What is the point of a local church?

Back in the first century the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the calling of the Apostles and the intent and will of God the Father as facilitated by his Holy Spirit established the church. It's an institution that has been maintained by God for a couple of millennia so far and, as has been promised to us in scripture, will never be defeated.

In the wide view the church is comprised of all believers of Christ throughout the whole world. But it also refers to a collection of believers in a local area. The presumption of the bible is that Christians of near geographical location will collect together under the leadership of a God-ordained plurality of elders. The reality of being an active, engaged member of a local church for a Christian is biblically normative.

It has become common in society, and also among some Christians, to solely view the physical building used for religious gatherings as constituting a church. It is seen as a place that people that consider themselves Christians can gather for a couple of hours every week (or less) before going back to their actual lives. This view does not fulfill the biblical purpose for the church.

In order to understand the point of church it's helpful to understand the point of the Christian. Why does God save people? The answer is, ultimately, for him to receive glory. Through his providing grace and showing mercy to a group of people that hated him our Father gets to forever hold each one of us up as a display of his perfect mercy and kindness. Consequently we get to receive the love of the Father and enjoy him forever.

But why does the Father leave his people in this fallen, sinful world? He could immediately bring them home to be with him upon providing their salvation. It goes back to his intent to receive glory and the means by which he desires to save people for this purpose. As discussed in the previous web log post, the default of mankind is one of enmity towards God (Colossians 1:21). The curse of sin and the pride of mankind permeates the earth. Yet the sovereign will of our Creator has decreed the means by which he will save some and redeem what he has made.

There are a multitude of changes that occur for the believer the moment they are saved including:

1. The Father forgives them of their sins. All sins that they have committed, all they are currently committing and any that they will commit in the future. The eternal consequences are extinguished and the judgement that each of those sins deserves has been placed upon the Son as he was crucified.

2. The Holy Spirit immediately indwells them and begins the work of sanctification. For the first time the believer becomes capable of obedience, able to truly understand scripture and is empowered to not only turn away from sin but also to turn towards righteousness.

3. An adoption into a new family. We are changed from being a child of the devil (1 John 3:10) to a child of God. This adoption provides for us an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11), a perfect righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and a new home with our Father in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

These are realities for all Christians everywhere and they relate to the functioning of many Christians gathered together as a church.

It is the desire of God to save sinners (2 Peter 3:9) and it is with that purpose that all Christians are tasked with being ambassadors to spread his gospel and make disciples (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are like foreigners in a fallen world telling the people the name by which they must be saved. Yet we remain affected by lingering sin of a dying flesh and the temporal consequences of a past rebellion.

For the Christian there can often be a dissonance between the state of our soul and the reality of our lives and minds. This can be made more obvious as we proceed through sanctification and have sins that we didn't even know were a problem pop up in front of us. Our obedience to God and his scripture can sometimes feel like a brief sprint forward but then a tumbling down the hill behind us. Truths that we know from scripture regarding to who we belong, our eternal destiny and how the Creator of the universe sees us are, at times, difficult to remember. So God blesses us with fellowship together.

The church is designed to be a gathering of sometimes sin-prone, forgetful, doubting individuals made in the image of the One who has forgiven and loved them. Where some are weak God has strengthened others and it is for the purpose of lifting each other up from where we fall that we meet and do life with our brothers and sisters (Hebrews 10:24-25, Ephesians 4:11-13). It is a caring Father that sees his sheep fed, protected and led along the right path.

Church isn't a club in which we sometimes gather to be told how to feel good about ourselves. The point of the local church is to biblically feed, equip and encourage the children of God to reach the lost with his good news of salvation. It is to use the gifts that he gives to believers for the benefit of the whole. It is used by the Father to strengthen what is weak and to manifest his intentions.

Therefore, it is not just a building we go to but rather the local church is the primary paradigm of the living out what God has done and is doing in his people as he lead them to bring about his glory. That is what you are partaking in when you live your lives with other Christians and that's far better than just going to church sometimes on a Sunday.