By Josh Buice
MY wife and I were watching a television program about Alaska recently. Although it wasn’t at all related to the doctrine of the church, it was interesting to see how one woman lives alone for 9 months out of the year in a little village. She lives in a very remote location and her nearest road is 80 miles away. Literally, the only way out of her village is by a small airplane. During three months of the year, she receives several visitors who land in a plane to drop off supplies. At other times, hunters are landed by plane who make their way out into the bush for hunting expeditions. At the end of a visit, as her friends were leaving, she was seen looking at the plane as it took off with tears rolling down her face. She made the statement that she gets used to the loneliness, but it does hurt to be so far away and separated from the rest of the world.
When it comes to the church, God intended the redeemed children of God to be plugged into the life of the church. To speak in a more pointed manner – church isn’t an option for God’s children. The church isn’t the building – it’s the people. The word for church in the New Testament is the word, ἐκκλησία which most literally means, “A called out assembly.” People need the church. Below you will see several reasons why the Christian as an individual needs the church.
#1 – People Need the Church For God’s Word
Dr. Albert Mohler – the President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary preached the Spring Convocation Chapel Service on January 31st 2006. He said, “Preaching is the first mark of the authentic church, the essential mark, the mark without which the other marks do not matter,” he said. “… Where this mark is not found, there is no church.”
Christians need the Word of God preached to them in order that they may grow spiritually. Just as children need milk to grow and adults need meat to sustain their bodies and remain healthy – Christians need the Word of God on a constant basis. The book of Acts records the actions of the new Christians in Acts 2:37-47. The early church was a gathering assembly of saints who placed great emphasis upon the preaching of Scripture.
J.I. Packer said, “(The Puritans believed in) the supreme importance of preaching. To the Puritans, the sermon was the liturgical climax of public worship. Nothing, they said, honours God more than the faithful declaration and obedient hearing of His truth. Preaching, under any circumstances, is an act of worship, and must be performed as such. Moreover, preaching is the prime means of grace to the church.”
See also (Psalm 19; Acts 6:7; 11:26; Colossians 1:28; Ephesians 4:11-14)
#2 – People Need the Church For Biblical Leadership and Correction
As Christians, God never intended His children to be islands unto themselves. He designed them to be part of a people, a community, a gathering, a church! One of the main reasons for the need of a gathering assembly of believers is for biblical correction that comes through preaching sound doctrine and church discipline. We need to hear preaching for the Holy Spirit to prick our hearts and guide us in the way of righteousness. We also need to be confronted with issues and sins in our lives through faithful brothers and sisters in the Lord who love us enough to speak up when they see us compromising the faith.
In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul said the following to Timothy: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” The point that Paul was making to Timothy, a young pastor, was to correct and rebuke people through faithful preaching of Scripture! The writer to the Hebrew Christians says the following in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” The point is clear, God intended the Christian to be under a set of biblical leaders in order to guide them through faithful teaching of Scripture.
Church discipline is described in Scripture by Jesus Himself (Matthew 18). Discipline is necessary for the health of the individual Christian, the purity of the body of Christ, and the glory of God. It should be noted that discipline is never to be carried out through strife, anger, or a desire to excommunicate someone from the family of God. Discipline should always be carried out in love with a desire for restoration – not excommunication. However, if at the final stage the disciplined member is unwilling to repent, that individual is to be removed from the fellowship of the body in a final serious measure to bring the person to repentance and restoration with God. Even then, the person is to be treated like an unbeliever. When the church treats someone like an unbeliever, they treat them with love and evangelize them with the gospel. At all stages, discipline is to be a process of love.
See Also (Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10; 1 Timothy 1:20; 1 Timothy 5:19-21)
#3 – People Need the Church For Love and Care
All people need to experience love and support at some level. Since the Christian life is often difficult and faces many obstacles along the journey, God designed the church to be an assembly of believers that would love one another and support one another spiritually and physically. The early church believed this was essential since they sold possessions and made sure the needy members were being taken care of (Acts 2:37-47).
This is still important in our present day. We should be able to rely upon one another in times of distress and need. If a family is unable to make the ends meet and a need arises for food, transportation, medical bills, or other major life issues – the church should be willing to assist. In a day where the government is viewed as the means of such assistance, the church should be willing to care for the widows, fatherless, homeless, and those who have other specific needs within the life of the congregation.
See Also (1 Timothy 5:3-15; James 1:27)
To read the other 6 reasons, click here.
