There is an increasingly concerning trend found in Americans who consider themselves Christian but choose to essentially hide their faith within the confines of their own homes. Many of these would consider themselves to be Christians, but when asked where they fellowship with others, so many admit that they do not have a church home, or simply claim they “do not believe in organized religion.” Some claim they will never go back to church. Many actively avoid attending church, as though being in fellowship with other believers was an afterthought and purely optional in God’s eyes. So many of us speak as if somehow the concept of committed church fellowship is a man-created institution. We would be very wrong in this assumption.
The reality is, all Christians are called to be in committed fellowship with believers. This is not a personal preference I’m attempting to impose on fellow believers. Rather, it is in fact, a biblical mandate. Believers must come to grips with the fact that not attending church fellowship dishonors God and His word. Choosing to follow Christ without His people is in direct disobedience to God’s word and His design. There is simply no justification for ignoring God’s word and practicing a passive view of His authority.
As I have engaged with people over the years, I have found that there are a growing number of Christians that often leave church fellowship and never plant their feet anywhere else. Or, they never viewed church attendance as having any importance.
I find this incredibly alarming.
Somewhere along the lines, many of us adopted this concept that somehow being in committed fellowship with other believers is purely a matter of preference. Despite the overwhelming presuppositions and instructions communicated from God’s word, an indifferent attitude has developed into the minds of some believers regarding our calling to work together in the Gospel mission and in our everyday walk.
The entirety of Scripture presupposes that Christians are to be in community and fellowship together, sharing burdens with one another and keeping one another pointed to Christ. There is an expectation that calls believers to be relational, which is in perfect keeping with our nature. We are relational creatures, image-bearers of God, which is to say we ought to reflect God’s desire to fellowship with us by likewise doing the same with one another.
Let’s examine the practical implications that follow an isolationist viewpoint of the Christian faith. Take any passage, for example, that refers to a simple instruction on how we are to behave towards fellow believers. How does an isolated Christian put these passages into practice? Consider Galatians 6:2:
“Bear one another’s’ burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
This letter, like all written in the New Testament, is addressed to communities of believers. It was clearly expected to be put into practice through Christian fellowship. How does one “carry one another’s burdens” if you and your household are your only concern? Or examine the book of James, the head Pastor of the church in Jerusalem at the time it was written. In chapter 5 he gives clear instructions that could only be practiced in a committed church fellowship:
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”
The book of Hebrews also clearly follows the same emphasis and outright speaks against remaining isolated from other believers:
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (10:24-25).
1 Corinthians 12 lays out so much detail about Christ’s specific design for the church and how it functions through fellowship, as we are all connected through Christ as members of his body. There is so much emphasis on the body of Christ and our dependency on one another in Corinthians – it’s impossible to get around. The lone Christian stands like a single part of a body without the rest; unable to function by themselves.
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.”
“For the body does not consist of one member but of many.”
“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘ I have no need of you.'”
“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
Consider how the Apostle Paul addressed believers in the churches he had started. All of his letters were written to Christians and for Christians with the rightful assumption that they would be in a church fellowship to even simply read his letters. Paul did address some individually, as anyone would at times, but ultimately these letters were written to groups of Christians, which is a church.
In the book of Acts, the very clear documentation of the creation of the church is evident. No better place to find a real example of the body of Christ working in the power of the Holy Spirit than in Acts. And fellowship was a key emphasis:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (2:42)
“And all who had believed together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their foods with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.” (2:44-46).
Those who keep in isolation intentionally rebel against God’s word and His own created order. This is His design, not ours. In light of this, what does this say about our view of Christ’s own authority over our lives, and the authority of His word? If we claim to submit to Jesus Christ and have surrendered to His authority – how does committed fellowship with other believers become an optional practice? The fact of the matter is, if we claim the name of Christ in our lives – we claim the responsibility that comes with it. There’s no room in a broken world for closet Christians.
For those who have been hurt by churches and vowed never to return, my sympathy is with them. I know many who have been hurt by the people of God, myself included. There certainly needs to be a time of healing. But that time is not meant to be permanent. Having a “bad experience at church” doesn’t give us a pass to become isolated Christians. We don’t throw away God’s plan for our lives simply because we’ve been pained by His people along the way. And we most certainly cannot choose to be in direct rebellion to His word.
Of course, I can understand why people run from pain. Christians like myself do not seek pain. I can think of so many times in my life where I avoided something difficult because of the pain it would bring. But the pain will always find you. No matter how much you attempt to guard yourself against pain – it will always eventually come around. And the sad reality of our broken, sinful world is that we are skilled at hurting one another. We do it every day. Christians and unbelievers alike – we all hurt one another. But we press on upward to God’s calling.
Often, God allows us to endure pain. Even pain that comes from other believers. This is the sad reality of the world we live in. It’s ever-more demonstrative of the fact that Christ is desperately needed. We should not be so surprised when others hurt us. We must understand that we are still in a war against our own flesh, same as everyone else.
Without a doubt, the periods of isolation in my life were the most difficult. I had no accountability, no one to help share my burdens, and no one to give sacrificially to and likewise carry their burdens. I eventually fell into deep sin, unable to reconcile my own shortcomings and past mistakes in my solitude. I kept pain to myself and tried to self-medicate in ways that would never satisfy. I became lazy and complacent in my faith.
I realize now after all these years that we are simply not meant to walk this path alone. If God intended the church to actually live cut off from the members of its body – He would have enabled us to do it. We are made for one another, dear friends. If you cannot see this clear design in Scripture, then you are either not reading Scripture, or you are ignoring it.
How can we stand in the light of Christ and yet darken it at the same time? How can we rebel against His word openly and yet possess peace in our hearts? We deceive ourselves. And who better to benefit from our isolation than our avowed enemy – Satan? Does he not stand to gain from our complacency and our silence? The very thought of Satan having victory in my life burns a furious fire within me that I cannot begin to describe.
We need each other. This life can be incredibly painful and challenging as it is, and God has placed us in this world to be together in committed fellowship. Why make things harder for ourselves? Does not Jesus work through His people for both the church and the sake of the world? This post is not meant to guilt anyone – it is meant to clarify something Christians need to take seriously. Perfect attendance is not what Scripture commands. A committed fellowship is our calling.
Forget about seeing all your personal preferences met in church. Are the people like me? Is the worship my style? Does the preacher keep me engaged? How many services do they have? How big is it? What matters above all else are these questions:
- Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed?
- Is the word of God being preached?
- Is the love of Christ being shared?
Everything else is secondary to this. You won’t find your perfect church, so stop looking so hard. God has a place for you and your family, but you must take a step of faith and seek it out.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, please find a church home and plant yourself there. It may not be perfect, but no perfect church exists. Why would it? It’s made up of people. Christians mess up constantly – we are still being conformed to the image of Christ. The battle against our own flesh is real, and it is a lifelong struggle. But we are not meant to struggle alone – bottom line.
Don’t run past the people of Christ to get to Him. We are image-bearers of God who are called to reflect His love and glory. God did not mean for you to be alone. It’s why He placed us in a world with billions of other people. More specifically, He placed us amongst fellow believers.
Take God at His word and stop making excuses. Find a church home. You are robbing yourself and so many of what God has in store for you. Scripture draws a clear line and we don’t get to pick and choose which parts of His word we want to obey.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25).
Jon Hand Thoughts 