The Purpose of the Church

            The New Testament speaks of the one universal Church of Jesus Christ – all believers who make up the Bride of Christ – but also speaks of churches – local groups of believers who together are living and working and being as Christ in the world, which brings the unsaved to knowledge of who God is, and causes God to be worshipped for who He is (John 17, particularly v. 23).   It is through regular fellowship of a local body of believers that each Christ-follower is able to minister to other Christians, is helped in their own walks with God, and is equipped to witness to the unsaved (1 Corinthians 14:3-4, Ephesians 4:11-13).  In John 13:35, Jesus tells us that the world should be able to look at the church, observe their (unique) love for each other, and know that the church is made up of those who are authentic disciples of Jesus.  In Acts we see that the church is the community wherein provision for needy believers is met (intrachurch: Acts 6:1-3, interchurch: 11:27-30).  Hebrews 10:24-25 tell us that as believers we are to intentionally be in each other’s lives, sharing God’s word and principles so that each one will be helped to live a life of love and do all the good God has for them to do (Ephesians 2:10, 5:19,21 Titus 2:7,14, 3:1,8,14).  Prophets, pastors, and teachers work with a local body of believers to teach them sound doctrine, so that no one will be led astray by false ideas (Titus 1:13, 2:1,15, and others).

            In just the cited passages alone, we can clearly see that Christianity is not something we do individually. 

            Yes, there are components of the Christian life that are individual: 

We individually believe the Gospel and are saved (Acts 2:38).
We individually (and collectively) have access to God in prayer through Jesus (individually Ephesians 3:14, collectively 2:18). 
We individually must live lives of integrity and choose to obey the Word (Psalm 15, 1 John 2:1, 17b). 

But we believe the Gospel and are saved, because other believers led us to faith in Christ (John 17:20).

We are dependent on the prayer support of others (Ephesians 6:18).
We are reminded and encouraged in righteous living by the words, examples, and challenge of other believers (Hebrews 13:7, Titus 2, 1 Corinthians 11:1). 
Our interactions with the saved give us much of the context wherein we live Christianly (Romans 12). 
We are accountable to others for our weaknesses (James 5:16, Galatians 6:1-2).
We are teamed with others in our witness (Ephesians 3:10).

            Organizations that offer physical care and material goods outside of a community of faith do not provide spiritual help or require commitment and accountability.  (These things are “safeties” God built into His design of the local church.)  Because of this, these parachurch organizations can hinder people in their walks with God.

            Because God has chosen to show Himself to the world through the Church of Jesus and through local churches in particular, I would encourage my readers to prayerfully choose a local church and commit themselves to being a contributing, submissive part of that community of faith, glorifying God in tandem with His saints there.

(This was written for a class assignment, October 2, 2018)