Several weeks ago now I wrote about one of my ministry “mantras”: At the center of Christianity is a cross. Another personal mantra says, “God designed Christianity to be done in community.”
The first portion of the statement honors God’s prerogative to determine what form our faith should take. God planned to send the Son even before He created the earth (1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:10; 3:9). Jesus is the head of the church, His body (Eph. 1:22–23). Though some deny this “blueprint hermeneutic,” the Bible affirms that God’s designs always have a purpose (cf. Heb. 8:5).
We further see God standing behind the design of Christianity in passages like Matt. 16:19 and 18:18, where Jesus tells the apostles, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” The text literally says, “shall have been bound in heaven” (see BLB, NASB, LSB, etc.). In other words, the decisive, authoritative decisions made by the apostles in leading the early church reflected what God had already decided in heaven. Truly God designed Christianity.
The second half of the statement points to an important aspect of Christianity that our Western culture makes it harder to appreciate and practice. Our culture places an emphasis on the individual and finding one’s worth in individuality. Other cultures find value and identity in community.
Practically speaking, Christianity being done in community means we can’t do it alone. The church is not optional. A Christian separate from or outside of the church is like an amputated body part (cf. 1 Cor. 12). While a Christian may worship God at any time and in any place, the “five acts” of worship we have identified and spoken of often are those that we practice in community or communally.
Further, many other necessary biblical actions of Christians are communal in nature: encouragement, accountability, confession, bearing one another’s burdens, hospitality, etc.
Thank God He designed Christianity to be done in community! We are truly blessed to belong to the same body, the family of God, the pillar and buttress of the truth, God’s church.
Clay Leonard
