Disclaimer: This blog post is my thinking out loud, and as such, I am open to comments, critiques, and corrections on the topic.
I am concerned by what I have witnessed among Christian denominations that exclude individuals from participation in the Sacraments due to one’s inability to outwardly demonstrate faith in Christ, perhaps due to mental immaturity or disability. When I say “concerned,” I mean I come close to tears thinking about it, which for those that know me is saying a lot.
Baptist circles, for example, do not baptize someone unless they have made a public profession of faith. Another example are Presbyterian circles (of which I belong), who tend to not allow someone to participate in the Lord’s Supper unless they have made a public profession of faith. Regardless of why participation in a particular Sacrament is being denied, the result is a very real exclusion, a setting apart of that denied person from the rest of the Body of Christ. That person must be reminded Sunday after Sunday that they are not like the others they sit next to. Why? Because they have not met their church leaders’ subjective standard of exhibiting an understanding of and faith in the Gospel.
In the cases where one has been denied the Sacraments due to mental immaturity, i.e. children, I have often heard the explanation that the person has not yet reached the “age of accountability.” Not only am I unable to find such a concept in Scripture, this age varies subjectively from church to church. In the meantime, these children are forced to live in visible exclusion until they reach their church leaders’ prescribed magical age.
Regarding mental disability, I have seen men and women with Down’s Syndrome, for example, be denied the Sacraments for the same reason; their inability to articulate an understanding of and faith in the Gospel, which many of these people will never be able to do.
I believe a person with Down’s Syndrome in the church has as much of a right to the Sacraments as everyone else in the church. Yes, I wrote “right” and notice I also qualified that this person is in the church. This means they are attending every Sunday and likely the child of a believer. This person is in all tense and purposes already part of the visible church and as such ought to receive the sign meant to be administered to the visible church; i.e. Baptism.
A person who has not yet met the local subjective “age of accountability” still has every right to the Sacraments as everyone else in the church. Let us assume the following; the person is a child of a believer, has been Baptized, is a member of the visible church, and hears the Word preached every Sunday. Why should that church member be withheld from participation in the Lord’s Supper, the Gospel in visible form? We do not keep our children from hearing the Word preached prior to reaching an “age of accountability,” so why would we keep them from participating in the Gospel in visible form? The same goes for those with mental disabilities; if they have received the sign of Baptism, they ought not be denied participation to the Lord’s Supper, as if they are under official church discipline. In regards to “fencing the table,” I fear we are far too lenient with the sin of those without mental excuse and far too strict with those that are the most mentally tender and vulnerable. Shame on us!
Perhaps it would help if we considered the means of grace, which are prayer, the Word preached, and the Sacraments. We pray with and encourage those that are mentally immature or disabled. We preach the Word to these people in our church, as well. The Sacraments are effectual means of grace through the working of the Holy Spirit for those that have been given the gift of faith, which is a work of God, not man. I caution that on the matter of the Sacraments, we too often sound more like Pelagians than proponents of the Gospel of Grace. May we administer all the means of grace in such a manner that truly magnifies the grace and mercy of God in the saving a people unto Himself.
Amen brother....
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