I am not one of those who thinks the Bible commands that we take communion weekly. I think ‘whenever you do this’ leaves us with some wiggle room of just how regularly we do it. But I do think the tenor and inferences one might draw is that it probably is best done regularly. And if regularly, it makes sense to aim to do it weekly even if there may be the periodic reason not to do it. I tend to favour a typically weekly affair.

One of the reasons why I think scripture leans towards regularity in taking the Lord’s Supper is because of our regular need to repent. Not that Jesus hasn’t forgiven all of our sin, past, present and future when we first came to him. But one of the signs of genuine belief, continuing to walk with the Lord Jesus, is an ongoing posture of repentance. Communion offers us a fresh opportunity to do that each week.

Here are Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 11 concerning the instutition of the Lord’s Supper:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Communion calls for a level of self-examination. That self-examination seems to be linked specifically to eating in a worthy manner. The worthiness of the manner of our eating is similarly linked to discerning the body. In the wider context of 1 Corinthians 11, that seems to be referring to the body of the local church. Rather than eating their own individual meals and having no concern for the wider body to which communion symbolises belonging, Paul encourages the believers to examine themselves to see if they really belong to the body at all. It seems to be the same idea, in essence, as in 2 Corinthians 13:5, which uses the same form of words, ‘Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!’ In other words, examine whether you belong to Christ at all and are truly part of his body in the local church.

The 2 Corinthians reference to examining ourselves is telling because Paul seems to suggest that of course they are in the faith because Jesus Christ is in them. That is unless they fail the test. What test could possibly assure them whether they are in the faith and Jesus Christ is in them unless that very test itself is failed? Surely this can only be a test of repentance. Have they actually repented of their sin? If they have, then they are in the faith and Jesus Christ is in them. If they haven’t, then of course, he isn’t. That seems to be the key issue of self-reflection in view here. Have you really repented? This is a piece of self-reflection baked into the taking of communion.

This is why I think scripture suggests a regular partaking of communion. It gives us a regular opportunity to reflect on whether we have truly repentant hearts and whether we are, in truth, still walking in the faith. Indeed, because communion is a communal act of the church, it is not merely a personal restatement that, yes, I have decided I am still a believer. That much you could do at home on your own. Communion is the communal affirmation of the church, in which you remain a member, that yes, we also affirm together that we think you are still walking in the faith. Let’s see you again next week and see if it still holds and share communion together again if and when we agree once more that you are still a believer. It is why the church can rightly be described, as Mark Dever has, as an assurance of salvation co-operative. It is why communion is so important to the life of the church. It causes believers to ask whether they are still walking faithfully and gives a fresh opportunity to repent of any sin and for the church to affirm, as each member takes the elements, that yes, we think you are you still a believer walking faithfully in Christ.

This matters because it is an important feature in creating a culture of repentance in our churches. I think it was RC Sproul who said something to the effect, the only sin that should ever lead to someone’s excommunication is settled unrepentance. I think that is about right. Having an opportunity to reflect on whether we need to repent at least calls to mind the question with some regularity and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that we are going to need to make use of the promise of forgiveness for repentance every week. But Jesus welcomes repentant sinners. And it is repentant sinners who evidence that they, indeed, belong to the body of Christ and remain in the faith.

If we have a regular opportunity to repent of our sins before God as we come to the Lord’s table, his grace should encourage us to confess those sins that we have committed against other believers. It should also free us, not to pronounce to all and sundry (who frankly don’t need to hear about it), but where appropriate, the sins of our past – knowing that they have long been forgiven by Jesus – in a bid to help someone else treading the same path to turn away from their folly and return, in genuine repentance, to the Lord Jesus who welcomes those that repent.