Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation Acts 1:12
– 14
Anything But Solitaire
by
Robert T. Cooper
In
Christianity we put a lot of emphasis on making a personal, individual decision
of your own for Christ. Yet when one reads the Bible, one gets the idea that
while I have to decide for Christ myself in order to be saved, Christianity is
not supposed to be an individual affair.
In the 21st
century one constantly runs into people who claim to be Christians, but they
live their lives as individuals and not in intentional, continuing fellowship
with a group of fellow believers. This is not the Bible way.
Looking at
Acts 1:12 – 14, we see that the apostles, who had been together for the
ascension of Jesus, stayed together as they returned to Jerusalem. They were
all staying together in an upper room (probably the same place the Last Supper
had taken place, probably the home of John Mark’s family). To emphasize the
group nature, the passage lists the names of the Eleven. It is emphasized that
they all prayed together. It even mentions additional people, men and women,
who took part as they all prayed together.
Now is it
possible that God has directed one or more people of your acquaintance to not
join a local church? I suppose so. It is not my place to judge. Those people
are accountable to the Lord, not to me.
Yet that would
seem to be the exception, not the rule. Since we are to study together, to pray
together, to be in fellowship with one another, to break bread with one
another, since we are to form ministry-evangelism groups together, since there
are no “lone ranger” Christians in the Bible, it seems that most all of us
should be active in the fellowship of a local church.
With respect to being part of a
local church, please leave a comment as to how God led you to your current
situation.
