Is Church Necessary?

I think it’s entirely possible that we’ve reached a tipping point in the United States where most people who identify as Christians are not actively engaged in a local church.

While the reasons for leaving or shunning the local church number far more than I dare attempt to address in this post, I’ll focus on the one I hear most often – “I don’t need church…”

One’s own perception of personal need is perhaps the most common filter of our me first culture. When applied to the church, it’s also a testimony of biblical illiteracy.

In Scripture, you and I are called to be Christ-like.

• We’re called to be confident and humble.

• We’re called to stand for truth and be peacemakers.

• We’re called to steward our gifts wisely and be willing to do what’s needed.

• We’re called to be simultaneously realistic and optimistic.

• We’re called to avoid being naïve without becoming cynical.

• We’re called to be gentle and courageous.

• We’re called to speak truth and love.

• We’re called to have urgency and patience.

• We’re called to embrace our own righteousness and sinfulness.

• We’re called to live as though mortal & immortal.

• We’re called to accept grace and embrace works.

• We’re called to step beyond genetics and upbringing to understand others as God does.

• We’re called to confront and be selfless.

• We’re called to embrace our significance and our insignificance.

• We’re called to be kind to the unkind.

That’s a short list. But if we stop here, have you mastered all of these?

Is there a single calling above that you have flawlessly obeyed?

Scripture indicates that it’s through continued and increasing obedience that we discover who we are in Christ and that our joy is made complete.

“If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” John 15:10-11

The callings above are truly challenging.

But if we understand that embracing the callings above lead to a greater sense of identity and joy, shouldn’t we want all the help we can get?

Shouldn’t we value feedback, encouragement, and accountability?

Where could we find such help?

The Greek word most often used in Scripture for “encouragement” covers everything from cheering one onward to a swift kick to the bottom. It’s an all-in, for better and worse kind of commitment. It implies a deep desire to bring out the best in another person. It’s a commitment to cheer for one’s advancements and to correct and help one overcome deficiencies.

Somehow, many American churches have lost or buried the commitment to encourage one another toward Christlikeness. We’ve allowed other, often worthwhile, endeavors to overshadow the foundational responsibility to encourage one another toward Christlikeness. Unfortunately, when any community gives up its hardest work, it also gives up its identity (think farming, commercial fishing, mining...).

Like most societal ills, the vast joyless search for personal identity currently turning our society inside out is simply a ripple effect of a church failure. When local communities of faith fail to offer joy and authentic identity through encouraging one another toward Christ-likeness, when we lose personal and small group accountability in favor of sitting near one another in corporate events, when we’d rather listen to ultra-talented singers and preachers than discuss our personal lives in light of our Christ-likeness, when we are too vain or afraid to be real with one another, when superficial images matter more than personal spiritual growth, when we care more about attendance numbers than the depth of participation, then the church is deemed irrelevant in the very matters God entrusted to us… And without God’s light beaming through the church, the Deceiver always offers an alternative path with a promise of what the church should have offered - in this case, personal identity & joy.

We won’t right the ship through legislation. We won’t transform our society with outreach. We won’t make spiritual progress by being bigger or better or adjusting our offerings to appeal to the masses. Neither mesmerizing storytellers nor mainstream musicians will fill the gap. Drawing more people to anything short of personal transformation toward Christlikeness will simply send us deeper into societal irrelevancy.

We must value basic godliness as much as we value great giftedness and great effectiveness. That means we must continually encourage one another toward godliness, toward Christlikeness.

Is the church needed for this?

Absolutely.

Not one of us has the self-awareness, perseverance, and perspective to read Scripture and continually grow in Christlikeness without encouragement, challenging feedback, and accountability.

If the American church is going to recover, we must rewrite our functional definition of church from a place or organization that provides God-focused programs, to a community of believers who increasingly experience Christ in and through one another through Scripture-driven, transparent, encouraging, and challenging personal relationships.

Music and preaching might make church attractive. Though, people growing together in Christlikeness, regardless of how awkward or radical it initially feels, will make church irresistible.

Yes, Christians need church. So does the world.

Thanks for Reading,

John