A lot of people, especially where I live in the Pacific Northwest, tend to make claims like "I do Christ but I don't do the Church" or "I have a relationship with God but I don't need the Church."
I get it. I really do.
A lot of folks (myself included) have been burned by Christians, even groups of them. Particular local congregations have upset and even wronged us at times. We're hurt. We may be bitter.
Sometimes we need to realize that in our pain and bitterness, though they may seem fair, we've become unforgiving. That's not too Christ like. That's a problem.
The bigger problem is this: While attendance at local congregation gatherings isn't the defining characteristic of a righteous relationship with Christ and doesn't prove our salvation, we need to have a proper understanding of the Church at large and how Christ, the Church, the local congregation, and ourselves are all connected. And I assure you, they're all connected.
We can't allow ourselves to neglect the Church because a group of imperfect people hurt us. Sure, our pain is valid, but our cold shoulder isn't valid if we claim Christ Jesus as our Lord (ruler). Here's the deal: We're going to hurt each other. We're messed up. That's why we agree that we need Jesus day after day. Let's not deny Jesus' healing and reconciliation among us because we've created need for that healing by being imperfect people.
Last night I sent out a few tweets on the issue of Christ and his Church that are truths I've been taught which have greatly altered my perspective.
- You don't get Christ without the Church because you can't have Christ without his Body.
- We can not be individualistic & relativistic about God & his Church if we wish to be Christian. We are baptised into a concrete community.
- Being part of the Church is as important as being with Christ because they are one in the same.
- Church: It's not about you (or me). It's about Jesus. We worship him as one selfless body, HIS body which is selflessly sacrificed.
- If we do not have a high view of the Church we simultaneously have a low view of Christ.
Too often we think of the universal Church spoken of in scripture as merely the local church (Notice the capital C and the lower case c). The universal Church is God's people world wide and through time, both living and dead. So that makes the local church the building down the street right?
Wrong. The local church is the Church in your local area. Stick with me. That means the local church is the people, the community, the family of God that is in your neighborhood or city (not just the building or the gathering event). In other words, you don't go to church; you
are the Church. You go to buildings and events but the Church is neither of those. It's a community of people that make up a bigger organism. Christians are the small bits that make up the whole which we call Church. The person is the arm, the Church is the body.
The local church is as much a group of people unified through Christ as the universal Church. This is why we need to have a deep respect and honor for the local church; because it's the Church.
I'm not saying you are going to lose your salvation if you miss a Sunday gathering or the weekly potluck (but why would you want to miss them if you can help it). I'm saying that we tend to think our relationship with Jesus is strictly between Jesus and ourselves. We don't tend to think it's everyone else's business. But it is. We tend to think we can love Jesus and ignore the Church. But we can't.
Our faith/salvation is a public matter. It's personal but it's not private. We are baptised into a community of believers which Christ calls his Body on earth (that's the Church). We are adopted by the Father to be his children. We belong to each other and each time we partake of the Eucharist (the communion elements) we open our eyes to Christ knitting us together through his Spirit.
We too often want our life to be out of the hands, eyes, and ears of others but that's not what God wants for us. He has always called us to community. We were created for community and we know this because the very first thing that God deemed as "not good" in scripture is man being alone. We are not meant to know God privately in isolation. We are meant to be a family, blessed by God, so that we may bless all the families of the world (this is what God promised Abraham Israel would be).
We are meant to uplift one another through encouragements, rebukes, teachings, songs, accountability, discipline, leadership, and more. These truths are written throughout the New Testament very plainly. If we read from the book of Acts all the way to Jude we'll be unable to justify the type of attitude which states "I can have a relationship with Christ but not his Church." It's simply impossible.
I don't want this to sound condemning. I merely want to spark something inside the reader which leads him/her to a place where he/she embraces Christ fully by embracing his bride/body which he loves and refuses to be separated from. Christ brings us into him and simultaneously into the Church. It's an unavoidable happening and if we attempt to have one and not the other we will find ourselves causing a great tearing within ourselves and the kingdom of God.
If we are serious about loving Christ then we must love one another. The people loving one another as they love Christ are called Church. Each of the members are called Christians. The people who love a god who accepts and encourages isolation, individualism, bitterness, unforgiveness, and selfishness are not worshipping Jesus Christ. Yet, Christ knows them, loves them, and desires for them to know him fully and he uses his people (the Church) in an effort to draw those individuals closer to him. He invites those people to be his body and bride, his family, his Church.
God willing, I'll see you Sunday (if you can make it).
By T.G. Blankenship at The Gethsemane Blog
True
Comments (17)
The term local church carries a lot of baggage in western culture...as you know offering lots of pain to lots of people. I love your encouragement to make (or join) with a group of like-minded believers...as a means for more life. And I'd add encouragement to keep looking if you don't find a group to join that is open, welcoming (this word also has picked up some baggage), encourages trust (no gossip or manipulation, and encourages doubt and taking risks as a means to a soft heart and continuing on the spiritual journey)...offers space for the individual heart/soul within the community, and is quick to seek forgiveness for wrongs and offers language for forgiving one another (as you say relationships are hard, no one is righteous...so forgiveness and effective boundaries...are only means to intimacy, and the leader influences the culture).
And that's a profound truth that our lives are both personal AND communal (whether or not we belong to a local church, honestly). Being part of a loving intimate local church community allows us to notice more fully the truth...and joy of the communal part. Without intimate community its tempting to think that what we do (or don't do) doesn't matter, but having been part of an intimate community its clear that what I offer (just being me) makes others lives in the community better...and vice verse...through life testimony (and what God is doing in each life), friendships, and unique voice. Again trusted relationships are required to experience that...from my experience.
I love my long-time church (in metro Boston) and am so encouraged to recently discover other life-giving churches in my suburban town in metrowest. But I still see lots of churches that serve up a modernist culture focused on doctrine at the expense of relationship...and in my experience that's a recipe for painful community and stunted personal growth. Praise God He is transforming His church and each of us have a voice and a part to play...don't withdraw (as the OP suggests)...and likewise don't settle into a painful seat that doesn't offer life either.
God bless us everyone...as God continues to prepare His bride, the (local) church,...not yet revealed as mature, but still on the journey.
Thanks...continue to appreciate your soft heart and hopeful perspective!
Christ founded the Church to be his continued presence on earth. So going to church is the most important thing we do as disciples.
It is at church where we take the time to remember Christ. And this is how he told us to remember him (Luke 22:19):
19 And taking bread, he gave thanks and broke and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. 20 In like manner, the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you.Our very identity comes from our memories. If we suddenly lost our memories we would lose our identity. The Christian identity comes from remembering Christ through the Eucharist.
And it is in the breaking of the bread (the Eucharist) that we know him (Luke 24:35):
And they told what things were done in the way: and how they knew him in the breaking of bread.The Catholic Church remembers Christ every day by celebrating Eucharist (Matthew 6:10):
Give us this day our daily bread.So when Catholics go to church we know that we are following the exact wish of Jesus Christ. For Jesus
"is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)."
Here's what I have to say to those who try to justify a Church-less Christian existence:
The Church is the Bride of Christ. Christ loves the Church and longs to fellowship with her... how on earth can you claim to love Christ yet not share in his passion for the Church?
Is the Church full of hypocrites? Yes. Backstabbers? Of course. Cheats? uh huh. But Christ still actively loves that Church, and he expects you to love that Church as well.
And there's also good news for you- along with gossips, pharisees and greedy people, Church also has lots of other snobs who think they are too good for Church... so there's definitely a place for you.
Think about it, Christ even loves snobs who feel they are too good for His bride.
This post is well-written and gives good reasoning for not forsaking the Church. I've moved around a lot in my life to different cities, so I've had the opportunity to visit and regularly attend many churches, since each move to a new city requires a new search. There really are a lot of good churches out there. There are also bad churches -- toxic churches, where they try to control you or where there is unhealthy pressure to conform. If you experience one or more bad churches, don't assume they're all bad. I can tell you from experience that most churches are good. Of course, none are problem-free -- we're all imperfect humans and we all grate on other people and have conflicts now and then. But it's in THAT that we learn how to be more like Christ -- to be forgiving, to have mercy with others, etc.
The church is important if you claim to be a Christian. However what's just as important is going to the right church. Not every church is the right church..doctrine is so important. Who teaches the bible completely? Who challenges their congregation? Who holds all accountable, because Matthew 28:18-20..you make disciples, baptize and teach them to obey..not teach..but teach to obey. So there is so much to it. People dont' like church, because the memebers dont' help each other, and there is too much hypocrisy. I've been to a few and God guided me to a church that strives to help each other get to heaven and fight to get to heaven. 1 Timothy 4:16 our church makes sure we have the right life and doctrine so we save others and ourselves. If anyone is curious caicc.net is our website. We have churches almost all over the world and states, and all our churches are unified. :)
I live in a small town where there are multiple churches, all claiming to send the right message and such. But when their messaged twist the words of Christ to benefit/support their own fears and paranoia, it's not something I want to be part of. I don't want to be damned to Hell because according to the Baptist church, I'm pansexual. I don't want to be lauded by another church for rejecting the Baptist one. I know it takes time to find the right church, but at the same time, not all the churches in your area are going to be the right ones.
Are we back to the early Christian church?
In its early stages, the church was greatly influenced by the Roman Empire. That is what the people in the era of the first few years of our early church grew up by. The early years of the fledgling
church was all too confused by a Jewish tradition that was iron clad and notably at the very least influenced by the multi-gods of Rome. In addition, they were looking at “The Kingdom of Israel,” expecting their Messiah to come at any moment and defeat Rome. Only a few Jewish Prophets
envisioned the long look into the future. Those few were largely ignored by both the early church and the Jewish populace. Rome, the secular law-giver had influenced those new to Christianity, there-by caused the Apostle Paul to write about spiritual needs in Roman terms. The people were influenced in areas more than they imagined through conquest and assimilation.
Evangelistic efforts by the early church were largely shunned by the synagogue constituents, causing the Believers to take their message to the secular street. Their verbal efforts were supplemented by signs, miracles and wonders gaining the evangelists attention and notoriety. Not a few of the early church movement spent time in jail because of their “un-normal” message.
The citizens of the Roman Empire were not accustomed to people being supernaturally healed and emotionally transformed . They were only familiar with the preternatural occult exercises designed to lead people into dark practices; such as when Paul cast out a demon from a fortune teller girl in Acts 16:16-19. They were awe struck and sometimes frightened by “this new thing,” that touted love and respect for government authority and fellow human beings, even in the face of persecution.
The story of the Philippian jailer, in Acts 16:25, and following, attests to the power of this gospel of Jesus Christ. Even today, in the face of torture and or death, Believers in Christ are dying on the average of one every five minutes because of their faith (Michael Carl, June 19,2012, World Net
Daily.) . And, for the most part, do so with a Bible Scripture or Gospel song on their lips, in spite of pain. It should be pointed out that the majority of those currently under such persecution are living in largely communist countries or Islam dominated states.
It seems the shadow of the unholy roman empire is overshadowing the United States. So, are we fearful of proclaiming that which Jesus has mandated us in Matthew 28::19-20?
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youalways, to the very end of the age.”
Are we ignoring our heritage? Are today’s Believers bound up and impotent as evangelists? Has Political Correctness handcuffed and muzzled us? Such questions are evidenced by the news of
Christian symbols being removed from public places as though we are supposed to be ashamed of them. By Christen symbols, I specifically refer to the cross, reproductions of the Ten Commandments, etc. We Christians condone removal by our silence. In some cases we even
agree. Is it that we find such symbols offensive? If that is true why do we not also remove the term “their creator” from the Constitution? That title doesn’t refer to motherhood. I’m sure that is
offensive to someone. We strive to allow a vocal minority to call the shots on what we are to see, what is next, what we are to think?
Our nation was founded on the Bible. Our founding fathers were not ashamed to use the Bible. They referred to it in much of our stone foundations. There are Bible references engraved on many walls, doors, and columns in Washington, D.C. Even our money. What is next? Maybe the crosses in Arlington?
Very well written post. The
egotells us we can follow Jesus without the Church. The ego separates us from our brother. It is the Church that breaks down walls.
Yes, and I've been teaching this for years and I originally learned it from my sister. Nothing wrong with religion (Christ) just have a problem with organized religion (Church).
I "don't do" church. I consider myself to be a Christ follower but I don't agree with the basic teachings of most christian churches. My fellowship comes from like-minded friends and online groups.
@HerCarelessWhispers@xanga -
Read Matt. 19:4 and see what Jesus said - never mind about the Baptists. That's what so often get's us confused - we listen to man and not follow the Word of God
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female.
In Him,
Norman Silva.
@touvant
I hear what you are saying but we mustn't lose focus of the Scripture you quoted - Matt 28:19-20.
It's our job to "preach the Gospel", not improve the morality of people. You don't find Paul preaching against the Governments and taking on social issues. How does it help to make a society moral and then when they die they go to hell.
Their morality will only change when their hearts are changed by Jesus Christ.
How do we expect the lost to act - they are only doing what comes naturally. Let's show them a better way.
In Him,
Norman Silva.
There seems to be a lot of people here that think their salvation is somehow tied to going to/attending church.
1 Cor 1:9 says we have been brought into fellowship with God through Christ. Salvation = fellowship and vice versa. You cannot be out of fellowship with God - that would mean becoming "unsaved" and we know we can't do that.
I'm not saying we shouldn't go to church but if we don't for some reason and die, if we are saved we will be with the Lord - "To be absent from the body and present with the Lord" - no halfway stop - straight to heaven. 2 Cor 5:8.
Just make sure you find a church that is doctrinally sound - not easy I know. You don't want to be involved with a church that puts tradition over the Word of God - there are many of them. Mark 7:13 "Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye".
The only thing necessary for salvation is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and savior - Romans 10: 9 & 10.
Not baptism, tithing, church membership, confession of sins to a man or God (after salvation). The thief on the cross didn't do any of the aforementioned and Jesus said in Luke 24:43 "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise".
Some denominations not only teach that baptism is necessary for salvation but that you have to be baptized in THEIR church. Just imagine this person standing at the foot of the cross saying "Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross and paying for my sins, past, present and future but for this man, that is not enough - he still needs to be baptized in MY church. Wow!
It's 100% Jesus and 0% us. There is nothing we can do to gain favor with God. He sent His Son to die for the whole world. We were His enemies and he said to us "I want to make peace with you - I'll send my Son to die so that you may be reconciled to me". 2 Cor 5:19 "namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation".
In Him,
Norman Silva.
@AWD265 - I understand completely. But because we're humans, we're not perfect, therfore we are more likely to misinterpret the message.
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It depends on how one defines Church and WHICH Church your definitions may point to.
I don't think anyone can really deny the faith of someone else. My Church pastor said it PERFECTLY. He said there are Christians who will go to church every weekend, and be the loudest ones in there...but it doesnt mean their heart is speaking any louder than someone else's. And I agree with that. Church is a personal thing. If you don't want to go you don't have to. I grew up not going, but my faith in God was good. Now I choose to go, because I LIKE to go.
There a lot of people in faith that give a lot of others a bad name. A lot of religious people do the opposite- they push people away from religion. But you know what? There's only one person who needs to judge you. No one is holier than the other, besides the people who He hand picked himself. If your heart is truly living for God than he hears you. He always knows a genuine heart when there is one. <3