A cavalier disregard for the doctrine of the church is eccentric, to say the least. It disregards not only Scripture but the consensus of the great thinkers throughout church history. Both Cyprian and Augustine could not conceive of salvation apart from  the visible church. The Reformation doctors Luther and Calvin warned against those who neglect the visible church. And the Second Helvetic and Westminster Confessions said the same.

The doctrine of the church ought to tell us that we are part of the grandest institution the universe has ever known, and that we are tragically diminished by nonparticipation in Christ’s body. Correspondingly, the church is diminished by our nonparticipation as well. We need the church! The Scriptures are most explicit regarding this: “. . . 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” (Hebrews 10:25). This straightforward exhortation ought to be enough in itself.

Mother Kirk

But there are also several other powerful reasons for faithful participation in the church, not the least of which is that, as Cyprian argued, we all need a mother. The church has certainly been that to me. It was the womb that warmed my soul until it was ready for birth when my pastor, Verl Lindley, led me to Christ. I was lovingly nurtured by the church through my youth group sponsors, Howard and Ruby Busse. In retrospect, I am in awe of how they allowed me and my buddies, Dave and Jack, to hang out in their home. The church gave me the milk of the Word through the strong teaching of my college department teacher, Robert Seelye, who would begin the school year teaching Romans, and then the following year do the same. Robert “Romans” Seelye. The church saw me through hard times through the prayers of spiritual mothers like Roselva Taylor.

The church was the womb and cradle for my wife, too—tiny Garfield Baptist on the west side of Long Beach, California. When our children came along, the church stood with us as we dedicated our children to God. She has also been the mother of my dearest friends. I owe so much to Christ’s church—my life, my character, my worldview, my calling, my vision, my peace, my hope—everything.

The entire Christian life is about commitment—first and above all to Christ, but also to the church.

Understanding, then, that we need the mothering of the church, we must also understand that we will never benefit from it as we should apart from commitment to its Head. The entire Christian life is about commitment—first and above all to Christ, but also to the church, to family, to marriage, to friendship, to ministry. None of these will ever flourish apart from commitment. Marriage, for example, can never produce the security, satisfaction, and growth that it promises unless there is commitment. On the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship.

A Refuge in a Turbulent Time 

Here is the point: It is my considered belief that those who do not have the local church at the very center of their lives are likely not to make it as Christians through the opening decades of the third millennium. We are on a tide of unparalleled cultural change—exponential religious and ethical change. Very often those who live through a revolution do not know it. Most of you do know it. And you know that it is picking up—very much like the Starship Enterprise when it kicks into warp speed, even going to warp 10, so that whole galaxies fly by like fence posts.

Technology provides the metaphor to sense the deeper changes. Few think about it, but today’s average consumers wear more computing power on their wrists than existed in the entire world before 1961. Many party games available in toy stores run on a higher-performance processor than the original 1976 Cray supercomputer, which in its day was accessible to only the most elite physicists. Microchips are doubling in performance every eighteen months. In short, we are living in the middle of a technological tornado!

Today we can no longer simply defend our faith as true; we must first defend the very idea of transcendent, universal truth.

And all of this is only a shadow of the intellectual, social, ethical, and spiritual tides that are sweeping across our existence. Postmodernism is moving at gale force. The elites deny the existence of any universal truth or morality. Today we can no longer simply defend our faith as true; we must first defend the very idea of transcendent, universal truth. Postmodernists do not recognize truth, only preferences that are masks for the will to power. If truth was we see it is only our preferences driven by force, anything is possible.

Pluralism is also at high tide. The one thing that relativistic pluralism cannot tolerate is a person who believes that he/she has the truth. So if you claim to have the truth and you humbly insist that it is true for everyone, you’re arrogant, you’re to be watched, you’re not good for society because your insistence that you are right is divisive. And the claim that Christ is the only way is particularly offensive.

Volcanic cultural changes lie ahead. The world as the young know it today will be vastly different in fifteen years. And given the trajectory of philosophical, relativistic pluralism, it is sure to be less hospitable for the exclusive claims of historic Christianity.

This is why all who have determined to follow Christ desperately need the church. They need it for the things that it alone can supply in the precise ways that are needed, including the following:

• The Word. Nothing can replace the live preaching and teaching of the Word of God in the company of other like-minded believers. The combination of the Word opened by a preacher with a specific message to a specific congregation, plus the unique ministry of the Holy Spirit to those present in that corporate hour, are essential. As helpful as tapes can be, they cannot match or replace the live teaching of the Word to the congregation assembled as a whole or in classes and smaller groups.
• Counsel. The church also provides the example and counsel of more experienced, wiser believers. It is in the fellowship of the church that this ministry flourishes. This is what Christ’s body is for. Its multiple gifts cause every part to grow. This does not happen in isolation.
• Prayer. The praying church is the church that empowers its people to stand tall. Remember Paul’s injunction “. . . praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18–19).
• A mother’s nurture. With God as your Father, the church will serve as your nurturing mother, providing a safe haven, an isle of sanity in a wild, confused world. This is why the local church must be at the center of your and your family’s life—and why we must all devote ourselves to its ministry.

Hymn-writer Timothy Dwight expressed immortal truth when he wrote (1800) regarding the church:

“For her my tears shall fall; For her my prayers ascend; To her my cares and toils be giv’n, Till toils and cares shall end.”

This piece is adapted from R. Kent Hughes, Set Apart: Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 135–138. Used with permission of the publisher.

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