Theo said:
Wes touched on one important aspect that a lot of "lone ranger" Christians don't really think about: the means of grace. I don't see baptism and the Lord's Supper, to say nothing of preaching and teaching, as being easily available to those who are not in a local church body.
And as others have also indicated, accountability and church discipline are also part of belonging to a local church, to say nothing of what I would hope would be the accompanying joys of fellowship and community with other believers.
Theo
Hi Theo,
I agree with your second set of comments, but the first set raised some questions for me.
Do you mind explaining what you mean by "not in a local church body."? Are you speaking of membership here, or only attendance. If you're speaking of membership, then your comment about "preaching and teaching" doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me since anyone who attends regularly but who is not a member would still have preaching and teaching available.
Also, is it permissible to receive the Lord's Supper if you are a regular, baptized attender, but who is not an official member of a church somewhere? In most (many?) cases, people would probably become a member of a church when they are baptized, but not in all cases.
If you believe church membership in a local body is required to receive communion, what would you say about people who move to a new location and begin attending a new church but keep their membership at their old church. Would there reach a point where there receiving communion at their new church (of which they are not a member) becomes an issue? I have thought about this some because I have been in Japan for two years and my membership is still at my U.S. church. The first year I was here I was unable to find a church I felt was good. The second year, I found one but was debating about whether to join or not (plus I was considering returning to the U.S. and didn't see a point in joining and then leaving after two months). Now, I've decided to join and am planning to become a member this fall.
Anyway, the point is that the issues of "local" church membership and even communion as related to that have been personal issues for me recently and not just an academic question.
Thanks,
John
