Christianity, KSM and The Holy Communion.

During the week, I saw a video circulating on social media¹ that troubled me, The Presiding Bishop of The Methodist Church of Ghana was administering communion to members of a congregation including KSM. The video was captioned

With grace and humility, the Presiding Bishop served Holy Communion to members of the Immanuel Society at Regimanuel Gray Estates

I was stunned: KSM partakes of the Holy Communion? A brief background will situate my astonishment

In the early ’90s our country Ghana was marked by the emergence of private FM stations and KSM was one of the renowned radio presenters anchoring a program on vibe FM with a phone in session. Listeners phone in with excitement chanting “Nyame som yɛdɛ ” — “Serving God is joyous.” The host responds in equal measure: “Nyame som yɛdɛ ” The caller will then share their testimony of God’s goodness toward them. Then in unison, caller and host will re-echo the chant “Nyame som yɛdɛ “.

I have fond memories of the program because I had come to faith in Christ then as a teenager and was a regular listener. He will later host another popular TV program TGIF—Thank God It’s Friday. KSM was a household name. He staged a popular standup comedy show, The Saga Of A Returnee.

But in recent times, I have seen a number of interviews where KSM repudiates beliefs of the Christian faith. He questions the Bible and character of God as revealed in Scripture. In an interview, KSM responded to questions about God and the Bible saying

I believe there is a God. I believe there is a Creator. But the Creator I believe in is not what the Bible talks about…. I think the Bible comes from man made thinking…the people who wrote the Bible they came up with a vision of God according to their reality… the God I serve is different from the God of the Bible… the God of the Bible is the most inconsistent God I have seen in my life²

In other interviews, KSM declares he is not a Christian. Hearing the anti-God, anti-Christian comments from him was difficult to reconcile with the person I grew up knowing. What has happened to the man who burst on the scene with a burning flame for God? Did he take advantage of the religious nature of Ghanaians to project himself as a God lover to draw a following? Or he was genuinely a lover of God? What happened to him? 

Now for the benefit of doubt, I will grant that The Presiding Bishop is oblivious of KSM’s statements about the Christian faith. These things are primarily on social media so perhaps he isn’t aware of it.

In view of KSM’s public pronouncements about Christianity, I don’t believe he should be served The Holy Communion. I will discuss three reasons why.

The Holy Communion Is Exclusive To Believers

Jesus Christ instituted the communion as a memorial of his death and sacrifice for the sins of his people and to keep them in anticipation of his return. The apostle Paul elaborates this in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes

In these words, the apostle Paul puts forward reasons for the Holy Communion. He says it is a tradition from the Lord he is passing on to the believers. Then he explains the significance of it: (i) It is a command from the Lord, (ii) It is a memorial of Jesus’ Death (iii) It is A Testimony to Jesus, Death (iv) It’s a Covenant seal, (v) It keeps believers in anticipation of the return of Christ.

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood…” Anyone who has come to faith in Christ is in a covenant relationship with God through Christ and can partake of the Lord’s Supper. KSM by his utterances is not a believer, therefore cannot partake of what is exclusive to believers. He has openly announced himself not a Christian. Ergo, he is disqualified from partaking of the communion.

The Holy Communion Teaches Things KSM Denies

KSM doesn’t only declare himself not a Christian. He also openly deny the second advent of Christ, a doctrine the Lord’s Supper affirms. In another video, KSM renounces the second advent of Christ: “There is no second coming of Christ, Heaven and Hell is on earth“³ In 1 Corinthians 11:26, Paul points to the second advent of Christ as one of the reasons for the communion: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. In partaking of the communion, believers proclaim, witness, testify or preach the death of Christ until he comes. So, in the Lord’s Supper, Christ has instituted an ordinance to be observed by churches until his second coming.

This ordinance, as already noted, is exclusive to believers. If KSM doesn’t believe in the second coming of Christ, why partake of something that anticipates it?

The Judgement of God and The Holy Communion

Further down in Paul’s treatise on the Lord’s Supper, he made a sobering statement that should give pause to anyone who partakes of the communion.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Corinthians 11:27-30)

This is a warning of the judgment of God on partaking of the communion without any sense of reverence: “Let a person examine himself…” Did KSM do that? Did he pause to ask whether he is worthy, that is, he is a Christian in covenant relationship with God through Christ? That is the point of the verse 30. Eating and drinking without discerning the body; that is, without acknowledging it’s sacredness and significance brings judgment on himself.

For the sake of consistency in beliefs and public utterances KSM has made, he should have allowed the communion elements to pass him. Maybe he did. Perharps he took the elements out of respect for the Presiding Bishop and didn’t actually eat and drink the content. The video I saw was brief.

Notes

1 The Methodist Church Ghana, “Facebook reel”, 0:36, https://www.facebook.com/reel/2623790267970209

2. Rtv Ghana, “There is no second coming of Christ, Heaven and Hell is on earth – KSM,” “YouTube video”, 13:54, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwWRoXbO-SI

3 Rtv Ghana, “The God In The Bible Is The Most Inconsistent God I Have Ever Known-KSM,” “YouTube video”, 25:28, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-We-E0GXX8

Image Copyright: Methodist Church of Ghana Video reel