Bible Question: "When churches take communion, should they use unleavened bread and real wine?"

Bible Answer: If the goal is to recreate the last supper with the Lord and His disciples when we have a communion service in our churches, then the answer is yes.

But to take that thought to its logical conclusion, we should also meet in an upper room, recline on couches, cook a lamb and pass it around in a dish from which we all dip pieces of bread into the same dish and eat with our hands.

And if we want to continue that plan to its complete conclusion, we should all become Jewish and celebrate Passover, which is what the Lord and His disciples were doing that night in the upper room.

But that is not the goal of communion services in our churches.

The Apostle Paul gives us instruction on how the Lord's Supper, or communion service, should be conducted in 1 Corinthians 11.

"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'

"In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes," Paul writes in 1 Cor. 11:23-26.

The controversial part of this question, of course, is whether we should use real wine. I think few would argue that using unleavened bread, as the Jews did on Passover to remember their hurried escape from Egypt, is a requirement that would be much trouble to follow.

And I do agree that using unleavened bread in our Christian communion services is a touch of authenticity we should observe, though I wouldn't require it of any.

But when it comes to using real wine, I think we must consider its place in our modern society compared to wine in biblical society.

Every meal in those times had wine on the table, just as many places in Europe and the Middle East today still use wine commonly.

And for those Christians who are not offended by wine, I see no problem whatsoever with using real wine in a communion service.

But there are many Christians today who would not be comfortable partaking in a communion service with real wine.

And Paul dealt with this very issue in chapters 8 and 10 in 1 Corinthians, where he gives the example of eating meat that had been dedicated to idols as a sacrifice and then sold in the markets.

Some Christians were offended at eating such meat and others were not. Paul's judgment to the Corinthians was he saw no problem personally with eating such meat, but added that if it offended one of his brothers in Christ for him to do so, then he would abstain.

"Therefore, if food make my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble," he says in 1 Cor. 8:13.

So the issue is not whether we would be authentic by drinking real wine in communion. Yes, we would. But would doing so cause one of our brothers to be offended? Yes, answers that question also.

So therefore should we do so? Definitely not, on Paul's authority.

And would that be celebrating communion in remembrance of Jesus? When it would offend a brother who Jesus died for? Never.

To do so would smack of a "holier than thou" attitude, as in "We're better Christians than you are, because we use real wine in our communion." Neither Paul nor Jesus would ever approve of that attitude.

Submit Bible questions by email to writeme@johnwmyers.com

(John Myers has been a Christian lay speaker, Sunday School adult teacher and newspaper Bible study columnist for more than 20 years.)