Imagine an athlete without a team, a ship without water, a performer without an audience, a bee without a hive, or a soldier without an army. Each analogy paints a sad picture of isolation, where there is a lack of support, shared purpose, and growth. Now try to imagine a body without arms, legs, or eyes. It becomes fundamentally incomplete and deficient in its capacity to function as created.

The same can be said for a Christian without a church. Something is lacking. Can you be a child of God and not be involved in a local church? Sure. But can you be following the will of God, growing in your walk, supported by others, and living with purpose outside a local body of believers? It is very unlikely. While salvation is personal, the Christian life is not. The Church is imperative and being involved in it is as necessary to the child of God as having a family is to a baby.

Unfortunately, too many people see church as either an organization run by others, a beautiful building to use for weddings, funerals, and events, or a place to attend over the weekend. But this is not the image of the church we see in scripture. The word church (ekklesia) means a called-out assembly or congregation.   In fact, in older translations, like the Tyndale English Bible, you cannot even find the word church.  The word ekklesia is correctly translated as congregation or assembly. Church, in its correct context, is a local, visible, and assembled group of believers who have coveted together.

As the Apostle Paul writes to various congregations in the New Testament, he uses the analogy of a body with each of them. The church at Corinth is remined  that they are a body that works together. “But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular,”  1Corinthians 12:20-21, 26-27.

To the church at Ephesus he says that Christ, “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all,” Ephesians 1:22-23. “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love,” Ephesians 4:16.

The Christians in Rome are told, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another,” Romans 12:5.

Paul tells the church in Colossae that Jesus, “is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence,” Colossians 1:18.

The church will never be perfect. In the same way that a body can’t be perfect because it is perfectly flawed. But, each body is fearfully and wonderfully made by its Creator, as is the church. A healthy church, with sound doctrine, pours into people, welcomes and loves one another as family, invests in discipleship and spiritual growth, and prays and fellowships together. The church isn’t an organization for casual gatherings, but an organism with members who are committed to walk in this life together.

How important is your hand? What about your foot or big toe? Would you be willing to give up your eyes or ears? Let me be raw and transparent. This is why it hurts so much when believers leave a church. When someone decides it’s not enough, that the grass must be greener elsewhere, or that they can simply walk away, it leaves a painful gap and absence. For the body, it’s like losing an arm.

However, we must never lose sight of the beauty of this fractured body, whose head is Jesus. Yes, the body is made up of people, and people have a tendency to hurt others. That is the risk with genuine love. It costs. No one understands this more than Christ. Yet, despite it all, Christ designed the body to be healthy, lacking nothing, and dependent upon Him. He sustains, guides, and invigorates the body. He unites the body under His leadership. And every part has a job to do. Believers who are part of a body should cherish it with the same devotion we reserve for Christ. We are called to nourish, protect, strengthen, and care for our church, as we would our own physical body. And for those outside a local, visible, and assembled fellowship of the faithful, let me encourage you to get plugged in. The body needs you. And you need a healthy body because it is a lifeline for spiritual growth.