This past Good Friday (April 10, 2020) was the first in my memory that our church did not gather to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as we normally do.  Understandably, this has left many of us with a sense of loss. This has also left some of us with a question: “Should we celebrate the Lord’s Supper online?”

Pastors and church leaders are arriving at different answers. And certainly, as we form opinions and discuss this with others, a good deal of grace and humility is needed. After all, no books have been written on this subject, no Church Board has ever had to deal with this issue, and there was no “Pandemic 101” course in seminary (though that might soon change).

Nevertheless, I believe there are strong biblical reasons why we should not attempt to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in an online, or “virtual” format. I’ll briefly mention just one of them here: the Lord’s Supper is meant to be a physical embodiment of a local church’s union in Christ.

When the Apostle Paul gives instructions to the Corinthians regarding the Lord’s Supper, he uses the phrase “when you come together” no less than five times in the same chapter (1 Cor. 11:17-20, 33-34). The necessity of gathering together to observe the Lord’s Supper follows from what Paul has previously written:

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16-17; CSB).

Because the Lord’s Supper is a physical display of how the “many” become “one” in Christ, it follows that the Lord’s Supper should be celebrated as we “come together” to demonstrate our union in Christ, and to remember all the blessings we share together as members of his body. 

This is why Paul has such strong words for those who go ahead eating and drinking separately without regard for others (1 Cor. 11:21) and why he exhorts them instead to “wait for one another” (1 Cor. 11:33).  Anything less is a failure to recognize the Lord’s Supper as a visible, physical, corporate embodiment of the salvation we share in common with one another
in Christ.

If the Lord’s Supper requires a gathered and not scattered congregation, then it is not difficult to see why we should refrain from attempting it online. But what should we do in the meantime? We should lament the fact that we’re unable to gather, and we should long for the day when we can. We should identify more compassionately with persecuted believers around the world who cannot gather with each other, and shut-ins from our own congregation that cannot gather with us. And above all, we should pray and seek the Lord as a scattered church, trusting that he is with us, that he will sustain us, and that his grace is enough for us until we are able to be together again.

Pastor Jonathan Kroeker