If you are a believer, then the body of Christ needs YOU, and the specific gifts that God has given you. He has equipped you and called you to use your gifts and talents for the benefit of the church. Just like you need the encouragement, prayers, rebukes, etc. of others, they need those very same things from you!

We live in a culture where church involvement is valued less and less. Even among believers, more people seem willing to spend the Lord’s Day doing anything other than gathering with the saints. Some claim to love Jesus and long to be with him and his people for all of eternity—just not on a Sunday morning.

Perhaps some are rebelling against hypocrisy or inconsistency they have witnessed among churchgoers. Maybe, for some, church attendance never became more than a religious ritual that seemed irrelevant. Or, perhaps, everyone has become too busy, and church just isn’t high on the priority list. When asked, the common response is something along the lines of:

1. “I don’t need to go to a building to meet with God.”
2. “I can read my Bible and pray anywhere.”
3. “I love Jesus, but I’m against organized religion.”

Of course we can meet with God anywhere, but is that a good reason to dismiss ourselves from a local church? Thankfully, God’s word isn’t silent.

You Need the Local Church

We are all likely familiar with the admonition in Hebrews 10:24-25:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

This well-known passage reminds us that we need to meet together with God’s people. Doing so stirs our affections toward the Lord and provokes us to do good works. We need brothers and sisters to encourage us and pray for us. We need people in our life who will correct us in grace and love. Our hearts cannot always be trusted, so we depend upon others to help us see our blind spots.

God has provided the local church to be this kind of spiritual community. If we are not involved in a local church, if we are not living our lives with people we have covenanted with, or if we are attempting to live out a “it’s between me and Jesus” kind of spiritually, then our spiritual growth will be stunted. Thus, the Lord warns us not to neglect this very important time together.

Protection From A Hard Heart

Hebrews 3 also reminds us of our need for Christian brothers and sisters:

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

What will protect us against a hard heart? Exhortation from our brothers and sisters in Christ! The regular gathering of the saints is a God-ordained community for that very purpose.

Christ is the head who provides nourishment to the rest of the body, and every believer needs this nourishment. If we cut ourselves off from the body of Christ for a prolonged period, we are in danger of becoming blind to our own sin and having our heart slowly hardened.

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