QUESTION

Should brethren sing whilst partaking of the Lord's supper?

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EXPLANATION

The "Lord's supper"^A and "the breaking of the bread"^B (Gk. loaf) are two terms used in the New Testament of the Bible for the meeting when, in each locality, the whole congregation came together to remember the Lord Jesus by eating a loaf of unleavened bread (whilst they contemplated on the body in which he dwelt on earth) and in drinking a cup of grape juice (whilst they contemplated on the blood he shed on the cross).
[^A 1Corinthins 11:20.   ^B The Greek of Acts 2:42]

See the paragraph entitled "Simplicity in the Worship" in the leaflet "What is Christianity ?"

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ANSWER

When the Lord Jesus instituted this simple feast he asked the his followers to remember him in doing it. They did not sing until after it was finished.

Though there is no specific statement in scripture on whether one should sing or not sing whilst partaking or the Lord's supper to me it is indiscreet to introduce singing whilst doing it because remembrance is a time for contemplation. The apostle Paul, in correcting the abuse of the "feast" in Corinth, used the manner in which the Lord instituted it as precedence for exactly how it should be done.

In 1 Corinthians 11:2 they are commended for observing his instructions on head covering precisely.

"Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

But in verse 17 they are rebuked and remind of what Paul had previously told them, as to how the Lord instituted the feast, as precedence for how the supper should be conducted.

17 "Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse."

23 "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: do this in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: ye do this, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

The words "do this" exclude anything else being done whilst one remembers the Lord in his supper. That is why in verse 22, Paul, using a rhetorical question, pointed out that the gathering for the Lord's supper is not the proper occasion for eating a common meal.

22 "What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the assembly of God,"

It follows the time of inner contemplation is not an appropriate time to be singing.

An old brother used to say to me, "If it is new it cannot be true." Singing while partaking of the Lord's supper is a novelty. It was not practised by the early Christians. We are supposed to be trying to restore faith and worship according to the New Testament principles. Novelties in worship are a departure from New Testament principles.

Based on the reasons given above, my advice is that we should not sing or indulge in any other distraction whilst contemplating the significance of the loaf we are eating and the cup we are drinking.

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