No man is an island unto himself. We have been designed by God for community. We desperately need one another if we have any hope of flourishing as image-bearers of Yahweh upon this earth. Yet, there’s one huge stumbling block tripping up evangelicals today, keeping them from joining local church bodies and leading them into deep errors: the cult of individualism.

Especially in the West, the philosophy of individualism has run rampant across the foundations of evangelicalism. Most people today think that they’re better off alone than they are within a community. In fact, many even express their disdain for communal gatherings—church or otherwise—by calling the people who join such communities mere sheep.

Likely, every Christian has heard a variety of excuses over the years from others pertaining to why they don’t attend church services: “I don’t need to sit by a bunch of hypocrites to learn about God”; “I can worship God just as well by myself, watching a sunrise or hunting, than if I simply gather with others”; “The church is not a building, it’s wherever I am”; “Going to church doesn’t make anyone a Christian”; “I don’t need others to teach me about God, or lead me in worship. As long as I have my Bible, I have all I need.” The excuses can, obviously, go on and on. But, at the heart of them all, is a deep-rooted misunderstanding of what the local church is and how it is, in fact, a gift from the Lord that we can actually join a local church assembly, surrounded by a body of believing Christians. Though many act as though church meetings are a burden, the truth is that they are a grace from the Lord, meant to establish us in the faith, grow us in Christ, and encourage us as we participate in the Christian walk alongside one another.

The Parts of the Body Must Work Together

It is undeniable that people accomplish more when they work in unity alongside others than when they work on their own. Can you imagine a nation declaring war and sending a single soldier to fight an entire army? Unfortunately, there are no real-life Rambos or 007s. And, when it comes to the Christian walk, there are no super-soldiers in Christ’s army. We desperately need one another.

Some may try to make the case that they are lone wolves and super-soldiers who don’t need any community, but the truth is that all Christians have been created by God and gifted by Him to operate as members within a church body. Paul, in making this point in 1 Corinthians 12:19-20, wrote, “If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” Every body needs parts: hands, fingers, feet, toes, eyes, mouth, teeth, etc. And, like a body, every church is the same way. Every church needs members to serve in various capacities. But a Christian who does not gather with other Christians, and does not join a church, is just like the eye that has said, “I’m not an eye.” To refuse to join a local church is to become displaced and to weaken both yourself and the local church.

Imagine if, one day, your left hand developed sentience and the power to unattached itself from your body. Looking at your right hand, it suddenly declares, “Peace! I’m out! I don’t need y’all.” What happens to the fingers on that hand? They’re now missing a major piece of the body that they relied on. The arm is now without a hand. The body can still function, sure, but it’s not going to be going at 100% capacity anymore. The other hand will need to do the work of two. And the hand that abandoned the body soon finds itself withering away, because without a wrist, an arm, or a head to guide it, it really can’t do anything at all.

So it goes when a Christian either doesn’t join a local church body, or just forsakes the assembly. The one who chooses to forsake hurts both others as well as themselves. Their lack of commitment causes others to work harder, and likewise leaves them withering away.

Some, out of some wrong-minded desire to be acknowledged before others, refuse to attend church because they don’t inhabit recognized positions such as elder or deacon. This too, however, is wrong. Not everyone can be an elder or a deacon. But every position is vital and important.

As Paul explained, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:27-31). What are these higher gifts? Paul says, “I will show you a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31), before launching into the famous love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, wherein he explains that we, as Christians, must love or else we will be useless.

In other words, we ought to not only join a local church body and commit ourselves to it in such a way that we boldly declare, “I will purpose in my heart to regularly gather together, and church will become the reason why I must miss other events”, but we must also purpose in our hearts to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and to serve them as greater than ourselves.

Church Gatherings and the Grace of the Preached Word

When we gather together to worship the Lord with brothers and sisters in Christ, something amazing happens: we participate in Heavenly Worship. It is as though, for a few moments on Sunday mornings, we ascend to the Throne Room of God on High and worship before His very throne. It is like how one may find an embassy for other countries within their own. It’s as though our church buildings are Heavenly embassies, from which we not only send forth ambassadors for Christ, but which upon entering, one finds his/her feet planted on Heavenly soil.

The highlight of every worship service, then, is the preached Word of God. When the Word is preached, God—through His Holy Spirit—illumines His Word in practical ways so that not only do we gain a deeper understanding of who God is, and who we are in light of who He is, but we also gain insight into how we then ought to live as Christians in this world. And, as the Word is preached, not only are saints edified and God glorified, but the gospel is proclaimed once more, afresh and anew. As this takes place, sinners are called to repentance and salvation in Christ.

While it is absolutely true that someone can be saved outside of a church building (many who practice open-air preaching and evangelism wouldn’t do these things if this weren’t the case), it is also true that the local assembly of saints is a vital tool in God’s hand to lead sinners to repentance and salvation. According to the Westminster Confession, chapter 25 paragraph 2, “The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.”

While it is true that the Roman Catholic Church has also taught that there is no salvation outside the Church, Protestants mean something much different by this statement. Rome means that they alone have it right, and unless you’re Roman Catholic, you can’t really be saved. No Protestant means this, however. Protestants mean that the universal, true (i.e., catholic, but not Roman Catholic) Church is the means by which God pours out His grace upon this world. As we gather to worship and then are sent out as ambassadors on a mission, we serve God together.

The Great Cloud of Witnesses

So, as we consider our place within our local church body, the grace of gathered worship, and the plethora of ways in which we serve God as a Church, it is also important we consider the ways in which church encourages us, and in which we can encourage others at church. Perhaps the most helpful text in this regard is Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are a great cloud of witnesses that cheer us along the marathon of the Christian life. Simultaneously, through their speech, prayers, actions, and so forth, they point us to Christ, who alone is the author and finisher of our faith. Likewise, we are to do the same for others: Encourage and cheer them on, rebuke (when necessary), disciple, and love them. As we empty ourselves in service to others, we teach them to look to Jesus.

We need the Church. We need one another. No man is an island. Let individualistic mentalities die at the foot of the cross. We need community. After all, our local churches are gifts of God’s mercy and grace to us.

Download December 2023 on Sola Gratia: The Essence of God's Unmerited Favor

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