This morning, I'm still turning over some of the implications shared yesterday in the Greek/Hebrew paradigms especially in regard to the individual versus community distinction. Western (Greek) thinkers interpret Scripture in terms of the individual; Eastern (Hebrew) thinkers interpret Scripture in terms of the community living in relationship with God.

Think about that contrast in one area of our worship assemblies: the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper, also called "communion," holds in its contemporary setting little opportunity for communion with one another. In our contemporary manner of serving the Lord's Supper, communion with one another is forfeited for the sake of an individual moment of quiet communion with the Lord.

Was this always the case? When you look at the very institution of the Lord's Supper itself, it occured within the context of a meal (see Mark 14.12-26, specifically verse 22a). It seems from the passages in 1 Corinthians 11 that, in the correction of abuses at Corinth, the love feast as a part of the Lord's Supper was not one of the abuses Paul sought to correct.

My friend and co-worker, Allan Stanglin, wrote a riveting thesis for his graduate work at Austin Graduate School of Theology on this very issue. His thesis was the Lord's Supper, as a celebratory banquet taken in community (Hebrew) has been replaced by a somber memorial of individual (Greek) introspection.

Is it possible today in our contemporary setting to return the community aspect of the Lord's Supper that was clearly delineated in the origin of the Supper and in the practice of the first churches?