The Holy Catholic Church

It would be understandable that many a person drawn to Christ would be of two minds about joining a church and committing himself to fellowship with other believers. Christ’s glory is so great, it can only expose the flaws and failures of those who bear his name! Relationships with other Christians can be challenging. Dealing with institutional structures can be frustrating. In the modern culture of individualism and consumerism it may seem that reading your Bible and saying your prayers on your own might be a best path for the Christian disciple.

Yet the New Testament says that Christ came to build himself a church (Matthew 16:18). The epistle to the Ephesians has a lot to say about this. The whole purpose of God is to “gather together in one all things in Christ” (1:11), and this purpose was accomplished in Christ, “when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places … and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (1:20-23).

In Ephesians 2, after noting that “by grace are ye saved through faith” (2:8), the Apostle goes on to speak of the effect of grace, in the reconciliation of all sorts and conditions of men “in one body by his cross” (2:16). So the church is the realization of God’s purpose in Christ, and to be united in the fellowship of the church is the effect of the gospel on those who believe it. That makes sense, because a saving faith is one that is fruitful and active in works of love or charity (Gal. 5:6; cf James 2:26), and love unites us in fellowship with one another; so believers who are active in love will be united in his body, the Church.

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (2:19-22).

Since this is what God has done for us in Christ, Paul urges Christians to make it their duty “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”:

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (4:3-6).

So the church as a united Body is part of the gospel package; and active participation in the church is integral aspect to Christian discipleship.

By God’s appointment, “the church of the living God” is “the pillar and ground of the truth” taught in the Scriptures (1 Tim 3:15); and though from the beginning this unity in the truth has been a struggle, yet even in times when the church has fallen into confusion about the gospel, it has preserved and transmitted the Scriptures and the Rule of Faith they teach, and thus preserved in itself the ground of its own restoration. If we care about the truth of the gospel, we honor and support the church’s gospel ministry of word and sacrament.

By “church” we do not mean “self-selected coterie of people like me”. The church is open to anyone who professes Christian faith and accepts baptism. It is in principle a universal society (which is what the word “catholic” means). It therefore brings us into relationship with people “not like me”, and into a unity that harmonizes difference. That can be a challenge – but it is also a gift; for by the diverse gifts the Spirit distributes to every member of the Body, each contributes his own to the common good (which is what the term “communion of saints” means). Because Christians are sinners, the church is also the place where repentance and reconciliation are taught and practiced (which is why we call the church “holy”, not as a museum of saints but a hospital for sinners). It is easy to find fault with the church, but short of heaven, there is no church with -out fault. And, as they say, if you find a perfect church, please don’t join it.

We are not religious consumers, picking and choosing what suits our tastes and wants, but members of one Body in Christ, each confessing the same faith, each contributing to the common good, in a unity of truth and charity. In Christ God has met every need, and therefore we are set free from anxious self-preoccupation for grateful service of his glory and of our neighbour in love. That unity of truth and charity is most evident when the church comes together in public worship, for then it is fulfilling the end for which it was made, to give glory to God, to set forth the wonders of his love, and in so doing, to enjoy his infinite goodness for ever.