Unity in the Meal: The Debate on Open & Inter-Communion

The Gospel of Luke records Jesus Christ on the eve of His crucifixion commanding His disciples to observe the Last Supper once He ascended, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke’s narrative continues, “In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, reaffirms the institution of the Supper writing, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Since the earliest days, the assembly of the church has been marked by the practice of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist. However, as the Faith has splintered into various denominations and traditions the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper has diversified into practices as different as the denominations themselves. Going back to the foundations of the Church, Christians have differed in their beliefs concerning the Eucharist, its purpose, and its function. Today, while the rhetoric uttered on Sunday morning may reflect the same ritual as instituted by Christ, its participants have not uniformly understood the ordinance. Beyond the debate on transubstantiation between Catholics and Protestants, Protestants have come to not only differ denomination to denomination on who may participate in the Supper, but even within the specific traditions themselves.
The battle brewing within the faith today largely concerns to whom the Lord’s Table is open. Some theologians and pastors argue that all people, whether regenerate believers or not are welcome to partake, while some at the other extreme restrict the sacrament to only members of a specific, local congregation. Often blinded by tradition, political trends, and socio-cultural whims, the Eucharist has come to be both given to those whom should be barred from the Table as well as denied to those whom the Lord calls to partake. The Lord’s Supper anticipates the Heavenly banquet foretold of in Revelation 19. Instituted by Jesus for the communion of believers with Himself and each other, regenerate believers should not be barred inter-denominationally among members of the body of Christ, given that those who participate subscribe to self-examination of their worthiness to partake in the meal of remembrance according to the parameters set by Christ and His Apostles.