One dare not say, “I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I can pray as well at home as at any church!” Such thinking fails to see the nature of the church corporate. It reveals a shallow and narrow ecclesiology. Christ established a community -- a body of individual members, but collectively a whole; a temple of lively stones; an army of disciplined soldiers. Our quest is not a mere private matter, it is a mission only accomplished by community. Community is one of the witnesses we offer a watching world. It is our humility, our unity, our collaborative efforts, our mutual journey, our love for one another. Let it be said of us as Tertullian suggested, “My how those Christians love one another.” “Without church, we have more of a private fantasy than real faith…real conversion demands that eventually its recipients be involved in both the muck and the grace of actual church life.” That is true, “Because the search for God is not a private search for what is highest for oneself or even for what is ultimate for oneself. Spirituality is about a communal search for the face of God – and one searches communally only within a historical community.”
Christianity is essentially communal; it is not a solo journey. In an age of hyper-individualism, faith is privatized. We may attend church, sit in a group of people, but nevertheless, perceive our worship as private, personal, with the group around us being almost irrelevant. Detached, solitary Christianity is impossible. The love of God cannot be legitimately disconnected from love of others, though we try!
Occasionally someone will say, “For me, prayer is a very private thing! I don’t pray in public. I don’t like to attend prayer meetings. Prayer is too personal to be shared or experienced with others.” Nonsense.
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Christianity is essentially communal; it is not a solo journey. In an age of hyper-individualism, faith is privatized. We may attend church, sit in a group of people, but nevertheless, perceive our worship as private, personal, with the group around us being almost irrelevant. Detached, solitary Christianity is impossible. The love of God cannot be legitimately disconnected from love of others, though we try!
Occasionally someone will say, “For me, prayer is a very private thing! I don’t pray in public. I don’t like to attend prayer meetings. Prayer is too personal to be shared or experienced with others.” Nonsense.
Continue reading>