Jesus initiated “the Church” in the Gospels. In Acts, Luke wrote of its birth and early years. Sharing doctrine and practice, the writers of the epistles unpacked what it means to be the Church, as it participates with Jesus in ushering in His Kingdom. Based upon the entirety of the New Testament, it becomes imperative that every believer, in obedience to Christ, process their life of faith as an active and vital member of a local assembly or community of other believers (Acts 2:42). Willful and arrogant blind spots develop in believers who diminish or denigrate the need to be a part of such a group. There is no such animal as a “Lone-Wolf Christian.” Lack of interactive connection with other Christ followers results in dangerous and destructive deficiencies in belief (theology) and behavior (character).
The Church is the most powerful entity on the planet, and no force formed against it will succeed. In a local assembly (as part of the Church worldwide), some of the following concepts will emerge; the list is not exhaustive.
- The Church is where we define and discover our spiritual gifting and then determine how we may uniquely meet the needs of the assembly in order to do the work of ministering to others.
- The Church is where we study the Scripture together as the Spirit weaves coherence, discernment, and encouragement into the body.
- The Church must be a safe place to have conversations about the issues we face in our culture. By this “binding and loosing” we forge a path as to how we engage the world around us.
- The Church is where we are equipped and challenged to take the reality of Jesus Christ to our homes, to the marginalized, to the nations.