Blake Long

Recently I was listening to Jackie Hill-Perry’s song “Thy Neighbor.” I have always enjoyed her music—as I have been a life-long fan of hip-hop and rap (who would’ve thought?)—but it’s not necessarily her lyrics in the song that caught my attention. It’s the familiar voice at the beginning.

That voice is none other than H.B. Charles, and he preaches: “The church is held together by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; this is why I can’t be a true Christian and say ‘I love Jesus, I can’t stand the church.’”

From the beginning, Charles—along with Hill-Perry in the lyrics of the song—take a direct shot at the notion that one can love Jesus but hate the church.

H.B. goes on:

Because if I’m saved, the Holy Spirit is in me and the Holy Spirit is in you. And the Holy Spirit in you is not going to tell you to not to have anything to do with the Holy Spirit in me. If the Holy Spirit is in us, he will cause us to love one another. The Jesus in me will love the Jesus in you.

Reading that in a blog doesn’t do it justice. I recommend listening to the song. Charles’ loud, thunderous, Spirit-filled voice paired with the beat of the song makes for a moment you have to say “amen” to.

But back to the point. Their point, and my point here, is this: You can’t have Jesus but not have the church. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Perhaps it’s not that you can’t stand the church, but don’t see the need for it if you just spend time with Jesus. Or maybe you have been hurt by the church in past and can’t shake your ill feelings. I get it.

But let me push on the soreness a little bit: you’re robbing yourself. And not only yourself, but other sheep in God’s fold. Maybe your story is one of hurt, of pain, of frustration with a previous church. Perhaps it’s a miracle you still believe in Jesus after the pain a said church caused you.

Again, I get it. And I think any other reasonable, loving Christian would get it, too. But you still need the church and the church still needs you. Church hurt isn’t a reason to neglect the church.

For many, there isn’t any pain. They haven’t been victims of mistreatment or on the receiving end of verbal and emotional abuse. Some opine that they don’t need the church. They can recline at home, find their favorite preacher on YouTube, sit back and enjoy the show. No mingling, no fellowshipping, no accountability. Just me, myself, and I.

That just doesn’t work. That doesn’t fit with Scripture.

“It’s impossible to love Jesus and not love the church,” wrote Dustin Benge in his book The Loveliest Place. “I’m not talking about loving an organizational structure or programs, but the church for who she is as God’s people and the bride of Christ.”

If we love Jesus, we must also love His church, the people for whom He died. It’s non-negotiable. Below are three reasons why.

Jesus Loves the Church

We must love the church because Jesus loves her, too (Eph. 5:25). Jesus doesn’t want you to merely be fine with attending church—He wants you to love the people within. One might begrudgingly attend church but Jesus sees straight through the facade. You need to be all in.

Jesus loves the church, His bride, so much that He died for her (Eph. 5:25). He spilled His precious, atoning blood so that His Father’s sheep would be saved. As a result, He brings His friends into God’s fold together as one, unified in Christ. Because of this mind-blowing reality, it’s unheard of for a professing Christian to not give a rip about the church and the people therein. A Christian ought to love the church.

The Church is Part of Your Sanctification

When we neglect, ignore, or even despise the local church, we are refusing to use a vital instrument in our sanctification. God uses the local church, with all its flaws and sins, to make us more like His Son.

If we flippantly say, “I love Jesus, but can’t stand the church,” we are, in effect, saying, “I love Jesus, but don’t care to be like Him.” If we truly seek to grow in godliness, we must be part of a biblical local church and be surrounded by fellow believers.

The fact is this: we are sanctified by God through participation in the local church. This is so because we are (hopefully) sitting under sound, biblical preaching, vibrant fellowship, and transparent discussions.

You Were Meant for Community

I know the thought of belonging to a local church is difficult, but God made you for community. You weren’t meant to live the Christian life alone. God established the local church her the good of His children and His glory.

Some of you may be hesitant to join a local church because of past church hurt, like I mentioned above. Some church hurt is real, some is not. Some people use the term “church hurt” as a deflector from their sin. (That’s another blog for another day.) Others are simply apathetic to the church—that is a dangerous attitude to have. Not only is it selfish—because you’re robbing from other Christians—but it exposes your misunderstanding of the church. Perhaps you don’t like the church because you are around hypocrites, liars, and other imperfect people. Welcome to the club. The church is not perfect. It’s comprised of needy sinners who are vulnerable, who don’t mind expressing their emotions, who want you to know they are here for you. You might get hurt along the way, but that doesn’t mean church isn’t for you.

In the end, when you intentionally neglect and dismiss the local church, you’re only doing yourself a disservice.

You need accountability.

You need people checking in on you.

You need members coming to your side when life gets tough.

You need to do the same to them.

Christian, is this you? Are you in a space where you’ve either been hurt, validly so, by the church or you view the church as hypocritical and use that as an excuse not to belong?

I ask you to re-think it. The decision to belong to a local church, when done so biblically, is a decision to glorify God and put others first. We don’t go to church to be mere consumers, but to serve. As lovingly as I can say it: don’t make it all about your wants, preferences, and feelings. What does Christ want? He wants you plugged into a church that is faithful to His Word.