Some Christians boycott the very institution the Bible presents as duty

Writer: Jack Williamson

I knew a man who had many of the external trappings of being a Christian. He and his wife regularly prayed together and read their Bibles. They both had a seemingly rich testimony of salvation, and they both led exemplary lives. They were well liked and respected in our community. While she was a faithful church member and a regular attendee, he never stepped into a church building as far as I knew. He once stated that he didn’t believe in “organized religion.” (I would often joke to this man that if he didn’t want religion that was organized, our Baptist church was the ideal place to be.)

There are many people who profess to believe in Christ and yet have nothing to do with any local church. Yet, the institution of the church is an integral and conspicuous element of the Christian faith and is mentioned many times in the Scripture. Paul called the institution of the church “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Corinthians 3:15). It is the place where Christian believers are to worship, fellowship, and be encouraged and edified in the Word. The officers of the local congregation are described in detail in the pages of God’s Word (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3). The apostles gathered in local churches to worship God and mutually strengthen each other (Acts 13:1-4). Iron does indeed sharpen iron.

Every local church has a place for other Christian believers. Churches are meant to be enclaves of the citizens of heaven temporarily living upon the earth. When European settlers first came to the shores of America, they formed European colonies where their homeland’s dress, language, religion, and architecture was still practiced. Even after generations passed, these descendants of Europeans still held to the traditions and values of their ancestors who lived in Europe. They were quite different from the language, dress, and customs of the Native Americans outside their walls. Hence, a local church is a colony of heavenly people upon the earth.

Baseball is a team sport and no one has every known a left fielder who was ever famous or admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame unless he played on a team. The same thing can be said of football quarterbacks. Christians are to be ministering to one another in the context of the local congregation. There is nothing more discouraging to a pastor than seeing talented Christian people staying away from the ministry of God’s Word.

There are some standard excuses that people use to avoid attending church. One of the more frequently heard ones is the fact that no church is perfect or is inhabited by perfect people. Of course, there are no perfect people upon the face of the planet, yet that doesn’t stop people from working with, eating with, shopping with, or being friends with other imperfect people. Why should it stop people from worshiping with other imperfect people? I’ve not aware of any Bible verse that says, “Thou shalt only worship with perfect people.”

It seems to me rather ridiculous to call oneself a Christian while boycotting the very institution that the Bible always pictures as a Christian duty. The Bible never gives its blessing to lone-wolf Christians.

Jack Williamson is pastor of First Baptist Church of Ridgeway, S.C.