Is Church Mandatory for all Christians?

I became a Christian at a Bible Camp like many other kids do. Throughout my week at camp I heard over and over again about the grace that God showed us through Jesus. My camp counselor explained the gospel to me in a very powerful way, and I responded with faith. He told me, “Danny, your relationship with God is not based on how good of a person you are or how often you attend church. You can have relationship with God because of what Jesus did on the cross to forgive you for your sins.” That truth radically changed the course of my life.

So much so that when I came home from camp I was eager to share my faith with my friends. When I took my first crack at evangelism I found it incredibly easy. I told one of my friends, “If you trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins you never need to go to church again.”

Without flinching he said, “No more church? I’m in, man!”

I realize now that I misheard my camp counselor. He was explaining to me that my salvation didn’t come because of my church attendance. I still believe that to be true. But he didn’t say that I never need to go to church again. I drew that conclusion myself. But it’s an interesting thought…

Is church mandatory for Christians?

Jesus Died to Redeem a People

We often view our faith through the lens of good ol’ fashioned, cowboy-like individualism. Some of this mentality comes from our own Christian lingo. We often say things like, “Christianity is not about religion, it’s about a relationship with God,” for example. While I totally agree, we cannot gain right-standing with God by being religious, I think that we (evangelical Christians) are often guilty of over-individualizing our faith. We make the Christian life more about “just me and Jesus” than Jesus ever intended it to be.

It’s true. Jesus did die for my sins. And yes, because of his death and resurrection I can personally live in relationship with God. And this is no small thing! Hear me out. The gospel is very personal. But I am one of many people that God has redeemed. God doesn’t just have a plan for my life. He has a plan for his church. We often think of the church as man’s way of following God, but it was actually Jesus who established the church. He established the church as the place for believers to work out their faith together in pursuit of him. He was dead serious about this. That’s why on the cross he promised that he will build his church “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Jesus didn’t just die for you, he died for a people. If you’re a Christian then you happen to be one of those people.

The Body of Christ

There are two prominent analogies for the church in the New Testament: the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. Let’s start with the body.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains that the church is like the body of Christ: “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.” The implication here is that if you are in Christ but not part of the church, you are like a body part that is severed from the body.

Some would argue that when Paul refers to the Body of Christ he is talking about the universal church (all Christians around the world). But who is the book of Romans written to? A local church. An actual group of people who existed in real life and gathered together as “the body of Christ.” If there isn’t a specific verse in the Bible that convinces you to be part of a church, then the Bible itself should convince you. The entire New Testament, for instance, was written to and about local churches. Real life churches.

The Bride of Christ

In Ephesians, Paul says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” At first glance this just sounds like marital advice–and it is marital advice–but we can also learn quite a bit from this passage about Jesus’ love for the church. In the next verse Paul goes on to explain that Jesus died for the church “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” In other words, Jesus’ love for the church is the same as the love of a young man watching his bride walk down the aisle, ready to commit to him in marriage! That’s some intense love.

When the church in Corinth became distracted by alternative versions of the gospel, Paul corrected them by saying:

“I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)

Again, Paul refers to the church as Jesus’s bride. He’s essentially saying that when churches lose their passion for Jesus and the gospel, they lose their first love. They lose their husband. That is some powerful language! When Paul explains Christ’s relationship to the church he likens it to marriage.

If that’s what the Bible says about Christians who are a part of the church guess what it says about Christians who aren’t a part of the church…

Nothing.

In the entire New Testament there is not one mention of a person who is “in Christ” but not part of the church. On the cross, Jesus promises that he will build his church; in the book of Acts we see the church begin; in the epistles we learn how to function as a church; and in the book of revelation we see Christ return for his bride, the church.

Jesus died to make the church a reality. The church is his prized possession! If we are to be faithful to God in following Christ, we must also be faithful to God by being part of the family that he died to build. Does your salvation rest on your church attendance? No. We’re saved by grace and grace alone. But we are saved into the church. When we reject the local church we are essentially saying that God’s grace is powerful enough to save a sinner, but not powerful enough to build a church.

Churchless Christian…I encourage you to find a church that loves Jesus. Attend regularly, build relationships, live in community with the people, become a member, give sacrificially, and invite others to church with you. Commit for the long haul. Stick with your church through the ups and downs. It will be frustrating. Cooler churches will come along. People will annoy you. But Jesus died for those people, and he has big plans for the church. You won’t want to miss it!