We could look at all the trends, the busyness of life, and the recent events of the lockdowns resulting from a global virus, but no matter how you seek to explain it, church attendance has been on the decline for some time.
Another factor contributing to the decline in church attendance is the growing preference for a more ‘convenient’ pathway, often leading to neglecting regular church visits. The notion that ‘The church isn’t a building’ is frequently used as a reflexive excuse for not attending a local church.
Let me share a recent encounter I had with a guest. He told me it was his first time attending a church service after 65 years of life. As he sat there, deeply touched, tears drying on his face, I invited him to return the following Sunday after trying to connect with coffee during the week. He immediately responded, “I don’t need to come to church; I can find God anywhere.”
While this took me slightly aback, I agree wholeheartedly. One can find God anywhere they seek Him with a hungry heart. However, to convey that Scripture teaches an individualistic idea of the Church (the Ekklesia) is ignorant and uninformed. Belonging to the body of Christ is not an individualistic, island-unto-oneself idea!
THE CHURCH IS UNIVERSAL, AND LOCAL
In the New Testament, the church refers to the universal body of Christ and a local congregation called out or summoned together. In the Jewish sense, it referred to a religious meeting, such as a synagogue (Matt. 18:17), and in the Christian sense, it reflected the idea of a congregation of believers. This idea is reflected in Paul’s address regarding the division in Corinth.
1 Corinthians 11:18 (KJV) — 18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
While there is a universal sense of the Church being the collective whole of the Body of Christ (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27; I Cor. 12:18), it would be foolish to ignore the evidence in Scripture that presents us with the model of the local church (Acts 8:1; Rom. 16:5; I Cor. 11:18; 14:19,28). While we become members of the UNIVERSAL church through salvation, we are called to be faithful members of a biblically sound LOCAL church.
Look at what one author writes:
“The New Testament pattern of usage indicates that we should think of the church primarily in terms of a local, visible assembly, for that is how the word is overwhelmingly used. More than 90 times ekklēsia refers to local, identifiable assemblies. They may be small enough to meet in a house (Rom 16:5; Col 4:15) or number in the thousands (Acts 2:41; 4:4), but the dominant New Testament idea of the church is a concrete assembly, one with a recognizable membership, marked out by a distinctive, disciplined lifestyle.”
Those Who Must Give an Account: A Study of Church Membership and Church Discipline by John S. Hammett, p. 14
What exactly is the purpose of the local church? Let’s look at a few together.
- #1: Teach Bible doctrine, the Scriptures, and the council of God’s Word (Acts 2:42; 11:26; I Tim. 3:15-16).
- #2: Come together for corporate prayer (Acts 2:42; 4:31; 12:5,12).
- #3 Observe biblical ordinances, such as communion (I Cor. 11:23-29)
- #4: Operate and exercise biblical use of spiritual gifts (I Cor. 12, 13, 14)
- #5: Administer church disciple (I Cor. 5:1-13; 2 Thess. 3:14-15; I Tim. 5:20)
- #6: Send out and ordain ministries into the world while reporting efforts to the local church (Acts 13:1-4; Acts 14:23; Acts 14:26-28).
If I claim to belong to the universal church of God, I must belong to a local church and be faithful to that local church! You can help serve the UNIVERAL body of Christ when you are FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER with the LOCAL body of Christ.