Don’t Be An Isolated Christian
3 minute read
I’m sure we all know someone who has stopped attending church. While some may have walked away from the faith completely, this post is about those who claim they can be a Christian who needs nothing more than to watch church online, or offers up some other reason (or excuse) for why they don’t wish to meet corporately.
But did you know that it’s unbiblical to neglect meeting with fellow believers regularly? Hebrews 10:25 instructs us to not make a habit of staying away from church. But unless someone has a proper understanding of what church is, they won’t realise what they are missing out on. For a more in-depth look into what a true church is all about, have a look at the series ‘A Biblically Sound Church’. But for some quick food for thought, I want you to read just three verses of Jesus’ own words: John 15:8, 12, 14.
What is Jesus telling us in this small portion of Scripture? It’s simply this: Christians need to 1) do what He commands i.e. love one another and 2) bear fruit. By doing so, we glorify the Father AND prove that we are both a disciple and friend of Jesus.
There is no genuine way to bear fruit, love fellow believers, prove our discipleship or glorify the Father if all we do is stay home and ‘watch’ church instead of ‘participating in’ church.
We can’t use the excuse of not wanting to be around people. Christianity requires a personal relationship with God and fellow believers. If we are of Christ and we love Him, then we should want nothing more than to whole heartedly serve Him and each other in the way that He has called us to do…within a church body.
Christians are to be evangelising, teaching, praying, encouraging one another in the faith and worshipping together. How do we do any of these things in isolation? How is someone baptised alone? How does someone participate in communion alone? How does someone use their spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ, if they are all alone? I recently met someone who told me their church only meets online and even does deliverance ministry online! Without personal contact, how can anyone know what is really happening in someones life, let alone someone suffering from demonic influence?
Understandably, if someone has been hurt in church for whatever reason, there may be a very real need to take some time to heal. And, yes there are extreme circumstances where someone does struggle to find a church because of where they live. But ultimately, isolation from church should only ever be temporary – even if it requires moving, or travelling some distance to attend a good church. Christians are to gather together, just as much as they are to spend time in individual prayer and Bible study. Does that mean you can’t be in a small church or home church? Of course not. But whatever the size of your church, it is important it follows the Biblical guidelines of leadership and participates in the sacraments of baptism and communion. All these details can be found in the ‘A Biblically Sound Church’ series.
If you are not attending a church, I challenge to ask yourself why this is so when God’s Word tells us otherwise.
