Where's the Bread?
- Jon Miller, MA
- Aug 12, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 18, 2022
The question, "where's the beef" became part of our culture after Wendy's fast food established it as an advertising campaign in 1984. In the ad, an older woman approached a competitor's counter and looked at a hamburger patty hidden under an extra-large bun. In a harsh and patronizing voice, she asked, "where's the beef?"
A similar problem is found in most Protestant churches today. Every Sunday, the Church meets and sings praises, listens to a sermon, receives an offering, and participates in corporate prayer. Yet, the bread and fruit of the vine are missing. Thus, we are left asking, "where's the bread?
Why is the breaking of bread scarcely practiced in most Protestant Churches?
The overall response from church leaders for not observing the Lord's Supper weekly is that frequency will cause it to lose meaning. However, this same ideology is not applied to other elements of the service, such as preaching or receiving tithes and offerings.
Jesus gave His disciples bread and wine, and after breaking it, he told them, "This do in remembrance of me." The Greek verb used by Jesus, "do," is an active imperative verb, meaning that it is a command to follow not once but as a continuous process. Thus, the apostle Paul cited these words when he gave instructions on the Lord's Supper to the Church of Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:23-34). In addition, when the believers gathered in the book of Acts, they participated in the breaking of the bread (Acts 2:42, 46).
John Calvin said that no meeting of the Church should be held without the word, prayer, the dispensation of the supper, and alms. Calvin said that this was the order practiced by the Corinthians, and we can be certain that it was practiced for many ages after. Furthermore, he said that the custom that prescribes communion once a year is an invention of the devil.[1]
The reformers did not agree with the Church in Rome that the bread and wine became the flesh and blood of Christ.
Nevertheless, they believed that Jesus was present during the supper, and the worshipers received grace through His presence. Jesus told the lukewarm Church in Laodicea that He was outside the building knocking on the door, and wanted to come in to eat with them (Revelation 3:20). Because of the changes made by man and not by God, the weekly recollection of how our salvation was obtained has been set aside from service. So, Jesus stands outside the assembly, knocking to enter.
Therefore, we can establish that the Church of the first century and the reformers regarded breaking the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine as an essential part of service. If the apostles or reformers entered most churches today, the absence of the Lord's Supper would cause them to ask, "where is the bread?" Thankfully, for those who wish to see the practices of the New Testament in service, it is something that can be changed.
Searching The Topic
[1] John Calvin, “The Christian Religion,” John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion - Christian Classics Ethereal Library, accessed August 10, 2022, https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes/institutes.i.html.
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