Frank Viola, Re-imagining Church, chapter 3

I’ve been side tracked with other books, so this review has suffered….

The basic premise in this chapter is that the Lord’s supper was actually taken as a meal. That the church has in many ways has taken many of the meanings and metaphors away from the Lords supper when it is not been taken and eaten in a more literal sense.

I suppose what I reflected upon was that the meal was intimate between believers. Most churches which I have been involved with, there communion has been based around an intamicy between God and the participants, but not neccessarily with other communicants. In actually sharing a meal this has a greater scope for happening. Through sharing and dialogue, there is greater chance of understanding and interacting in the Lords supper.

The question then arises especially for larger church is it actually possible to have an intimate communion where in the process everyone is able to express some of the amazingness of the Lords supper and through this worship God? I think it probably could happen, but it would for many almost seem contrived. Thus I think for the larger church the dynamics which Viola talked about would probably work best in the ’small group’

Some good stuff for reflection in the chapter, I pretty much agreed with it.