5 Things You Can't Do if You're Not Committed to a Local Church
One of the many things the pandemic of 2020 has forced us to do is revisit our ecclesiology, or our view of the church. God has revealed there is so much more that churches can do virtually than anyone realized, and that virtual ministry is actually a crucial tool to reach many groups of people in our society. He has forced churches to take several leaps forward in the technology department in order to be better positioned for ministry in a digital, social media-driven world. For that, we can be thankful.
God has also stretched the way churches view membership. Now that there's a wide recognition that things will never go back to the way they were pre-COVID, churches have to adapt to whatever the "new normal" will be. This includes the fact that virtual ministry is here to stay, and by extension, so are virtual church members. This development is causing churches to explore ideas such as virtual campuses, virtual membership, and virtual discipleship.
Another area in which God has been challenging the church is how the church thinks of preaching, teaching, and sacraments. Is virtual preaching truly preaching? Is virtual Communion truly Communion in the biblical sense, in which the body gathers around one table and eats from the same bread and drinks from the same cup?
“Whether done virtually or in-person, a certain level of commitment to a single church is necessary in order to live out fully the commandments of Christ and the teachings of the Apostles.”
These questions are deeply theological and profoundly practical as they touch upon the very way we do church. But there are certain things that haven't changed, even with all the new issues and peculiarities of 2020. And these things involve the way we commit ourselves to the church.
Whether done virtually or in-person, a certain level of commitment to a single church is necessary in order to live out fully the commandments of Christ and the teachings of the Apostles. Church hopping (attending different churches) and infrequent church attendance (once a month or less) are major hurdles standing in the way of complete obedience to the New Testament.
Here is a short list of things one cannot live out or obey apart from regular commitment to one local church body.
1. Know One Another Intimately
If someone is attending different churches every week, or attending the same church only once a month or less, it is impossible for them to go deep in their relationships with people.
Hebrews 10:25 encourages believers to continue meeting together and encouraging one another more and more as the day of the Lord approaches. Frequent, regular gathering is assumed in the New Testament (cf. Acts 2:46), and so it should be seen as both descriptive and prescriptive (normative) for the people of God in every age.
2. Bear with One Another
Ephesians 4:2 tells us to bear with one another in love with patience (longsuffering), humility, and gentleness. Without commitment to a particular group of fellow believers, this command is impossible to fulfill. If someone routinely visits different churches, or attends service a few times a quarter, there is simply no opportunity for that individual to show patience or forbearance toward others who might annoy, offend, or hurt them in some way.
“Without commitment to a particular group of fellow believers, this command is impossible to fulfill.”
It would be far easier for such an individual to walk away from the problem than to muster the courage and effort to deal with the problem head on, the way Jesus teaches us to do in Matt. 5:23-24 and 18:15-18.
3. Discover, Develop, and Use Spiritual Gifts
Ephesians 4:12-13 teaches that the purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up or edify the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts are meant for the church, not for individual or worldly matters. It makes sense, then, that spiritual gifts are most effectively discovered, developed, and used in a local church setting.
The process of discovering and developing spiritual gifts takes time. It requires one to try many different things, volunteer in many different ministry positions, and interact and receive feedback from many different people. But it also requires leaders and peers to walk consistently with a person to speak truth and guidance into their life (see Point #1 above). Hence, long-term commitment to a church is necessary for this process to be carried out.
4. Grow into Spiritual Leadership
No mature Christian has ever grown into maturity apart from the local church. There has never been a church hopper or infrequent church attender who became a well-regarded spiritual leader. It takes time and commitment to develop not only spiritual gifts (Point #3), but also the character to be a mature leader.
Leaders are those who are tested and approved by the church, and therefore have a good reputation in the church (1 Thess. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:2; 5:22). Christians are also called to seek and desire leadership (1 Tim. 3:1). Therefore, it seems clear that God's will is for Christians to worship and serve in a consistent context where such leadership can be developed.
5. Fulfill Jesus's Vision of Unity
In Jesus's high priestly prayer of John 17, He prayed that His disciples would be one just as He and the Father are one. This prayer certainly has ecumenical dimensions to it, and so it is fitting that all Christians denominations make efforts to bless and work with each other to fulfill the Great Commandment and Commission.
However, Jesus's prayer finds its truest fulfillment in the local church, as it is in local churches rather than in broad, ecumenical movements that non-believers will most clearly see the supernatural love and unity that Jesus prays for. It is precisely in how individual Christians forgive one another, support and encourage one another, pray and intercede for one another, and sacrificially give to one another that the world will see and be convicted that God and the gospel are real (John 13:35; 17:23).
Conclusion
The preceding is a partial list of things one cannot do if one is not a committed member of one church. There are other things, such as church discipline, excelling in love, or making a lasting impact in the community that could have been included. Suffice it to say that commitment and regular involvement in the life of a singular church is absolutely necessary in order to live out the Christian faith as God has designed it.
It would be best for us to embrace this design rather than to buck against it. Human beings are made for community and have a need not merely to be but to belong. The local church is the place where the being and belonging are meant to flourish and find their fulfillment.