fbpx

Navigate / search

Interpreting 1 Corinthians 11 Using Today’s Culture

Interpreting 1 Corinthians 11 Using Today's Culture

Communion: A Symbol We’re Already Familiar With

It’s the passage that your pastor recites every time he introduces the Lord’s Supper (a.k.a, Communion or Eucharist). “This bread is My body, which is broken for you… This cup is the new covenant in My blood… Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  These are the words of Jesus, quoted by the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 11.

To institute the Lord’s Supper, Christ took an ancient practice (the Passover celebration) and gave it a powerful new meaning.  Eating the Passover meal had already been a standard tradition in Israelite culture for hundreds of years.  But Jesus’ divine adaptation of it became an honored practice of the Christian Church.  Two thousand years later, Communion is still regularly celebrated around the globe.

What did it take to transform this Jewish tradition into a new universal Christian practice?  We see the combination of three factors:  (1) a description of the new symbolic practice, (2) an explanation of the uniquely-Christian reasons for the new symbolic practice, and (3) an unqualified command to perform the new symbolic practice.  Regarding Communion, each of these components was provided by Jesus, taught by the Apostles, and maintained in the pages of Scripture for Christians throughout history.

But here’s the interesting thing: the practice of (and meaning behind) the Lord’s Supper has no unique relationship to modern Western culture. Yet, separated from its initiation by 2000 years, believers today feel quite comfortable with continuing this ancient practice. Because of the three key components listed above, Christians affirm that Communion was intended by God to extend well beyond the local First Century churches.

However, it would be easy for modern churches to find reasons to give up this tradition. For example, Christians today could simply say…

  • “The Lord’s Supper is not understood by the average person on the street nowadays. If we practiced it in our church, visitors would be confused.They may even consider leaving if we start talking about eating Jesus’ body and drinking His blood.”
  • “Jesus and His disciples were Jewish, and they were employing a Jewish practice. But we’re not a Jewish church, and we’re not trying to import Jewish culture into our church.”
  • “People today want substance, not rituals. The Lord’s Supper was only a symbolic tradition — the reality is in Christ Himself. Just experiencing Jesus personally is more than enough for us.”

In spite of responses like these, the Lord’s Supper is a solid component of Christianity — both historically and biblically. Most believers would agree that if a congregation decided that Communion is no longer relevant, they could not base their discontinuation of it on the teaching of Scripture. Read more

祈りのベールの証し:レイチェル・エーンスト

Head Covering Testimonies

名前:レイチェル・エーンスト
年齢:25歳
所在地:韓国ソウル市
祈りのベールを始めた時期:2015年1月28日


Rachel Ernst

1)読者のみなさんに自己紹介してください。

レイチェル・エーンストと申します。私は最近結婚したばかりの妻で、軍人の夫と共に、現在、韓国に住んでいます。もともと南カロライナ州の出身なのですが、結婚前の二年間はワシントンDCで働いており、そこで現在の夫であるリチャードに出会いました。

大学では歴史と音楽を専攻し、現在は、通信で、改革派神学校の聖書学修士課程を履修しているところです。またパートでも編集の仕事をしています。

私はクリスチャンホームで育ちましたが、自分の信仰が成長し始めたのは、高校・大学時代です。大学の時には一年間休学して、南アジアで6カ月、ホームレスの女の子たちのために奉仕活動をしました。そしてこの体験が私の人生コースを大きく変えたのです。

私はムスリムの女性たちに対して特別な思いを持っています。そして彼女たちがキリストの愛によって解放され、強められることを祈っています。

Read more

Covering Testimony: Jessica Lovely

Head Covering Testimonies

Name: Jessica Lovely | Age: 31 | Location: Gypsy, Kentucky | Starting Covering: Summer 2015


Jessica Lovely

1) Introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello, my name is Jessica Lovely. I am 31 years old and I live in Gypsy, Kentucky, a small community nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. For the most part things are fairly simple around here. My husband goes to work in the log woods every day to provide for us. I home school all four of our children, all of which are in different grades. I love being a wife and a mother, God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family. I enjoy cooking for my family and taking evening walks with my kids and the dogs. I enjoy making lye soap and homemade chemical free deodorants and cleaners. Above all and most importantly I am a devoted child of God and feel very blessed at every opportunity (including this one) He gives me to spread the Gospel.

2) Where do you attend church? Tell us a little bit about it. Do others practice headcovering there?

I am blessed to attend Little Rachel Church, which is in the Waldo, Kentucky area. I attend services on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings. There is one other lady that practices head covering there besides myself and my daughter. We have become good friends and encourage one another and both agree that it feels nice not to be the only one there doing it, although if need be we would most defiantly stand alone in doing so. On occasions there are 2 other ladies that attend services that cover also. About 2 services ago, there were 5 of us, counting myself and my daughter there that were wearing head coverings, I must say that was a blessing to me. Read more

What Did A.W. Pink Believe About Head Covering?

What Did A.W. Pink Believe About Head Covering?

[Series introduction: This post is part of a series that will examine what certain leaders in church history believed about head covering. Their arguments, choice of language and conclusions should not be misconstrued as an endorsement from us. The purpose of this series is to faithfully show what they believe about covering rather than only selectively quoting the parts we agree with.]

A.W. Pink (1886–1952), according to his biographer Iain Murray, is “one of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century.” He pastored churches in the United States and Australia but he is best known for his books such as “The Attributes of God” and “The Sovereignty of God“.
Arthur and Vera Pink

In May 1926, Arthur Pink addressed the congregation of Particular Baptist Church in Sydney, Australia. His topic was “Headship” and the sermon text was 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Through this sermon we come to understand what Pink believed about the symbol of head covering.

He believed that the symbol should be practiced today and distanced himself from the cultural view. He said that “there are some who claim that much in this first epistle to the Corinthians only had to do with local conditions that then existed and does not apply to the churches of God today. I emphatically deny it.” He also didn’t see this as an insignificant matter. He knew that “there is nothing small or trivial in the things of God” and that “big doors swing on little hinges.” That’s why he exhorted his congregation on this passage. Through his words we see that head covering in Australia was losing popularity even in the 1920’s. He said that wearing one may “cause the world to sneer” and “bring upon you the taunt of ‘old-fashioned'”. He also mentioned that there was “fashion which is increasingly popular among women today” of cutting their hair short, which he was strictly against. This was the era of the first wave of feminism and we see that it was already having a negative impact on biblical gender roles and distinctions. Read more

祈りのベールの証し:エリザベス・ワイザー

Head Covering Testimonies

名前:エリザベス・ワイザー

年齢:26歳

所在地:イスラエル、ベエールシェバ市

祈りのベールを始めた時期:2011年7月

Covering the Web: Elizabeth Wiser

1)読者のみなさんに、少し自己紹介してくださいますか。

私はイスラエル在住の、アメリカ人医学部生です。ユダヤ人でもない私がイスラエルで勉強しているというのは、母国でも、そしてここイスラエルでも、「ちょっと普通ではない事」と受け取られているようです。しかし私の大学は、グローバル公衆衛生に力を入れており、ベドゥインの遊牧民や、アフリカからの難民、世界中からのユダヤ人移住者たちと共に働き奉仕する機会が与えられており、私にとってはまさに理想的な状況です。というのも、私は将来的に医療ミッションに関わりたいと思っているからです。

母国で医学部を修了するのなら、この先5年から10年待った上で、はじめて――言葉も文化も不慣れな――外国の宣教地に足を踏み入れるということになると思います。でも今、私は勉強しつつ、しかもすでに「現場に」いるのです!また、私の住んでいるベエールシェバ(Beer Sheva)は、かつてアブラハムが住んだ町でもあります!ですから、聖書がユダヤの南とか、荒野とか、ネゲブと言っている時には、私は自分の部屋から外を眺めさえすればいいのです。そうすれば、それがどんなものか立ちどころに分かります。

2)どこの教会に通っていますか。

私はベエールシェバで唯一英語通訳のある教会に通っています。この教会にはまた、スペイン語とロシア語の通訳もついており、それはイエスの御名の中で、異邦人とユダヤ人が共に集まり、神様を礼拝するという美しい光景を生み出すものとなっています。

ここのコミュニティーの人たちは本当にすばらしいです。非常に多くのユダヤ人クリスチャンの方々が、イエス様に信仰を持ったゆえに、家族から絶縁されています。また洗礼式を行なうのも覚悟が要ります。というのも、うちの教会で洗礼式が行われるという情報が流れると、オーソドックス・ジュー(正統派ユダヤ教徒)の人々が教会に暴動を働きかけてくるからです。(なぜなら、一人のユダヤ人がバプテスマを受けるということは、ユダヤ人であることから離反すること(de-Jewed)を意味するからです。)このように自分が、クリスチャンという[イスラエルにおいては]少数派の一員であるという体験は、周りの文化ではなく、意識的に自分の信仰を実践し生きていくということを学ぶ上で大きな励みになっています。 Read more

40+ Head Covering Tutorials on Youtube

Headcovering Tutorials

Soon after discovering head covering, I went to the internet for more information.

Almost immediately I found K.P. Yohannan’s free e-book, Head Coverings. I devoured it and many articles by Jeremy, the founder of the Head Covering Movement.

But while KP and Jeremy are great at explaining the doctrinal whys of head covering, I was kinda on my own when it came to the hows of head covering.

Enter YouTube.

The one-stop-DIY-video shop where you can figure out how to take off your car’s bumper, watch a TED talk or play a ukulele.

After watching countless head covering tutorials (and making a few myself), I’m sharing my favorite head covering tutorial videos on YouTube.

Disclaimer: These videos aren’t necessarily made by Christian women, nor does The Head Covering Movement endorse any particular style. (Though there is an opinion piece on should a Christian woman wear a hijab or not.)

40+ Head Covering Tutorials on Youtube

Beginners

Read more

Send this to a friend