Do Christians need Church?

For the next couple of weeks I will be posting questions left over from the Q&A night at our Large Group Gatherings.

Question: Can we have a relationship with God by praying and reading the Bible, but not going to church?

No. The Scriptures have no concept of an isolated relationship with God. This is an American idea and not a Christian one. God has always communicated himself to communities of individuals, but never individuals apart from communities.

In the Old Testament, it was the nation of Israel - communities of people with whom God made a covenant. In the New Testament, it is the Church, which in Greek is the word “ecclesia,” which literally means “gathering.” In the New Testament, to be outside the church (God’s people) is to be outside of salvation.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul makes a clear distinction between those inside the church (or gathering) and outside the church (or gathering) (1 Cor. 5:12;6:4; 11:22). Jesus is the head of the Church (Eph. 5:23), Jesus’ bride is the church and he died for the church (Eph 5:23-32), and His body is the church (Col. 1:18).

Can you have salvation w/o Jesus as your head, Husband, and w/o being part of His Body? Can you love Jesus w/o loving His bride? That would be like saying to me “Harvey, I love you but I don’t like your wife.” If you are a dude I would punch you in the mouth. Most important can you have a relationship with God w/o the death of Christ on your behalf? He died for the Church.

Individualistic American Christianity is foreign to the gospel. The gospel of Jesus nessesitates connection to the community of faith.

Consider 1 John 4:20-21
20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.