Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
On the Lord’s Supper they stress “one faith, one baptism, one body,” and appeal to 1 Corinthians 11 (“it’s not the Lord’s Supper”) against empty ritual; what would it change in your congregation if communion were treated as a visible statement about the moral/spiritual reality of the whole body rather than an individual’s private moment with Jesus?
Another way to ask: They treat communion as a sign of “one body,” and warn against doing it as an empty ritual. How would your church change if communion showed the spiritual and moral health of the whole group, not just a private moment between you and Jesus?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s teaching, communion would become a congregational testimony of shared faith and disciplined unity, not merely a private devotional act. It would require clearer boundaries of belonging, active reconciliation, and a moral seriousness about whether the gathered life actually reflects Christ.
- The order links ban and Supper: discipline “will be done just before we break bread,” aiming that the congregation is “walking in the resurrection.”
- They quote Schleithaim: “Whoever has not been called to one faith, one baptism, one body cannot be made one bread with us.”
- Communion is described as “the body of Christ meeting together… to remember what he’s done,” emphasizing corporate identity.
- They reject “empty ritual” and connect to moral reality: early Anabaptists used 1 Corinthians 11—“When you come together, it’s not the Lord’s Supper”—against ex opere operato thinking.
- The speaker says baptism “plants you into a new community of love,” and the Supper celebrates that community.