Is The Church Really Needed Anymore?

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” I Corinthians 12:26

This set of questions and answers begins a new section in the ECO Essential Tenets. The previous two sections addressed the first two distinctives of the Reformed faith: God’s grace in Jesus Christ and Election. The third essential and distinctive belief of Reformed faith is “Covenant life in the church.” As people of faith, we are members of the community of faith, the community centered around the new covenant of God with his people through Jesus Christ.

In what sense does the coming of Jesus Christ create a new covenant? The new covenant unites us with God and one another, no longer through the law but through Jesus Christ. It also reveals a great mystery of the faith which was hidden in former generations. That mystery is that the Gentiles are also included in God’s plan. Jesus Christ came through the nation of Israel, but he came for all people. God’s new covenant invites all people into his gracious care and creates one new people in Jesus Christ. God himself guarantees this covenant through his word of promise.

This new covenant provides a new identity, both for Jews and Gentiles. For Jews, the promises of God no longer center around the Promised Land. Instead, God’s promises provide a greater and more eternal salvation for all people, not merely from physical bondage but from the human bondage to sin and death. In creation we discover that we are made to live in relationship to others, male and female, created together in God’s image. Now in Christ Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God and find our new identity as brothers and sisters of one another, since we now share one heavenly Father.

What relation to this new covenant community should we have? Our faith requires our active participation in this covenant community. This call to active participation in the life of the church strikes some as unnecessary today. In former generations, people got their information from and found their community in traditional institutions, such as the church, neighborhood, and local media. With the explosion of the Internet, other sources for information and community have arisen. People no longer look to the church for what to know and believe. Nor do they feel the need for in-person interactions when so much can be done online. Some ask, “Is the church really needed anymore?”

Christianity answers that it is. While some people assert that they can be Christians apart from the life of the church, we respond that we do not see how. Theologians have often argued that we cannot have God as our heavenly Father if we refuse to have the church as our spiritual mother. It is the church that brings us to faith, nurtures us in our spiritual infancy, supports us in adolescence, and guides us to Christian maturity. God has given us the church for our fellowship, encouragement, support, and comfort. We forsake it at our peril.

While the church is universal, its expression is local. Just as a football player who wishes to be in the game must play for some particular team, so God calls us to participate in the life of local congregations. This enables us to join with others in worship, service, ministry, and fellowship. Those who complain that the church is full of sinners should understand that as good news. It means there is room for us. The church is not a hotel for saints but a hospital for sinners. All who acknowledge themselves as such are invited to be part of this fellowship.