By Kenya Smith

In the Christian community, many of us partake of the Holy Communion or the Last Supper. The bread symbolizes Jesus’s broken body, and the cup of wine symbolizes the blood that He shed on the cross. Therefore, we participate in the Last Supper in order to remind ourselves Jesus endured an excruciating ordeal in order to save the whole world from sin and death.

I Corinthians 11 mentions how one should partake of this holy custom. Verse 28 tells us that before we partake of the supper, we must examine ourselves. Failure to examine ourselves will lead us to eat and drink unworthily, which causes damnation unto ourselves. As Christians, examining ourselves doesn’t only apply to the Holy Communion, but it can also apply to our everyday lives.

We must be careful when we point fingers and try to expose people’s dirt, because, for one reason, it can cause us to make false, sweeping generalizations about people. We see this happening in politics a lot. The truth is, not everyone on the left is anti-Christian and hates Chick-fil-A, and not everyone on the right hates minorities or LGBTQ individuals.

I mentioned in one of my previous articles how Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) worked together to introduce a bill that would consider lynching a hate crime and protect the victims of lynching regardless of race, nationality, religion, gender and sexual orientation. There was no beef between the three; they all agreed that everyone has a right to live and thrive without being harmed. Anytime you consider one party as Christ’s party and demonize the other party, that’s idolatry. Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Another reason why we shouldn’t point fingers is that the score will always be even. There’s an old saying that goes, “When you point your finger at someone, three more fingers are pointing back at you.” This saying is true. When we say yes to Christ, we are saying that we accept being called to a higher standard. Therefore, we cannot expect people who aren’t Christians to behave as if they are Christians. When we tell people what the Bible says but refuse to live up to those same biblical standards, that alone can cause damage.

While it’s true that Christians are not perfect, it is always wise to show humility and to let people know beforehand, not after we mess up. Furthermore, when we do mess up, apologize and do better. That’s called transparency. In today’s churches, there are too many people who feel that their garbage doesn’t stink, and we wonder why people stop coming to church or even abandon Christianity. Then, we convince people not to leave, but we aren’t willing to be better and do better. If we know better, then we’ll do better.

During communion, let us remember the reason why we are here. It’s not our goodness, but God’s goodness, that keeps us here.

 

Kenya Smith is a Suffolk native. Email her at s.kenya43@yahoo.com.