Cody is confident in his walk with the Lord. He reads his Bible at home, prays every day, and regularly shares his faith with others. He listens to a John Piper sermon on the commute to work and various Reformed podcasts on the way home, and he attends no less than two conferences a year.
Yet the greatest source of Cody’s confidence is rooted not in his private devotion or in edifying instruction, but in his close accountability relationship with his friend and coworker, Steve. Cody and Steve meet every week for lunch and talk about all kinds of struggles they both are facing—they ask each other the hard questions and discuss the next chapter in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. They sharpen each other when needed and lift each other up with encouragement. Cody is certain that all the pieces for him to grow spiritually and flourish as a Christian are in place: Scripture, fellowship, and accountability—just not in church.
When asked, Cody said he used to go to church but stopped because the service style wasn’t what he wanted. He quit attending because he struggled to connect with elderly members and those different from him. He disagreed with some decisions of the church leaders, pastors appeared to meddle in his life at times, and he felt like the less mature Christians in the church were holding him back. In fact, he boasts that he is spiritually flourishing because he is no longer tied down to a church—free to live for Jesus however he sees fit. He sees the church as a spiritual burden.
Cody is one of many examples in the modern evangelical movement that reveal this conviction that the local church is an unnecessary spiritual burden, evidenced by a couple of realities. First, it is a broken place full of sinners. There is no perfect church, of course, but the harsh reality is that the dysfunction and lack of biblically minded shepherds of many local churches have harmed God’s people to such a degree that wounded sheep generally grow disenchanted with the church as a whole and conclude that church life is not worth it.
Second, the convenience of immediate access to information through the Internet and social media has tempted many evangelicals to think they can have their cake and eat it too. They can listen to preaching from some of the best preachers alive, attend conferences led by the best worship leaders and mingle, and interact through the Internet with other Christians just like them—all without the hassle of dealing with the nonsense of church life and those in it. These two realities have made the task of convincing Christians of the necessity of the local church an even greater uphill battle. Nevertheless, the church in all its messiness is still God’s idea and is a necessity in the life of every Christian.
All followers of Jesus need to integrate themselves in the life of the local church. God’s plan for creation concludes when he gathers and redeems his people in his presence. The local and global church, despite all her brokenness, reflects this plan and displays God acting upon it in love now. Only a powerful God could take something as messy and dysfunctional as sinners in a fallen world and still make them in their union with Christ the centerpiece to his redemptive plan. Only God in his infinite wisdom could take that which seems to be an unnecessary burden to zealous Christians wanting spiritual growth and make it his template from which all Christians are meant to flourish. Only a glorious God could take something so broken and yet design it to be that powerful light to display his glory. Only a compassionate God would take what appears to be a spiritual burden and design it to be needed safety for our souls.
The local church is messy and broken, but it is still the centerpiece of God’s glory in redemption—and thus is necessary not just for all Christians’ spiritual growth and discipleship, but for the spiritual safety of their redeemed souls.
What is God’s Design for the Local Church?
Despite the attempts of some to make it seem so, the biblical paradigm for church health is not about numbers and money. Rather, it is about a group of people who, despite their dissimilarities, love Jesus and one another. Spiritual life and health come in the unity of diversity. The New Testament assumes diversity in the local church, and the union of people of different sexes, backgrounds, and opinions displays the power of the gospel. The clearest example of this biblical reality is captured when Paul writes to Titus on how these new churches established in Crete should look:
But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
(Titus 2:1–15)
Paul’s central message in this letter is that the gospel of Jesus Christ transforms minds and hearts, and thus changes how we live. Paul’s blueprint for establishing healthy churches first identifies those qualified (pastors/elders) to lead the church (1:5–9), and then exposes the false teachers in their midst—the gospel imposters who “profess to know God, but deny Him by their deeds” (1:16). In chapter 2, Paul instructs Titus to teach followers of Jesus to live out the gospel. Paul gives a countercultural and even counterintuitive design of older, younger, ethnically diverse believers in covenant together. It is their love for one another that displays the gospel to the world through affectionate, diverse, multigenerational, multiethnic relationships as Christ’s body.
This design is specifically highlighted in Titus 2 in the twofold division of this chapter: verses 1–10 describe the different kinds of people assumed to be in these new churches in Crete, their roles, and how they display the gospel in the local church; and verses 11–15 explain the kind of gospel that transforms and empowers these different groups to be united. It is important to note that Paul is not instructing different churches; each type of people is represented in each of these newer local churches that Titus is establishing.
Paul addresses three different kinds of people, covering a wide spectrum of diversity to create this design that should be present in every local church. There is the presence of the old and the young (vv. 2–8), men and women (vv. 2–8), and slaves and masters (vv. 9–10). It is in the unity of these different groups of people that the transforming power of the gospel is displayed (vv.11–15).
Therefore, it is God’s design for the local church to be full of redeemed followers of Jesus who are different from us: older or younger people who look different, talk different, have different interests, and who come from different places. God’s beautiful design for his church is the combination of the moteliest crew made possible by the blood of Jesus so that the world would see the undeniable unifying power of the gospel. God has specific, intentional purposes for our spiritual growth and discipleship that cannot be experienced outside the context of his unique design.
Five Reasons Christians Need a Local Church for Discipleship
Membership in a local church is essential in the life of any Christian. It is only through the solemn commitment of membership that the discipleship of believers can be effective. Walking with Jesus in our daily life must not be done alone—we need one another, and we need to be responsible for one another. Examples abound in the New Testament of how membership enables discipleship. A clear understanding of how the members of a church are called to relate to one another is essential for Christian spiritual growth—the framework of meaningful covenant membership provides the crucial context for the five reasons why every Christian should be joined to the local church.
(1) Every Christian Needs a Shepherd
I recently had a conversation with a couple who had been attending church regularly for several months. They are enjoying the public gatherings, building new relationships, and even attending other church events. But when asked why they haven’t become members of the church yet, they replied, “Well, we got burned at our last church so we don’t want to think about joining another church. Besides, we feel like we are getting many of the benefits of membership without joining.” There are several troubling things that accompany this sort of response, but the most glaring was the fact that they believed the flock of Christ has no real need of a shepherd. Although this couple had received many benefits of the church through their attendance, they had yet to place themselves willingly under the authority and care of a group of shepherds who have publicly bound themselves to the solemn task of ministering to Christ’s sheep. The biblical paradigm for pastoral ministry is captured best in the following two passages:
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Pet. 5:1–4)
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. (Heb. 13:17)
Within these profound words from the apostle Peter and the writer of Hebrews lie the sobering, unique calling of a pastor and the main reason why every Christian needs the local church—soul care under the oversight of an ordained minister. God’s design is for every Christian to be cared for by a qualified under-shepherd who will give an account for their souls to the Chief Shepherd. Just as sheep without a shepherd are left exposed, vulnerable, and in danger of being devoured by predators, so Christians who refuse the oversight and care of elders and pastors expose themselves to the attacks and tricks of the enemy who prowls about, seeking someone to devour.
(2) Every Christian Needs the Warning Presence of Church Discipline
To return to my earlier examples, Cody and Steve, it is good that these two men have a close, open relationship and are able to walk through life together. It is profitable for them to share the ways in which they struggle and to confess those struggles to each other. But what compelling safeguard is in place to keep Cody from committing a grievous, life-altering sin? What would happen if Cody told Steve he just hired a prostitute and is determined to do it again? What leverage does Cody have to confront Steve if he someday becomes convinced that Jesus is just one of several ways to gain eternal life? Their relationship is the only potential casualty at stake in each of these scenarios. This is why every Christian needs the warning presence of a greater consequence, a weightier discipline to keep our conscience from grievous sins and our souls from abandoning our faith.
One of the most important (and clearly biblical) roles that members play is holding each other accountable for how they carry the name of Jesus. This is known as church discipline and is seen in several passages where members are to confront unrepentant sin in the lives of each other. In Matthew 18:15–18, Jesus describes in detail a four-step process that a Christian takes with another Christian who has sinned against him, which ends with the exclusion of the offending member by the church if no resolution is found. In 1 Corinthians 5:2, Paul demands that the members of the Corinthian church remove those in the church who commit gross sexual immorality. He encourages the church in Thessalonica to confront those taking advantage of the generosity of the church (2 Thess. 3:6–15). Members of a local church are to watch their own lives as well as the lives of one another, for the name of Christ and the purity of his church are at stake. A Christian without the security of the divine authority given to a covenant community treads dangerously, exposed to the powerfully deceptive allure of sin.
(3) Every Christian Needs to Help Bear the Burdens of Others
The Christian life was never designed to be lived alone. This is most clearly demonstrated when suffering enters into the lives of believers—the fallen world in which we live assures us we will suffer, and God has given us the church so that we might be sustained in our faith and comforted in our minds and bodies during those times. This suffering together is most clearly and concisely stated in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, in which he exhorts them to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). Christians are called not just to comfort one another during seasons of grief and sorrow; the command is that we actually take on one another’s burdens as if they were our own. This mutual burden-bearing is intended to take place within the covenant community of a local church. This command to bear one another’s burdens cannot be accomplished in isolation or in the comforts of your break room at work with a single accountability partner. There is a corporate call to this command, and obedience requires that it take place within a group of people committed to walking through life together in Christian community. Few experiences compare to that of suffering saints watching their local congregation coming together to love, support, and serve them in the midst of hardship. It is God’s will that we bear the burdens of others as one of the means of spiritual growth and discipleship.
(4) All Christians Need People to Love and to Serve Those Who Aren’t Like Them
Tribes exist for a reason—we are naturally drawn to those who are like us. Although Steve is a close friend and confidant, his similar tastes, experiences, and opinions somewhat limit his ability to help Cody spiritually grow. They are both single white males in their late twenties who appreciate John Piper and soccer. There is, however, an aspect of discipleship in a Christian’s life that must come from those who are different from us. The multiethnic, multigenerational reality of the local church, which is God’s design (Titus 2:1–10), provides the environment in which that growth takes place.
There is unique growth that happens in Christians’ lives when they are pressed to love and serve someone older, who grew up on the other side of the tracks, who looks or talks differently, and/or has a different cultural background. The dissimilarities that exist in the local church push us to unite around the gospel of Jesus Christ, press us to be charitable to others, and challenge us to acquaint ourselves with those who are different from us. The power of the gospel is on display as we learn to love and serve one another through (not in spite of) our differences.
(5) All Christians Need to Realize That Their Discipleship Is Bigger Than They Are
Cody is like many others seeking to grow in their faith—he is so worried about people in the church hindering his spiritual growth, he has missed God’s design: that a key to his own spiritual maturing comes when he helps others grow. This is best captured when Paul writes to arguably the most faithful and mature church we find in Paul’s letters—the church in Thessalonica:
We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. (1 Thess. 5:13–14)
The implication here is that the Christian life is not a race you sprint to see how far ahead of everyone else you can finish. The Christian life is a race where you lock arms with your fellow brothers and sisters to get everyone to cross the finish line. The goal is not to finish first but to finish together. A Christian’s own personal discipleship is important, but it is not the only thing at stake. The covenant community of a local church strives to help everyone—including the fainthearted and weak (v. 13)—to cross the finish line. God’s all-wise design for the church is not just that we grow, but that we grow through helping the bruised reeds stay intact and the smoldering wicks keep burning. Discipleship in the local church doesn’t merely provide spiritual safety for us but spiritual safety for the whole congregation, as we realize that our sanctification is bigger than our personal discipleship.
Conclusion
If a Christian sees the local church and the discipleship within it as an unnecessary spiritual burden that holds back the most zealous, doesn’t allow for like-minded fellowship, and is more of a burden than a blessing, then not only is God’s design disregarded but the means of grace that is discipleship in the church is sadly squandered. Sanctification in the local church comes with struggles and burdens, and it comes with difficulties and conflicts as we deal with broken sinners stumbling their way to the Celestial City. But it’s often those burdens that somehow, in God’s providence, help us mature in our faith and consequently provide the spiritual safety that we who are in Christ long for as we await his glorious return.
Brian Croft is senior pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and founder of Practical Shepherding. He is also senior fellow for the Mathena Center for Church Revitalization at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has written over a dozen books on pastoral ministry.
