Why You Need a Localized Community to Grow in Christ

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95)

According to recent polls from Barna, American Christians between 13 and 28 (“Gen Z’ers”) attend church a little less than twice per month, and generations older than millennials have been significantly declining in church attendance. This doesn’t bode well for the condition of American Christianity. Of course, there are still thousands of believers that attend a church on a weekly basis, but the popular form of “attending church” bears little spiritual fruit in most believers. It’s what happens outside of the Sunday service that tends to significantly encourage, instruct, and build up believers. This is due to consumerist and spectator-oriented forms of “church” that are usually practiced in western societies.

Yet, at the same time, any church that praises God, studies the Bible and celebrates the Lord’s Supper together possesses all the spiritual gifts necessary for the building up of its members (see 1 Cor. 1 and Eph. 4:11ff). The question is whether its members are using their gifts to build up their brethren. That’s why I want to assure you that, if you attend a church with godly leading men, a Bible study time, praise-singing, and a regular observance of Communion, then your assembly is your life-support system, assuming you’re a believer. The body of Christ is the community that He has given to provide you with most of your spiritual and social needs. Let me explain how this works.

Christians are Specifically Designed for Local Fellowships

While it’s true that the body of Christ encompasses all the redeemed since the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, in every part of the world, the Lord has designed us for local community. That’s why throughout the New Testament, the model for Christian fellowship is the weekly gathering of believers in a localized area for the mutual building up of each other. And this is what’s usually practiced today, with some huge differences.

These gatherings of believers with qualified leaders overseeing them are usually called “local churches.” (I prefer to avoid using the word “church,” since it’s a deliberate cover-up of the Greek term.) The reason that local assemblies are the ideal form of regular Christian fellowship is that they’ve been designed by the Lord to act as extended families. As believers live out their Christian lives, they ought to be gathering with a family of brethren on at least a weekly basis, so they can use their gifts to help the family grow in love, wisdom, and zeal for Christ.

One of the hangups that some people may encounter when thinking about devoting themselves to a particular assembly is that there often several comparable ones in close proximity. If someone is struggling to choose which church to be a part of, I have several considerations to offer.

What Makes the Best Life-Support System

Given only a surface-level evaluation of a Christian assembly, you will usually find very little wrong with them. However, there are far more unbiblical characteristics in most fellowships than we notice. Hence, it’s extremely important that you do serious investigating into the beliefs, practices, leadership, and culture of any church to which you’re considering devoting yourself.

There are several elements of an assembly that it should possess to be considered spiritually healthy according to Scripture. One ministry that’s devoted much time and energy to helping believers discern sound churches is IX Marks, formerly led by Capitol Hill Baptist Church leader Mark Dever. You can check out their website for more insights, but let me briefly detail some of the essential elements of an assembly that make it worth your devotion.

The obvious assumption about any Christian fellowship is that it’s a group of people who mostly believe the biblical gospel of God’s redemption in Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension. With that said, here are extra qualifications for a minimally healthy assembly.

  • Qualified Leaders (plural)

    One of the first things to look for in a good fellowship is godly, wise, knowledgeable, and loving men in leadership. And unless the congregation numbers a dozen or less, you ought to be able to find a good leader besides the “Pastor” (see “Admonish the Gen Z ‘Pastor’” for why I’m quoting that).

    What do good leaders look like? They usually look like kind, caring, and gracious husbands whose wife loves him, and are passionate and skilled for teaching the Bible. One of the easiest ways to figure out if the main teacher of a church is a good leader is to look at his sermon archive, and find out whether the sermons consist of Bible teaching. A healthy church simply must be devoting itself to the weekly in-depth study and application of Scripture.

    Secondly, make sure that the recognized leaders of the church you’re considering are respected, but not revered (or feared). The congregation ought to love, appreciate, and honor their leaders, but they ought not to view them as nearly flawless and expert Bible teachers. They ought to be able to tell you how they’ve been encouraged to grow in Christlikeness through not only the teaching of their leaders, but also their personal counsel and example. Qualified leaders are diligent, vigilant, overseers and shepherds of their congregation.

    • Careful and Practical Bible Teaching

    The second mark to look for in a good church is the in-depth, diligent, detailed, and intensely practical teaching of Scripture. Generally, you should only consider participating in an assembly that practices weekly “expository teaching.” This means that the messages are based on one or more passages of Scripture, explain the meaning to the original audience, and then apply the universal principles to Christian living. Bible teaching should be one of the distinguishing marks of a fellowship, since its through the understanding of God’s Word that mind renewal and behavior change takes place.

    • The Regular Observance of the Lord’s Supper and Normal Suppers

    The third thing to look for in a local fellowship is the consistent celebration of the Lord’s Supper, as well as the regular celebration of unity through sharing meals. The Lord’s Supper is that ritual that the Lord Jesus instituted for His disciples at the Last Supper. It’s a physical representation of what Jesus did for us on the cross, as well as what He continues do to for us everyday. He determined that we needed to have a physical and intimate reminder of our participation in His death through the act of eating bread and drinking grape juice. In the Gospels, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” and the early church followed this instruction by devoting themselves to “the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42).

    From all the evidence in Acts, 1 Corinthians 11, and Luke, we know that the first Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper as part of a real supper, called the “love feast” in Jude. And we see in the first assembly that they were “breaking bread from house to house” (Acts 2:46). Hence, in order to acknowledge and facilitate our family character as local fellowships, we should be sharing meals together on a regular basis. Like the proverb about natural families, the church that eats together sticks together. If we truly love each other like brothers and sisters, we’re going to want to share in one of the most basic and intimate activities of life.

    • Praying Together and Biblically Praising the Lord

    A fourth essential for a good assembly is a devotion to group prayer and praise of God. This starts with the whole congregation setting aside a time to pray for the needs of the body, but it includes the singing of biblical, sober, and joyful songs of praise. An assembly needs to be singing biblically-based, linguistically-precise, and skillfully composed praise songs. The words should convey the truths Scripture reveals about God, Christ, man, sin, redemption, and heaven. And they should do so in a way that is reverent, moving, and powerful. The congregation should be eager to sing the songs chosen, and the songs ought to bring out more joy, thanksgiving, and love from the brethren. If a fellowship isn’t devoted to prayer and praise-singing, then it’s not worth attaching yourself to.

    • Loving, Caring, and Holy Relationships

    The final aspect of a good church I want to mention is the cultivation of genuinely loving, sacrificial, and affectionate friendships among the members. The congregation should take significant time every week to hang out with each other, and talk about life’s positives and problems. This is where personal discipleship, mentorship, and friendship is greatly fostered. If an assembly doesn’t have any family-like relationships between different households, then it’s questionable whether they’re actually loving each other as Jesus loved us.

    When you interact with the brethren of a fellowship, and demonstrate that you’re a believer, you should experience concern, interest, and love from someone. And you should see this demonstrated almost everywhere. This is why it’s important for assemblies to have a designated “fellowship” time for having conversations and/or enjoying refreshments.

    However, keep in mind that you’re just as much responsible for seeking to bless, encourage, help, and counsel your brethren in Christ as anyone else! But if you don’t see a congregation loving each other like friends and family, then you can be sure that they don’t understand what it means to be the body of Christ.

    How Good Church Qualities Supports Your Spiritual Life

    Now we need to bring these marks of healthy church-life to the original point of this lesson – as a believer, your local fellowship of brethren support your spiritual life. What is the main reason for this? Doesn’t our life come directly from the Lord? Of course, but He imparts His power and guidance to us through the ministry of local fellowships.

    This is due to the fact that you are only one part of an interconnected and mutually dependent community organism. That organism is the body of Christ, or the assembly of the saints. And as noted, that body manifests itself in the form of localized communities of saints that usually gather on a weekly basis. Since you are a part of God’s household, family, nation, and body of Christ, you simply cannot grow in Christlikeness, nor even maintain your godliness, by yourself.

    The New Testament is clear that we need the encouragement, instruction, correction, warning, and counsel of other believers. And we especially need these services from brethren who are more mature than us. The most effective way to receive them through what’s known as “discipleship” is by devoting yourself to a particular, obedient, assembly of saints.

    But let’s note at how each of the aforementioned marks of a healthy fellowship meet your spiritual needs. First, having wiser, more knowledgeable, and bold teachers showing you how to live faithfully to the Lord gives you living models of what to believe, and how to behave. Just as children need parents, apprentices need trainers, and sheep need shepherds, you need someone to actively and knowingly lead and guide you in Christlikeness.

    Second, and most obvious, you need to be regularly learning what God’s Word teaches about who God is, what He’s done for you, and what He expects from you. And you can’t simply get all this on your own. The Scriptures make clear that learning about Jesus and His commands is a  community endeavor that’s to be done in a group context. You need the insights, ideas, and teaching of gifted teachers that you know, so you can grow in your understanding and application of Scripture in a personal, practical, and transformative way.

    Third, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper should be regular (ideally weekly) reminder of your dependence on, and sharing in, the sufferings and death of Jesus. This ceremony vividly centers your perspective in the most important reality of your life and death – the death of Jesus in your place and for your life. Also, sharing meals with your brethren in Christ adds another communal dimension to sharing in the body and blood of Jesus by enabling you to take ample time to converse with, counsel, and learn from your spiritual family.

    Fourth, hearing the prayers of your brethren for each other, and praying for them, reminds you, and improves, your knowledge of your unity with the brethren, and your dependence on God. Praying alone is essential, but praying with the brethren is even more essential, since its through the united requests of His children that God accomplishes His purposes in the world. Added to this, the united singing of praise songs allows you to be taught, warned, and counselled by the songs of your brethren (see Eph. 5 and Col. 3:16).

    Finally, and logically, your brotherly relationships with the brethren in your local fellowship will provide you with the community you need. No one was meant to live life without friends, least of which is the Christian. We need the unique and complementary qualities of our brethren to strengthen us where we’re weak, and to meet our needs we can’t meet ourselves. Also, you were gifted to serve your brothers and sisters in Christ for their increased Christlikeness, and the more you do this, the more your purpose on earth will be fulfilled. You were saved and born again to be a servant and friend of others, just as our Lord was.

    Without these avenues of our life-support system, we will slowly die like a branch cut off from its vine. The Lord has ordained that we receive the life-giving nutrients He provides through His “means of grace” in the fellowship of local assemblies. Make sure that you’re appreciating and devoting yourself to a local family of God, so you can continue to receive more and more spiritual life, by which Jesus will reveal Himself more in your heart and lifestyle. It’s the body of Christ that bears His message, power, and love to a world that is dead, dying, and deceived, so they can be resurrected to newness of life.