1 Corinthians 10:21 — You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
Assuming we determine that we are true believers and are not prevented from coming to the Table through unbelief, another part of the self-examination we are to conduct before taking the Lord's Supper is to search our hearts for any signs of idolatry. Have we begun to put other people or things in first place in our thoughts and affections - which is the rightful place of the Lord alone? This is the subject Paul is addressing with the church at Corinth in the passage above. The people in the church were not to be participating in food which had been offered to pagan gods and idols in a way that their hearts were even slightly drawn to those gods. To put it in more contemporary terms, if we have received Christ as our Savior, we cannot continue to place supreme importance on the things that occupy that place in the hearts of non-Christians.
As Jesus Himself said, no-one can serve two masters - it is not a tenable position to be in, and the magnitude of the problem is exposed when we come to the Lord's Table. Here, I declare that I am wholly Christ's, purchased by His blood. Here, I proclaim my union with Him and with all His blood-bought children. But how can I declare these things without hypocrisy if, in fact, I am not undivided in my affections towards Him (and do not wish to be)? How can the meal properly represent my complete union with Him if all the while I am eating it, my heart is also joined to other things or other people,(and I have no desire to give them up)? What possibility is there that I will receive grace from the meal when my presence at the Table proclaims such lies about myself?
So before we come to the Table, we should sift our hearts carefully and examine whether they are completely devoted to the Lord, or whether someone or something else has begun to win their affections and to take Christ's rightful place in out lives.
Our hearts are fickle and deceitful and they are easily drawn away after things that appeal to the flesh. We should not be surprised to find this when we examine them. However, this should not in itself keep us from the Table, where we can find grace to help in our time of need. What should keep us away is when, as believers, we find our hearts are given over to other things and/or to other people than to Jesus, but we have no repentance within us - no longing to tear down the idols in our hearts and to be totally surrendered to Christ as Lord. We cannot cling to other gods in our lives and celebrate the Lord's Supper without being hypocrites.
As we have said before, self-examination is not necessarily an easy thing. It can be painful and distressing if we do it honestly. However, it is immensely valuable as a part of our Christian walk, and the opportunity to make sure our hearts do not have divided loyalties is something we should welcome so we can repent and get right with the Lord as soon as possible. This provides yet another justification for a frequent celebration of the Supper.
