Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 6
Dean says the Anabaptist sacramental contribution is: “our life matters…or it doesn’t count no matter what you say,” appealing to 1 Corinthians 11 and the idea that Corinth had “apostolic things” but moral failure made it “not the Lord’s Supper”; how does this confront contemporary evangelical assumptions that right doctrine or inward sincerity is enough?
Another way to ask: Dean says, “our life matters,” and points to 1 Corinthians 11 where bad living made it “not the Lord’s Supper.” How does that challenge the idea that correct beliefs or honest feelings inside are enough?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on Dean’s teaching, the Lord’s Supper and Christian faith cannot be reduced to correct doctrine or sincere feelings; if the church’s life is morally corrupt or disobedient, Paul’s verdict can still apply: “it doesn’t count.”
- Dean insists moral life affects sacramental reality: “our life matters… there needs to be an incarnational grace… or it doesn’t count no matter what you say.”
- He repeatedly returns to 1 Corinthians 11: “When you come together, it’s not the Lord’s Supper,” and applies it to churches claiming real presence while acting contrary to Christ.
- He argues Corinth had “everything you would want in all your apostolic things,” yet Paul says because of “their morality, it doesn’t count.”
- He critiques a purely internalized righteousness: the danger that faith and communion are “in your head… and not incarnational.”
- He notes early Anabaptists affirmed “saved by faith alone,” but emphasized that “works following your faith” must actually appear.