We find it harder to follow and understand the corporate aspects of Biblical teaching, because we’re mired in individualistic thinking and language. We must be aware of that and be more deliberate in finding and emphasising them.

While any sort of individualism is a product of Christianity, the form of individualism we currently have that places my desires squarely at the top of the hierarchy of goods is deeply destructive to society, to individuals, and to the church.

Once we’ve noticed that though, we’re left with questions about what to do. While doing so we mustn’t fall into the easy trap of assuming that noticing means that we aren’t still subject to the same cultural winds. We are. I am. Noticing isn’t enough.

When we’re all drenched, but I’ve noticed and you haven’t, me declaring you ‘wet’ doesn’t make me dry. Because we’ve never known anything but ‘wet’, and neither had generations before us for now hundreds of years, we cannot simply get dry. We don’t know where the towels are.

So, what can we do about it? We won’t find antidotes—so the title was clickbait—but there are things we can do as churches. Here are five things we can do to start with:

1. Teach the corporate aspects of the Bible.

We so often interpret the Bible as though it were speaking to one person, and therefore apply it to ourselves in the same way. It’s our default position. “But what does it mean for me?” As most of the Bible was written to groups of people (well, firstly and primarily to the Christ by the Christ, but after that), we need to ask what it means for us.

We find it harder to follow and understand the corporate aspects of Biblical teaching, because we’re mired in individualistic thinking and language. We must be aware of that and be more deliberate in finding and emphasising them.

When we apply the Bible we always apply to our contexts, we don’t hammer the things our people find easier, we hammer the things they find harder (or, we should). So, we should teach the gospel as joining a people.

2. Use “we” language.

We have an innate yearning to belong to groups, for all we often then reject them when they inevitably require something of us. Speak of ‘us’ and ‘we’, address the church in corporate terms that sound right in your mouth.

I couldn’t pull off Terry Virgo’s ‘beloved’ to address a congregation, and I’d sound very American if I called them ‘church’. Some of my younger friends might say ‘fam’, I’d sound like a complete idiot. I default to ‘friends’, as you’ll have noticed in my writing, but it’s not as corporate an option. Find something that works for you.

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