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Leadership

Excluding people from communion

From a clergy-friend:

Re the matter of excluding people from Communion…

I had the privilege of spending a few weeks some years ago with some wonderful Christians in Zambia. One aspect of their church life that I struggled with was what I regarded as an overly zealous and narrow approach to Church Discipline – including a practice of excluding some categories of sinners from Communion. They told me that some deacons would stand at the village church door to turn known “sinners” away from Communion and if any slipped past they would be escorted out. I asked them what type of sinners would be excluded. They said “People we know to have been drinking, smoking or having sex outside marriage.” I asked them what they would do if a businessman in the congregation was greedy and sought to make excessive profits by overcharging. They said: “Nothing. That would be his business!” I guess we all have our cultural blindspots and hobby horses. Now we see dimly and know in part…

Thankfully Jesus did not come to save only some categories of sinner.

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