“I believe in God. But I don’t go to church.”
“I can pray at home; God hears me there just as much as anywhere else.”
“All I need is my Bible. I don’t need the Church.”
Far too many who call themselves Christian support this idea of Churchless Christianity. It is Christ alone who saves, and therefore, according to this brand of Christianity, the Church serves no tangible purpose. All a “Christian” needs is the Bible, and he or she is good to go. In Orthodox Christianity, however, the Church serves a very real, integral purpose in the life of the Christian. In this post, we’ll explore what that purpose is, and why you really do need to go to church.
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Reject the Church, deny the New Testament
Very few Christians would argue against the assertion that Christ is the One who saves. For He is the eternal Son of God who has assumed human flesh, and has done so “for us men and for our salvation” (Nicene Creed). Thus Saint Paul writes, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1Ti 2:5). But because this Mediator established the Church which is His Body, we who are joined to Him are joined to His Church as well. If we love Christ, who is Head of the Church, yet at the same time reject His Body, then we deny New Testament teaching.
Establishment of the Church
The first use of the word “church” (Gr. ecclesia) in the New Testament comes in the Gospel of Matthew. Our Lord gives His approval of Peter’s confession of faith and promises, “I will build My church” (Mt 16:18). This Church is not just a loose community of believers. Those believers actively gathered together for worship, in the same physical place each week on the Lord’s Day (and other days as well). There, they prayed and celebrated the Eucharist (Acts 2:42–47).
This Church, while not necessarily confined to any particular building, does have a physical component to it. And in the Orthodox Church, corporate worship as the Body of Christ takes place according to the pattern established in the Scriptures. That means we gather together before an altar, offer a sacrifice of praise to the Lord, and celebrate the Eucharist. We partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, as He commanded us, and participate in the spiritual life of the Church He established for us.
The Church exists to lead the faithful to the Love, the Light, and the Life of Christ through the Holy Mysteries (the Sacraments). She transforms us, sanctifies us, and brings us into communion with God. Therefore, our participation in the Life of the Church is integral to our own personal resurrection and salvation. We cannot be saved apart from the Church.
What it means to be members of Christ
Paul’s instructions in his epistles clearly show what it means to be the Church and to be in the Church. Nowhere in the New Testament is Paul’s teaching on this topic more fully disclosed than in Ephesians 4. He explains that the Church is:
- One, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:3). There is one Church, one God, one doctrine, one baptism.
- People, men and women energized by the grace of the Holy Spirit (4:7). We do not all have the same gifts, but together we are equipped to do God’s will.
- The Head is Christ, “from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together” (4:16).
- “The new man” (4:24), the new creation, made to be righteous and holy. We are no longer alienated from God (4:18); we are being renewed together (4:23), “members of one another” (4:25).
Why is it important to pray together as the Church?
Everything the Lord does for His people, He does for them as a group, not as separate individuals. Is there a role that each individual plays? A relationship each individual has with Him? Absolutely. But salvation is accomplished in community, not in isolation.
When the Lord freed the ancient Israelites from bondage in Egypt, He freed them as a group, as His chosen people. Not as individuals. When He made His covenant with them, He made it with them all as a group, not with each person individually. As a nation, the ancient Israelites survived together. They performed acts of remembrance and worshiped together. And they communed together of bread and wine and herbs and remembered what the Lord accomplished for them.
And so today, the Church continues in this. As a Church, we gather together on the Lord’s Day every week. We drink of the Lord’s blood and eat of His flesh to remind ourselves of our deliverance from death by Christ’s sacrifice for us. While each individual must take part, we take part together. No matter how much we pray at home, we cannot come close to replacing the Body and Blood of the Lord Himself, without which, as He Himself says, we have no life in us (John 6:53).
Conclusion
God is present in each of our lives because of the Church, not because of our personal relationships with him. Yes, our personal relationship with God must be nurtured outside of corporate worship. And we must cultivate a life of prayer in our own homes as well. But coming together as the Church to celebrate the Eucharist is essential to the health of our souls and bodies.
Do you really need to go to church? Yes! The biggest obstacle standing in the way of each of us finding communion with God is that we try to get to know Him in the wrong way, using the wrong means, outside of His Church. If someone truly wishes to know Christ, the most effective way to do this is to participate in the sacramental life offered by the Church. Therefore, brothers and sisters, come and see!
Keep Reading: Teaching Your Children (And Yourself) How To Pray