Our need for the body.

As a pastor I always have people tell me that they are spiritual, but that they find the church to be unnecessary or irrelevant. They seem to believe that they can work out faith on their own. In some ways that would be great. Nobody would come along and pop my spiritual bubble with a dose of reality. I wouldn't have to work out the implications of my faith in the relationships that I find myself in from day to day. But that's not the way that spirituality works. Spirituality is all about life. It's how the truth of God plays out in the (what some would call) trivial details of living. A relationship with Jesus is a living, breathing entity and as such needs to be worked out in relationships. That's the reason that the church - the community of Christ followers - is vitally important. It is by seeing the Word of God in Scripture in the midst of the community that we are called to "incarnate" that Word in our lives. We need people around us to do that. People who challenge us. People who disagree with us. People who irritate us.

I've been reading The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen. He reflects on the doubting of Thomas when He writes,

"...Although Thomas did not believe in the resurrection of the Lord, he kept faithful to the community of the Apostles. In that community the Lord appeared to him and strengthened his faith. I find this a very profound and consoling thought. In times of doubt or unbelief, the community can 'carry you along' so to speak; it can even offer on your behalf what you yourself overlook and can be the context in which you may recognize the Lord again."

We can't run away from the church to make life easier. Spiritual growth isn't easy. And it doesn't happen outside of a community.