It is common for the new convert to Lutheranism to have discovered the beautiful message of the Gospel only to realise that there is no church in his immediate area that preaches this Gospel in its entirety and administers the sacrament rightly. He then turns to the churches that exist in his area and asks, “Which one is the closest thing to Lutheranism?”. After all, Rome and the East have valid sacraments don’t they? What about the Anglicans, they’re pretty similar to us. Surely I can take the sacrament there? Such a compromising approach is detrimental to one’s faith in the long run, and makes light of the exhortations of Scripture to avoid heterodoxy. Hence in this blog post, we will be looking at the various concerns that would arise from being in such a situation and what one should do instead.
Taking Communion
As Lutherans, receiving the Eucharist plays a major role in the Christian life. In it, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are promised to us. Thus, we should receive the sacrament frequently because of our Lord’s command and our pressing need due to the many sins and troubles we are assailed with in this life by the world, the devil, and our sinful flesh.
Based on this, some argue that it is thus justifiable to visit a church that is ‘close enough’ to commune. They would say that these churches, while heterodox, also profess faith in Christ, and such an opportunity to receive the sacrament should not be passed up.
The Confessional Nature of the Sacrament
While we consider these heterodox congregations to be Christian as well, it does not mean that it is permissible to share the same altar as them. Henry Eyster Jacobs points out in The Lutheran Cyclopedia that celebrating the Lord’s Supper is the ‘most important confessional act of the Church’ (p. 8), that is, proclaiming the sacrificial death of Jesus, the center of the Christian faith. Hence, when Christians partake of this supper, we are one bread and one body (1 Corinthians 10:17).
Consequently, this sacramental act presupposes the unity of faith and confession of the congregation. Therefore, when you commune in a congregation of a different confession of faith, you are publicly denying your own confession of faith in favour of theirs, even if you might believe otherwise in your own heart.
Where such division and disunion has taken place, that communions with different confessions exist beside each other there it is not possible, as the Apostle says, 1 Cor. 11 : 20 (ουκ εστιν it cannot be ) to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in common. It is the sad inevitable result of the present division of the visible Church, that now every separate church communion must celebrate the communion separately, and neither the members of one can participate in the celebration of the other, nor can the one admit the members of the other.
Jacobs also notes that church bodies that allow such unionism on their altars have lowered their distinctive doctrines to mere human opinions. Historically, Lutheran altars had mostly been restricted to only adherents of the Augsburg Confession from the Reformation up until the Prussian Union in 1817. Apart from the union of churches in the German countries, the state churches that eventually grew soft and abandoned this principle grew closer to the Reformed in their theology as they became less aware of their confessional differences. Hence, the church bodies that wanted to return to the Lutheran Confessions in America during the 19th century such as the Synodical Conference and the General Council restored the practice of unmixed altar fellowship.
I understand the desire to receive the Lord’s Supper as I am in this situation myself. Thanks be to God that He is generous and has given us other means to receive His grace, such as hearing the preached Word, and holy absolution.
How about visiting a church without communing then?
We know that there is no salvation outside of the Church, that is the congregation of saints. Hence, there is no such thing as a Christian who practices his faith alone outside of the Church. We are exhorted to not forsake assembling together (Hebrews 10:25) and the Communion of Saints is instrumental in the salvation of all who have faith in Christ.
One would argue based on this then, that he should therefore visit a church on Sundays. We have never denied that there are no Christians outside of the Lutheran Church, and so it would seem that participating in other Christian congregations would be permissible.
This would not be advisable as St. Paul exhorts us to mark and avoid all who cause divisions and offences contrary to the Apostolic Doctrine (Romans 16:17). Furthermore, watching an online service is not very different from going to a service without communing anyway. By regularly going to a heterodox congregation, you would be willingly exposing yourself to teachings that could lead you away from the faith, as is the nature of heterodox doctrine.
Personally, I spent a year going to different churches to observe their practices. Eventually I stopped going as what they confessed and taught was starting to wear me down.
What should I do instead?
The ideal course of action would be to move to a place where there is a Confessional Lutheran church. However, we know that it is not always possible. I live in Singapore myself, and I cannot just drive a few hours to another city to find a church. Another way is to find other like-minded believers with the same desire to remain faithful to God’s Word in its purity and start a congregation in your area. When possible, call a Lutheran pastor to shepherd this newly formed congregation.
Of course, this is easier said than done. A Confessional Lutheran congregation does not spring up overnight, and pastors do not just pop up out of nowhere. My pastor lives in another country and visits me annually to give me communion. Thankfully, we live in the age of the internet where we have resources to help us in the meantime. I mostly do matins and the other offices by myself, and avail myself to the many resources available online. My pastor also does devotions daily on Discord and absolves me through the phone every week, so that I have access to the means of grace. It might not be the most ideal situation, but we have to make do with what we have. What is important is that we remain faithful to the pure Gospel and trust that God will provide.
Some of the resources that I use
General
- Ask the Pastor
- Pastor Brandon Warr’s Sermons (St Patrick Lutheran Church)
- Pastor Jerry Dulas’ Sermons (Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church)
- Pastor Paul Rydecki’s Sermons (Emmanuel Lutheran Church)
- The Bookcase Behind Me podcast
- The Lutheran Herald
