Exploding the Myth! "I don't have to go to church to be a Christian"
What a ton of trott that Statement is. I think I'm gonna explode if I hear it again! I meet lots of people who say they are a Christian but they don't go to church. They often say "you don't have to go to church to be a Christian".
The moment a person makes that statement, I know they don't really understand what a Christian is, or what the church is.
In reality, no-one "goes" to church because the Church is the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12), or the family of God, God's people etc. The real question is "are you part of the body of Christ?" or "a member of God's family" etc. It is not possible to be a Christian without being a part of the body of Christ, a family member etc.
From the Bible we know the following about the church...
1) It's members are joined together as one - just like a human body (1 Corinthians12)
2) It's members need one another (1 Corinthians 12)
3) It's members are to serve one another (1 Corinthians12)
4) It's members are to love one another (John 13:34,35)
5) It's members are to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25)
6) It's members are to pray for one another (Ephesians 6:18)
7) It's members are to do good to all people - but especially the family of believers (Galatians 6:10)
8) It's members are to sing together in worship (1 Corinthians 14:26)
9) It's members are not to give up meeting together but rather keep meeting together (Hebrews 10:25)
10) It's members are a people (1 Peter 2:9,10)
11) It's members together make up God's family on earth (Ephesians 3:14,15)
In order to fulfil the above, church members gather as congregations regularly. In fact, the Greek word for 'Church' (ecclesia) used in the Bible means, 'Called out ones'. It means a 'group' or 'crowd' or 'gathering' of people 'called out' from among others as an identifiable group. In this case, the church are 'a people called out from the world to be God's people'.
So, to say, "you don't need to go to church to be a Christian" is technically 'a truth statement', if by 'church' you mean a building. But you do need to join together regularly with your brothers and sisters in order to fulfil the 11 points above. Otherwise, you are not even trying to be a follower of Jesus - which is an important part of what it means to be a Christian.
So, it is true, going to a particular church building does not make you a Christian, and not going to a particular church building does not disqualify you from being a Christian. But you cannot be a Christian without obeying the call of God to come out of the world and join the congregation of God's family regularly with the aim of fulfilling the 11 points above.
Agreed! If you meet someone who says the above 'you do not need to go to church to be a Christian' Would it be fair to say 'you cannot be a Christian without being part of a church'?
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the word 'Christian'. It was a nickname given to early believers and appears only twice in the Bible in Acts 11:26 and Act 28.
DeleteIn 11:26 I think we can reaonably say three things ...
1) It was in the context of the identifiable grouping Od the Church that disciples were called Christians.
2) These disciples were strongly associated with one another and with Christ or they would never have been called Christian.
3) These disciples must have talked a lot about Christ to unbelievers of unbelievers would never have nicknamed the Christian.
From the above I think the real question is, 'would unbelievers who know me associate me with other disciples and think of me as a Christian because, like the people they strongly associate me with, I talk a lot about Jesus Christ.
If unbelievers wouldn't identify me as a Christian for those reason, then I am not a Chrostian in the sense of the New Testament meaning of the word.
In that case, you are right! Being clearly part of the church and speaking a lot about Jesus to unbelievers will lead others to call us Christian just like the early believers.