Spiritual Communion: Obstacles and Experience⤒🔗

Undoubtedly, this is not a new problem. But it is a problem which is felt more and more, also within our church walls. “Everyone for himself, and…” Oh, you can fill in the rest. The individualisation of society works through in the manner in which we experience our faith and also our church-being.

In society, ever more emphasis is placed on the value of the individual. Children are taught at an early age already to express their own opinions, and to use their efforts for what they themselves find important. In Catechism classes one can hear youngsters asking the question: what does faith do for me? What does God mean in my life? If there is no satisfying answer to these questions, faith for the individual goes rapidly downhill. Exactly the same can be said about the attitude towards the church. If the church does not come through for me, they should not expect much of me either.

From a strong focus on the individual needs of every church member, the experience of communion with each other in the congregation of Christ, is coming under pressure. This not only becomes clear among the young people, but it is also noticeable among adult members. When one is very focussed on one’s own experience of faith, one will look for others who are having the same experience of faith. Sometimes it happens that, because of this, traditional ways of experiencing faith are seen as having less value. For example, they rather attend a smaller Bible study group, than attend a society meeting where they think they will find less recognition in the area of the personal experience of faith. It sometimes becomes hard to find people for tasks in the church, which require some of our time and energy. And we also hear different voices about the Sunday worship services. People would rather see and hear a little more of the individual experience of faith. The liturgy of the worship service is not equally satisfying to each and every person. For some people this then becomes a reason not to attend the worship services anymore.

People asked me to write something regarding the threat to the spiritual communion due to the individualisation of society. I think that each person can imagine something here from their own church practice. The question we ought to answer here though, is: how can we deal with this together? When someone gets personally admonished to recognize the need to personally get involved in the communion of the church, this will often have the opposite effect. In this way the church is describing their norms and values, and nobody is waiting for that. This is quickly seen as an infringement upon personal freedom: what is church council getting involved in this for? If people do not feel a real bond with one another, many encouragements and incentives to get involved in the communion of saints will be met with resistance instead of reaching the intended goal (of being a hand and a foot to one another).

Purpose of This Article←⤒🔗

Is there something which can be said from the Bible about this issue? It will be clear that the Bible speaks about the personal relationship with God as well as about the communion there is with all who, by Christ, are called to his flock. How do the individual and the communal compare with each other? And how can the communion of saints currently present, be experienced in a better way?

The purpose of this article is to draw a few lines from the Bible regarding these questions. It would be good to closely view the texts which are mentioned with your Bible open, so that it becomes clear that this is not about a single Bible text, but about the continuous message of the complete Word of God.

Do Not Skip the Individual Part←⤒🔗

First of all, we should say that the emphasis on the individual in our time is not just all negative for the community. The church is the people of God. However, you can only experience that in his richness, if you know yourself to be a servant of him, who has created you and still looks after you. The church is the body of Christ. But you can only experience it in his richness if you know yourself to be a member of it, with Christ as the Head of your life. The church is the flock of the Good Shepherd, but the richness you will only experience when you personally learn to listen to the voice of the Shepherd. The church is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but it cannot be exhibited when each believer personally does not understand what that means, that the Holy Spirit also wants to work in the heart of every believer. You can experience the richness of the communion of saints where you know what God’s work in your personal life means. Otherwise the communion of saints becomes an outer shell, which has no content for each of the individual members. The church cannot bypass the questions of the individual experience and the individual needs; that would be detrimental for the content of the communion of saints.

However, this does not mean that the meaning of the communion of saints is approximately the same as the sum of the parts of everyone’s personal needs and experiences. The communion in the church of Christ rises far above this kind of math equation. After all, it does not come about because the members look out for one another and try to understand or complement each others’ experiences. The real communion of saints in the church of Christ is coming from another side. Christ himself lays the connection between the members of his body. Because he calls his sheep to commune with him, it creates a bond with each other, which we do not control.

Professor Van Genderen concludes at the end of his dissertation on the concept of “communion” in the New Testament: “The communion of the Christians among each other does not come from below, but from above. This communion is not being controlled by what they feel for one another, but by what the Lord does with them. Otherwise it could not be a continuous communion”.

This conclusion fits closely with what the Heidelberg Catechism understands under the communion of saints: “First, that believers, all and everyone, as members of Christ have

communion with him and share in all his treasures and gifts. Second, that everyone is duty-bound to use his gifts readily and cheerfully for the benefit and well-being of the other members” (Lord’s Day 21, Q/A 55 Heidelberg Catechism — Book of Praise).

Communion with God is the Source←⤒🔗

Communion therefore consists of two elements. First of all, to both partake in salvation. And secondly, to together live out of salvation. Both these elements do not originate from activities by men but from the work of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

The problem often is, as I have experienced, that we think we can hold up the second element as a task for the members of the congregation, while the first element, the basis, is not that strongly experienced. Then such a calling is indeed experienced as a compulsion, which will have the opposite effect.

Perhaps we will make more headway if we look for ways through which we can experience the basis of being a congregation in a better/stronger way. If it is true that the basis of the church community lies in the “all together and each person individually partake in Christ and all his benefits”, then we must look for ways where this “partaking together” can be experienced stronger. This way the reality is experienced, that communion with God is the source for the communion with each other.

A Biblical Line: the Old Testament←⤒🔗

It is important in this regard, to see how the communion with God and the communion with each other compare with one another in the Bible.

In the Old Testament this element was much experienced in the worship services in the temple. There, the personal relationship with God is embedded in the communion of God’s people. The history of God and his people, such as was commemorated during the major feasts in the temple, stood not outside the life of each believer individually. In this we see what God has done for each of the believers.

This can even be motivation for personal actions from faith. Moses tells people, who did not experience slavery in Egypt personally: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt...Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15). Based on these and similar texts there is a Jewish saying that poses that each person must view themselves, as if they had departed from Egypt. That is why this can truly be celebrated every year at Easter with complete involvement.

And so, the faith experience of the spiritual community works into the faith experience and actions of the individual believer. Conversely, there is also space in the worship service for the personal experience of each believer, so that others may learn from it. Often, it speaks in the psalms of individual vows, which will be paid “in the presence of all his people” (e.g. Ps. 116:18). People, after they experienced a personal rescue by the Lord, would sometimes ask the priest to compose a psalm so that they could thank God in the midst of the congregation, and so that also a people yet to come, could experience God’s greatness in their lives in songs of praise to him (as is shown in Psalm 102:18). There was room for whatever people experienced in their lives in God’s salvation, to strengthen the unity ties and to praise/serve the greater glory of God. As it says in Psalm 66:16, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul”.

The New Testament←⤒🔗

This part of the experience of the communion of faith also comes to the fore quite strongly in the New Testament. Christ himself indicates that the communion with him qualifies the communion with each other. This communion can be rendered as “abiding in his love” (John 15:9). There cannot be a true communion with each other, if there is not first a love-bond with him; he is the source of love and of communion with each other.

At the same time, he is also the norm of love: as he has loved us, we ought to also love one another (John 13:15). If our communion with each other is to grow, then we first must figure out what this love from him to us, means.

In the first Christian congregation, this was the source of the communion: staying with the teaching of the apostles who taught nothing else than the Word where Christ was front and centre (Acts 2:42). The communion of saints takes shape, because each person partakes in the communion with Christ, resulting in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and in the prayers.

The Letters to the First Congregation←⤒🔗

In the New Testament, letters are written to the first Christian congregations, where the first questions arise regarding the nature of communion. In all the letters we are pointed to the need to seek this communion not just in our living out of faith, but also in the experience of faith.

In Romans 12 Paul points to the danger that the gifts which the members of the congregation receive, are experienced in an individualistic manner, to further themselves. That is not right. The gifts are to further the one body (of Christ). From the gifts which Paul mentions in Romans 12:6 ff, it becomes clear that this is about the spiritual strengthening of one another.

Corinth apparently also needed a reprimand regarding a wrong understanding of communion. This surfaced at the table of the Lord. Connected with this was a love-meal, meant to strengthen the community. However, this had turned into a gorge-fest, where the rich ate their own food, leaving the leftovers for the poor. Everyone defended individualistically what they thought they deserved. Paul (1 Cor. 11:22) blames these people that they despise the church of God. He also points to the way out of this: to examine yourself and to experience the true communion with Christ (1 Cor. 11:28). Only when the source is good, is one able to heal the experience of communion with each other. Then each person can serve others and the common good with their gifts of grace (1 Cor. 12:7).

Also in the congregation of Galatia a lot was lacking. Paul even speaks of a stance such as animals of prey have toward each other: biting and devouring each other (Gal. 5:15). Paul shows that the reason for this is a wrong experience of Christ’s salvation. The Galatians do not realize what it is to be truly free of the law by faith in Christ, who purchased his own from the curse of the law. Because they do not see this, they put a yoke on each other (Gal. 5:1-12). Paul says (Gal. 5:13 ff) if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you, and man with his individual achievements becomes more important than what Christ has done. Only when you have a good relationship with Christ, will you be able to see the true love of God, and therefore also be able to love one another. If the spiritual community wants to grow, it must start with a common understanding as to what the work of Christ means.

This love is needed, to not dwell on the sins of congregation members around you. How does love show itself? In serving each other “as good stewards of God’s varied grace”. Then it is not only about the fruit of faith, but also about the experience of faith. Words will be used, as (coming) from God. You realize not only in your deeds, but also in what you are saying, that it is God’s grace which allows all of us to live. And thus, in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10, 11).

Also in the letters of John, it shows that the call to love one another is closely connected to the source of that love which is in God, and with professing it. Faith in God can only truly be “tasted” if there is love for the brothers and sisters in the faith; and love for the brothers and sisters can only be genuine, if it is supported at the base by the love of God ( 1 John 4:11, 20). This is also borne out by faith in Christ as the Son of God (1 John 3:23, and 4:15). Love is not colourless but gets its form by seeing from one another Who the source of our love is.

Conclusions←⤒🔗

It is clear that this is not a new problem when we struggle with the question how the communion of saints can be better experienced among the members of the congregation. In most of the letters in the New Testament it appears that in that time already quite a few admonitions were needed.

It seems that in this context it is not sufficient to point each other to the necessity to care for one another and to do some things together. This must be supported at the base, or these admonitions will hang in thin air, and it may look as if the communion of saints only becomes a reality when we make some effort for it.

We must look for possibilities that, based on our communion of saints, which is the partaking together of the salvation of Christ, we may enjoy this together in a proper manner. Only where this is truly enjoyed in faith will there be a base to give this communion form, to live together in the faith. A more in-depth study of the various verses mentioned can perhaps be a beginning to give this hands and feet in your own congregation.

The heart of this experience will need to be the worship service. Perhaps it is possible to speak together about the manner in which these things get their place in our worship services and how they are experienced by the members of the congregation.

From the texts quoted above it also became clear however, that the experience meant for the congregation must be expanded. The question may be asked whether the communal exchange of individual experience of life with God in the places where we meet each other as brothers and sisters, is adequately addressed? It is good that the ways which we have to experience and strengthen the communion of saints are being analysed/x-rayed with the Biblical lines mentioned above. For example, at a Bible study evening or congregational meeting, is there an opportunity to discuss this together? Is there the opportunity for personal prayer with and for each other? Are there ways that partaking in salvation can be experienced outside of the worship services? Not just living out of faith, but also the experience of faith must be molded during the meetings with each other, so that the communion of saints may flourish.

According to Ephesians 4:11ff, the elders are the first designated persons to stimulate the growth of the saints, and to build up the body of Christ. They may do this in the realization that eventually it is Christ himself who takes care of his body. The real communion of saints does not grow from the bottom up but is given from above. However, this does not absolve us from the task to search for ways in which there can be spiritual growth among the saints; so that we become more and more what we are through the work of Christ: his church. And so, through the body as a whole and through the individual members, ever more praise is given to God for his gifts of grace.