Every scriptural figure or
metaphor for the church depicts a relationship among believers that is
inescapable and indivisible. Perhaps the most vivid in terms of the
indivisibility and necessity of church belonging is when Paul likens the various
members of the church to parts of a body: “For just as the body is one and has
many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it
is with Christ . . . For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’
that would not make it any less a part of the body . . . The eye cannot say to
the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no
need of you’ . . . Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of
it” (1 Corinthians 12). The force of Paul’s argument challenges all expressions
of go-it-alone individualism among the church of Jesus Christ.
Joining a church indicates a
seriousness of pursuing Christ that is balanced and biblical. When you take on
the challenge of being a Christian in community, you move from being a consumer
to a contributor. Private expressions of faith and personal devotions are tools
that the Lord will use to deepen one’s knowledge of him, but it is the hard
work of living together as God’s people that will prove the most stretching.
You bring your strengths and your weaknesses to the relationship and all those
with whom you are in covenant will benefit. If you are not already in covenant with
a group of biblically minded Christians, then prayerfully seek one out and join
it. It’s what Jesus wants you to do.
