One thing that instantly strikes the intelligent reader of the New Testament is the communal nature of the Christian faith. The social pronouns - we, they, us, them - are found everywhere. God's ideal is a fellowship of faith, a Christian community. He never intended that salvation should be received and enjoyed by the individual apart from the larger company of believers.
It is true that for each one there must be a personal encounter with God, and often that encounter takes place in the loneliness and silence of retirement. In that sacred moment there must be only God and the individual soul. The mysterious operation of God in regenerating grace and His further work of the Spirit's anointing are transactions so highly personal that no third party can know or understand what is taking place.
There are other experiences deep and wholly inward that cannot be shared with any other: Jacob at Bethel and Peniel, Moses at the burning bush, Christ in the garden, John in the Isle of Patmos are Bible examples, and Christian biography will reveal many more. A community of believers must be composed of persons who have each one met God in individual experience. No matter how large the family, each child must be born individually. Even twins or triplets are born one at a time. So it is in the local church. Each member must be born of the Spirit individually.
It will not escape the discerning reader that while each child is born separate from the rest it is born into a family, and after that must live in the fellowship of the rest of the household. And the man who comes to Christ in the loneliness of personal repentance and faith is also born into a family. The church is called the household of God, and it is the ideal place to rear young Christians. Just as a child will not grow up to be a normal adult if forced to live alone, so the Christian who withdraws from the fellowship of other Christians will suffer great soul injury as a result. Such a one can never hope to develop normally. He'll get too much of himself and not enough of other people; and that is not good.
God has so created us that we need each other. We may and should go into our closet and pray to our heavenly Father in secret, but when the prayer is ended we should go back to our people. That is where we belong.
To live within the religious family does not mean that we must approve everything that is done there. The prophets of Israel were often compelled to rebuke and warn their people, but they never left the bosom of Judaism. Even Christ went each Sabbath day and worshiped with the rest. The reformers and revivalists of post-Biblical times invariably lived close to the people. The loneliest and severest of them had their company of like-minded souls in which they found the help and consolation their grieving hearts required. Their example does not have the authority of revealed truth, but it does provide a rule we do well to follow.
No one is wise enough to live alone, nor good enough nor strong enough. God has made us to a large degree dependent upon each other. From Our brethren we can learn how to do things and sometimes also we can learn how not to do them. The best of singers must have a coach if he would avoid having his faults become chronic. The preacher who hears only himself preach will soon accept even his worst idiosyncrasies as marks of excellence. We need to listen to others that we may learn what to correct in ourselves. This is true also of things moral and spiritual within the Christian family circle. A weak and faulty Christian, without his knowing it, can turn us from his way of life, and every holy and fruitful saint within our circle of fellowship becomes a goad to spur us onward toward a more perfect life.
Next to God Himself we need each other most. We are His sheep and it is our nature to live with the flock. And too, it might be well to remember that should we for a moment lose sight of the Shepherd we only have to go where His flock is to find Him again.
