The Individual Christian and the "Church"

There is a definite distinction made in the New Testament between the actions and responsibilities of the individual and those of the church. Granted the church is made up of individuals, and is just a group of individual Christians banding together. But there is reason to note that the church has a special command and focus that is different from the individual in some respects.

There is no question that the NT teaches a great deal about what we as Christians are to be doing. It starts with the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Like, in Matthew 5-7, the sermon on the mount. Jesus, over and over, taught that we are to treat others as ourselves, love our enemies, help the poor, both in and out of the church, be forgiving people, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, tell others about Jesus, follow Him. All of this teaching is to the individual.

But there is teaching regarding the "church" that differs some from the above. First, Jesus "built" the church, died for it, and loved it. As we look at the beginnings of the church, first in Jerusalem (Acts 2), then into the rest of the world, we see that the church had a mission, a focus. The charge to the church was to take the message, the gospel, into all the world. Jesus told His disciples in Mark 16: 15+, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." We see them doing this starting in Acts 2. And throughout the book of Acts we see churches being established everywhere. And we see church organization, the appointing of elders in every church. With all this preaching and dedication and zeal, the church grew rapidly. But the focus of the church remained this: the saving of souls. We never see the focus shifting to social matters, feeding the poor, recreation, etc. Individual Christians had opportunities and responsibilities in the social areas, but not the church.

But, having said all of that, there may be valid criticism of us as individual Christians not doing enough of what we have been charged to do. And churches have moved into the social areas, making the focus of trying to meet the social needs of society, and trying to attract people into the church by making it fun, entertaining, and satisfying. But we need to remember that the only one we are trying to satisfy is God Himself.

That is hard teaching; but I believe it is what the Bible is teaching. Have a good week and thanks for sticking with me.