An important part of our responsibility in coming to this Table is to reject all false contrasts and inconsistencies. We reject as unscriptural every attempt at eucharistic dualism, a process which tries to pit external against internal.
The superstitious come to the Table in order to fool about with mere externals, considered as such. Their mummeries do not amount to anything other than increased condemnation for them—properly due to any who believe the bread of the Lord is made entirely from their chaff. The religion of external form and show is pitted against heart religion. They retain the form but deny the power.
But another kind of superstition should also cause us great concern, perhaps even more because of its subtlety. This is the idea that we are more refined and philosophical when we come to believe that the bread and wine are mere externals and can be dispensed with. Such persons go on to commune with God in their own rarified imaginations, believing themselves to be very spiritual. But this is not spiritual at all; it is disobedience. Jesus said to eat and drink; He did not say to cogitate.
When the rationalist seeks to worship God with pure intellect, Jesus summons him to chew and swallow. When the magician comes to this table in order to perform his conjuring tricks, Jesus commands him to drop the rattle and chicken bones, and believe the gospel that leads to everlasting life.
The Bible has a name for that which sets the chewing at odds with the thinking, or the thinking at odds with the chewing. It is called unbelief, and the remedy for unbelief is the gospel. Repent and believe. Chew and swallow. Think and do. Rise up and walk. God is in His heaven, His Son is on the throne, and the world is united and bound together in truth. Do not separate what God has joined together.