I heard once – and I don’t know if it’s true, but point is just the same – that if you were to gather all the Christians who don’t actively attend a church into a denomination, it would be the largest denomination in the Church today. There are a lot of people who want to follow Jesus, but want nothing to do with the Church. They are church-stoppers.

While I understand some of the reasons for church stopping, it is still a dramatic denial that the Church belongs to Christ (Mt. 16:18).

The Church is God’s ordained plan to bring His Good News to the world! There is no plan “B.” Jesus didn’t established the 401(c)3 to bring his Good News to the world. He didn’t set up a parachurch organization. He established the Church – the community of people who confess him as Messiah – to share the Good News that the True Messiah has arrived and new creation is now bursting forth right in the middle of our broken world.

Jesus promised to build His Church and protect His Church. Regardless of the efforts of hell to bring the Church down – God will protect it! The Church will continue to thrive. 200 hundred years from now that organization that is doing great work may not exist, but the Church will.

These two promises, to build and protect, show that Christ and His Church are inseparable. You cannot love God and not love his Church. Yet there are many who would say they are “part of the Body of Christ,” but don’t attend a local church. They love Jesus, but hate his Church. This line of thought is missing one key revelation – the global Body of Christ only exists through the local church! Without the local gathering of believers there is no global Body of Christ. Many people want to be part of the greater reality without participating in the local expression of that reality. It is a bit like saying you are part of a school because you like the degree they offer, but never attended any classes.

If you are a Christ-follower that has stopped going to church, it is time to start again. I know the Church isn’t perfect. But the Church is God’s way of bringing his message to the world, so if His message is important to you, get involved in a church and help that community proclaim the Good News!