We would pass the elements one at a time and wait until everyone had their bread or cup and then eat the bread or drink the cup together, not individually. I wanted to emphasize the unity of the body of Christ that we have in Christ and ONLY in Him. I also wanted people to be shaken from their ritualistic form of the Lord’s Supper and to think through the MEANING of the Lord’ Supper.
On a positive note, many enjoyed the change. On the negative side, those who didn’t like it, felt that the Lord’s Supper was interrupted by the change in form. Oh, how easily we can get tied into a form of worship and how simply we get distracted from the purpose and the meaning of what we do as believers.
Change is good when it accomplishes our goal(s). This simple change was effective in at least opening the eyes of the people that we -----
Hold the phone! As I wrote that last phrase, I was reminded of a recent conversation with a man in our church who reminded me (while we discussed something totally UN-related to this topic of the Lord’s Supper) that the Baptist church in Slovakia is a congregational form of church government. His exact words, “The congregation is the highest organ in the Baptist church.”
If that is so, then why is the Lord’s Supper only allowed to be lead by ordained ministers? If the congregation is the organ that the Lord uses to lead, guide and direct His church as He influences and teaches through His Spirit, then what makes the Lord’s Supper something that the congregation cannot participate in with regards to leading it? Sounds like a form of double-standardism to me or hypocrisy.
I’ll write this guy an email and get back to you on this....
Here’s a quick re-cap since March 19th:
March 12th - I met with the pastors from our central Slovakia region - and some from the Eastern side. Great bunch of guys. This next weekend, we’re supposed to spend Sunday night and Monday together - skiing, swimming and discussing the Lord’s Supper - theology, practical application, exercise in church, etc. This should prove to be a very interesting discussion. Let me explain:
On March 4th, I led the Lord’s Supper at our church. I am 1 of 3 men who are ordained for ministry and, therefore, am 1 of 3 men who can perform the Lord’s Supper - at least that is the current thinking. Nowhere in the Confession of Faith, the Constitution or the By-Laws of the Baptist denomination in Slovakia is it written that ONLY ordained people can perform the Lord’s Supper. HOWEVER, it is understood by all that only ordained men should perform the Lord’s Supper.
On another front, the dispersion of the elements and participation of the Lord’s Supper is quite ritualistic. It is ALWAYS on the 1st Sunday of the month in the morning service (why don’t we call it the Lord’s Breakfast or Brunch? I guess that would be blasphemy), always lead by an ordained minister, always at the end of the service and always done in the same way:
the bread is passed around, each person takes a piece of bread, places it in his mouth and passes the plate. Likewise, the cup is passed, each person takes the cup, passes the plate, drinks it and places the cup in the 2nd tray (for the empties) that comes immediately behind the first tray of cups.
On March 4th, I explained that we would do the Lord’s Supper a little bit differently. We would pass the elements one at a time and wait until everyone had their bread or cup and then eat the bread or drink the cup together, not individually. I wanted to emphasize the unity of the body of Christ that we have in Christ and ONLY in Him. I also wanted people to be shaken from their ritualistic form of the Lord’s Supper and to think through the MEANING of the Lord’ Supper.
On a positive note, many enjoyed the change. On the negative side, those who didn’t like it, felt that the Lord’s Supper was interrupted by the change in form. Oh, how easily we can get tied into a form of worship and how simply we get distracted from the purpose and the meaning of what we do as believers.
Change is good when it accomplishes our goal(s). This simple change was effective in at least opening the eyes of the people that we -----
Hold the phone! As I wrote that last phrase, I was reminded of a recent conversation with a man in our church who reminded me (while we discussed something totally UN-related to this topic of the Lord’s Supper) that the Baptist church in Slovakia is a congregational form of church government. His exact words, “The congregation is the highest organ in the Baptist church.”
If that is so, then why is the Lord’s Supper only allowed to be lead by ordained ministers? If the congregation is the organ that the Lord uses to lead, guide and direct His church as He influences and teaches through His Spirit, then what makes the Lord’s Supper something that the congregation cannot participate in with regards to leading it? Sounds like a form of double-standardism to me or hypocrisy.
I’ll write this guy an email and get back to you on this....
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