Commentaries Index
"Freestyle
Christianity" continued...
The Church and God's
Plan
The
very fact that Christianity survived into our modern age is
a witness to the importance of the Church in God’s plan for
the salvation of the world. If Christianity was meant
to be a “go at it on your own” or “private faith”, we would
not even have a Bible to refer to in the first place because
it was the Church that compiled the writings and preserved
the canon as we know it today. Jesus was not a private
person and He established the Church to continue in His
ministry of preaching (inspiring), teaching (guiding and
admonishing) and healing (sacramental and active
ministry). Our relationship with the Lord as
individuals is personal, but there is a social and communal
aspect that springs out of it. This is what the Church
is for and this is what it is about. The Church is not
perfect – it is comprised of members who are imperfect, but
that is one of the reasons why Jesus desired that His
followers work together (Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 15:1; I
Thessalonians 5:14). Jesus and His Church go
hand-in-hand. The two are meant to be together.
To completely reject the Church is a deprivation for
ourselves and the Church of our personal participation in
what Jesus intended for the world.