Lately our church has been discussing the biblical basis for
church membership and what that should look like. As Sam Allberry points out in
this video clip, in Hebrews 10:25 the “opposite of not going to church is encouraging one another.” How can we encourage
one another when we have no relationship? How can we obey all the “one
anothers” of Scripture if we aren’t actually with one another on a regular basis?
Along those lines, it struck me that the Lord’s Prayer in
Matthew 6:9-13 says, “Forgive us our
debts…” It’s not “Forgive me as I have forgiven others,” but is rather a
corporate statement of our need for forgiveness as a Body. (Not that we can’t
pray it individually, but that shouldn’t be the only way we pray.) I think
inherent within the prayer to “forgive us” is the need for forgiveness between
members of the Body of Christ. Just prior to these verses Jesus had said, “So
if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First
be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (5:23-24
ESV). I don’t think it is inconsequential that the order in Jesus’ teaching is:
1) reconcile to your brother, 2) go make your offering, 3) worship together as
the body and confess your need for forgiveness. It is similar to Matthew 18 in confronting
a brother for sin first privately and then increasingly publicly if he refuses
to listen.
The point is that our actions as individuals do not just
impact our own lives but also the Body of Christ. God has joined us together
through the blood of Christ, and “What therefore God has joined together, let
not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). The sin of one member of the Body effects the
rest of the Body, and we need other members of the Body to help us walk in the forgiveness
and newness of life that we have in Christ (Romans 6:4). As Paul pointed out in
1 Corinthians 5, one person’s sin was a bad influence on all of them, “Do you
not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (5:6). Those in the
church were told “not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if
he is guilty… Purge the evil person from among you” (5:11, 13).
Obviously some sins are much more visible than others, and
some sinners require much more rebuke than others because of their hardness of
heart. One person might need to be publicly disciplined while another needs
only a quiet word from a brother. It is true that each of us individually can
confess to God and receive His forgiveness, but it’s also true that God
designed us to live in community. As such, we are meant to be exhorting and
encouraging one another in our fight against sin. There is strength in numbers
(Ecclesiastes 4:12).
After studying Greek in college, I realized that we need to
read the epistles from a corporate mindset. The vast majority are written in
the plural, which does not come through in English, and we can miss a lot by
reading from a singular, independent viewpoint. First Corinthians 6:19 could
more accurately be translated (in Southernese), “Do y’all not know that the
body of y’all is the temple of the Holy Spirit in y’all, whom y’all have from
God? Y’all are not your own.” Paul isn’t just saying that each of us
individually belong to God, though that is true, but that we belong to Him
together and we belong to one another as well (1 Corinthians 12:14-20).
I know Christians who see no need to be involved in a
church, and there have been times I’ve wanted to disengage as well. But I don’t
think that is really an option for anyone who loves God wholeheartedly. He
didn’t just adopt us into relationship with Him as our Father, but into a
family with one another as brothers and sisters. Jesus said, “If you love Me,
you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15), and many of the commands in
Scripture are to be carried out in relationship with one another in His Body.
How can we choose to ignore those commands and still claim that we love Jesus?
In Ephesians 5, Paul writes about how we are to relate to
one another. He didn’t totally change subjects when he hit verse 22 and started
talking about marriage, he simply zeroed in on one type of relationship within
the larger context of the Body of Christ. The marriage relationship is intended
to reflect the relationship that Christ has with the Church (5:32). Being part
of the Body of Christ is not always easy, just as marriage is not easy. It
requires sacrifice of time, energy, and personal priorities, “submitting to one
another out of reverence for Christ” (5:21), nourishing and cherishing one
another “because we are members of His Body” (5:30).
If we think that church is something we can simply add on
like a new hobby, we are missing the point. We cannot function as individual
parts if we are not connected to the Body. We cannot grow in Christ if we are
not involved in the life of His Body. As Pastor Matt said, “We grow together or
we don’t grow at all.”
“So as in one body we
have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we,
though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another”
(Romans 12:4-5).
© 2018 Dawn
Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from
pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of
my church or employer.
