A Christian Without a Church ....Really !

Once again I heard this statement uttered and like a kick to the gut , it gets me a bit bothered under the collar.Why you might ask ? Well there was a fool that uttered these very words and it just didn't  pan out too well . That fool would be me . I mentioned before on this blog about my wandering in the wilderness of self affliction , thinking I was so right . Needless to say and without going into all the gory details , it was a mitigated disaster .

So when one says I can be a believer and not go to Church , my first reaction is , your joking right! Now let me clarify , I do not believe going to Church makes one a Christian and in extreme circumstances , one may find one self without a place to attend for a brief season due to doctrinal issues or health . But with the advent of a car and transportation , one can surely find a decent Church to go to . perhaps it won't be all perfect doctrinally , but unless its preaching rank heresy , you are called to attend.If you do not and you become a nit picker , its root is pride . What you are saying is I'm all knowing . I know the Pastor is this , the people are that , the teaching is this and one hides their disgust towards Jesus church , pretending to be all pious .

But in reference to the statement that I heard , here is the rub of the matter. If I say I love my wife and children and truly desire a relationship with them and I neglect to spend time with them then how can that statement be true . Love shows itself in action. To love ones wife is to talk with her and listen  , to serve her and be intimate with her . Same with children , one needs to be with them , enjoying their company .

When God calls us out of darkness , He doesn't place us back into isolation and say go your merry way , good luck. No , when Peter preached his famous sermon in Acts and thousands were saved , it says they were added to the Church . The Church was bought with Christ blood . He laid down his life to establish the Church , made up of His sheep.

Acts 2: ⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The act to gather together came about quickly .  There was no lone ranger believer attitude . Even when some began to drift away from faithful fellowship , the writer of Hebrews admonishes to not do so (Hebrews 10:25) but to continue on meeting to encourage one another. To say you love the Lord Jesus Christ and want nothing to do with His Church is at best a contradiction and at worst shows a spiritually sick heart , one that even deceive oneself in thinking they are in the right but in truth it can hide a self righteous and legalistic spirit. See it , been it and had the T-shirt.

To gather in God's house to worship , to hear God's word preached , to commune with other Christians is a sweet breath to the soul. We come together not as a perfect family , but one who acknowledges we are broken , sinners in need our a Savior . Yes , the Church will have warts , it will have problems but like the great preacher Spurgeon has said , if your looking for the perfect Church , you won't find one because as soon as you join , its not.

Jesus in Revelation even commends the faithful Christians who remained faithful in a not do perfect Church but He doesn't say go out in the forest and sit and worship , alone. Attending Church regularly shows a heart willing to submit under God's word . It also recognizes the need to be accountable to a larger community . The preached word acts like a surgeon's knife and without a weekly dose of the gospel , one can be so close off to ones blind spots . We can hold one to pride, be unforgiving , hold grudges etc... and think we are all right with God .

So please , unless you are on a desert island with your Bible and a coconut , do not say I can believe and be a faithful Christian without the Church . You will be open to sin and attack . It can show up as real rebellion and a fall or a moralistic , self righteous,false piety . Equally as dangerous and against the gospel of grace .

You cannot have God for your Father
Unless you have the Church
for your Mother.
Cyprian, Third Century Bishop of Carthage

"The bible knows nothing of solitary religion." John Wesley

"Church attendance is a vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man." D.L Moody