Healthy Christians know that the Church is bigger than their church. We call this the universal church, the collective body of all followers of Jesus worldwide and across history. This spiritual entity is invisible, transcending denominations.
Unhealthy churches and denominations communicate directly and indirectly that they are the only true church. Unsound churches make the opposite error: not drawing any boundaries for who is outside of the orthodox church.
But what does this mean for the ordinary Christian? For many Christians, it doesn’t mean much at all. Their only meaningful connection to the church is with their church. Growing up I had no idea that our church was part of a denomination and was blissfully unaware that its teaching on salvation, spiritual gifts, and eschatology (among other topics) was distinctive of our theological tribe, not universal.
While there is a lot of good to be said about committing to one’s local church (we will say more on that later), one’s faith can be myopic or even prideful if one has one’s head in the sand to the universal church. Our spiritual growth is stunted when we only hang out with those like us. Our blind spots are less likely to revealed.
For those whose experience might not be connected enough with the universal church, I offer these encouragements:
1. Pray for another church. About once a month we pray for another local church in our services. I would encourage you to incorporate this in your own time with Christ. Perhaps it is a church of a friend, or a church near your home: pray for churches.
2. Partner with another church. We have two organizations in Tucson that do a wonderful job bringing churches together: J17 Ministries works to invite congregations to align with Jesus’ John 17 prayer, working to unite churches to be a beacon of Christ’s love. Romans 12 exists to restore and strengthen local congregations by supporting pastors and ministry leaders. For those in Tucson these are two great ministries to begin this journey with. You might want to check out a John 17 Weekend, one of the simplest ways to develop lifelong connections with a broader expression of the local body of Christ. One of our most fruitful partnerships with other churches has been in the area of church planting.
3. Support missions efforts. While our efforts for unity with the local church ought to begin locally, our global partnerships with the local church can help create cross-cultural relationships and give us a glimpse of the work God is doing across the globe.
But the other experience is possible as well: being more connected with the universal church than one’s local church. In a globally connected world it is easy to substitute podcasts, TikTok and YouTube videos, and a coffee with a Christian friend for the universal church.
It's my experience that the draw of a life more connected to the universal church without being connected to the local church is a more pervasive danger. In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky puts these famous words in the mouth of a nameless doctor, “The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.” The danger is perhaps greater today than ever. Without the local church, we place ourselves outside the bounds of church discipline and real accountability structures. Without the local church, we have no means to obey the 59 “one another” commands given to us in the New Testament. Without the local church, we have separated ourselves from the primary means of God’s work in the world.
For those whose love of the universal church has come at the expense of the local church, step into meaningful covenantal community with a local church. There is no greater way you can learn to love the universal church than by committing to a local expression.
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Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash