Maybe you’ve heard the statement: “I’m a Christian, but I don’t believe it’s necessary to be a part of an organized church.”
While a phrase like this has become common place in our culture, Christ believed and taught that the local church is a necessary gift in a Christian’s life. In fact, it is Christ who organized it, gave specific commands you cannot obey while in neglect of it, and gifted you with it for your eternal good.
The Local Church is Designed By God
In the Scriptures, He organized its leadership (1 Tim 2), ordered its worship (1 Cor 14), identified its servants (1 Tim 2), distributed its gifts to be used (1 Cor 12), clarified its care to be exercised (1 Tim 5), its ordinances to be practiced (1 Cor 11), and commanded that Christians should not neglect its gathering (even with its flaws in mind) (Heb 10).
The local church is a vehicle of God’s design that He has chosen display (Eph. 3:10), declare (1 Tim. 3:15), and defend (1 Tim. 3:15) the good news of the gospel of Christ.
The Local Church is A Command of God
Not only is the local church important to Christ but the local church is necessary in the life of a believer because there are specific commands from Christ a believer cannot obey unless they’re tethered to a local church:
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Believers are commanded to gather regularly (Heb. 10:25)
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Believers are commanded to sing with one another, to one another, and for one another (Eph. 5:19)
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Believers are commanded to, if necessary, discipline be disciplined in the context of a local church (1 Cor. 5, Matt. 18)
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Believers are commanded to submit to the elders/pastors of their local church (Heb. 13:17)
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Believers are commanded to serve one another with the gifts they’ve been given by God’s Spirit (1 Cor. 12-14)
And this does not begin to mention the great gift the local church is for the Christian.
The Local Church is a Gift from God
The local church gathering is made up of former foreigners made forever family by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:11-22), who presently point one another to heaven (Heb 10:24-25) and praise with one another as practice of what will forever follow in heaven (Rev 22:3).
Don’t neglect the necessary gift of gathering together in personal submission to the instruction of Christ, in communal service empowered by gifts from His Spirit, and in corporate showcasing of the eternal glory of God’s grace.
