How Often Should Communion Be Taken?

My featured text for this piece is I Corinthians 11:17-34.

I grew up in the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. We take communion every Sunday during worship services. Before bread and juice are passed, a member of the church addresses the congregation with a word concerning it. This is called communion mediation. “We’re told to take it as often as we meet,” was what one frequent communion mediation speaker would always say. As a child, I wondered, “Why do we not also always take it on Wednesday nights?” (We had a Bible study on that night.) Later, I examined the Scriptures and found no such phrase as “take it as often as you meet”. The closest thing is I Corinthians 11:20 which seems only to indicate that it was the practice of the Corinthian church to partake every time they met, but no universal commandment is given concerning the frequency of communion. Notice that it was also their practice to have a “love feast” along with it (v. 21-22), but this is clearly just a tradition also, and not necessary for the modern church.

Having said this, I can now say that it is my opinion that following the tradition of weekly communion is a good tradition. “Proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes” (v. 26) is certainly something that I think we should do often. When visitors come to our services, they may ask what it is for. This opens the door for good witnessing opportunities. Notice that the church is the Lord’s body, which must be discerned (v. 29). I will not criticize other churches that do not hold to this practice, but there is a commandment in the Bible for Christians to partake (v. 24).

Must Churches Have Worship Services on Sunday?

Without question, believers must regularly meet together (Hebrews 10:25). But must Sunday be set aside as the day of assembling ourselves together, or will any day suffice?

I am not a Seventh Day Adventist, but I don’t think that there is reason to condemn them or churches that hold their services on Saturday nights instead of Sunday.

Except in regards to the actual event of the Resurrection, there is very little mention in the New Testament of the first day of the week. One example is Revelation 1:10 (possibly). The only place in the NT where any command is given concerning it is in I Corinthians 16:1-2. But this commandment only concerns the setting aside of money. The issue of a worship service is not explicitly addressed here. Furthermore, the churches of Galatia and “ye” (the church at Corinth) are particularly identified as the specific groups that this commandment is directed to. (Therefore, we need not take it as a general commandment for all churches at all times.) Note that the commandment was given because of a particular occasion, that is, Paul’s coming to Corinth.

Just because it was the habit of these churches to meet on Sundays doesn’t necessarily mean that that is the way it was to be for all churches from that time forward. At different times they had different practices. Acts 20:7 says that the disciples met together on the first day of the week to break bread. But in Acts 2:46 it says that they met daily for this purpose.

In Romans 14:5-6, it says, “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it…” (Romans 14:5-6, KJV) Colossians 2:16 says, “Let no man therefore judge you … in respect of an holyday…” Jesus said, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24 KJV)

What if believers in another country met at random times during the week to avoid persecution? Will they be condemned for this? Should call them liberals?

The International Dateline divides the Pacific Ocean so that on one side of the line, the time is a full 24 hours later than on the other side. So what if you lived on an island that was right on the line? Then what day should you worship? The line is manmade (but necessary). What if God would have drawn the line in the Atlantic Ocean instead? In that case, all North and South American Christians would be worshipping on the wrong day!

I realize that the reason for this tradition is the Resurrection of Christ. There is nothing wrong with having this tradition. I Corinthians 16:1-2 and Acts 20:7 do provide a biblical precedent for it. Many business owners, such as the owner of Chick-fil-A, close their establishments on Sundays to promote church-going. This is a commendable deed and in no way is what I am saying meant to diminish such an act of financial sacrifice. But we need to realize that it is just a tradition.