Philippians 1:27-30

"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have" (Philippians 1:27-30).

There is a growing trend permeating Christianity in our nation today whereby self-proclaimed Christians identify themselves with Jesus but disassociate with the church altogether. The Barna research group refers to this sect of Christians as those who "love Jesus but not the church."

It is an interesting paradox to wrap one's head around. Undoubtedly, there are individuals who have been hurt by the church for whatever reason and simply refuse to step foot in a church building ever again. In those instances, as the body of Christ we empathize with our fellow brothers and sisters in the hope of restoring their faith in the church and its leadership as God intended.

However, it appears from Barna's research that the divisional wedge for those who love Jesus but not the church drives much deeper and casts a far wider net than simply hurt feelings. Therefore, we must take time to understand the behavioral ideologies of this group in order to discern how God would call us to live together in community as we apply Philippians 1:27-30.

It may come as a surprise that one would read this passage of Scripture and interpret a correlation to this sect of the Christian community, but Paul's admonition calls us to reconcile how we can stand firm in one spirit while our body is divided on the premise of whether the church has any value whatsoever.

For God's Word calls us to live in Biblical community with one another despite the challenges, disappointments and failures we all bring to the table and experience because of our imperfect humanity, which inevitably causes some to stray from the flock in favor of spiritual independence from the church.

Let us be clear that the church is not defined as a building in the pages of Scripture. Rather, "church" is described as the collection of born-again souls who have prayed the prayer of salvation in obedience and submission to Christ.

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved" (Romans 10:9–10).

We must understand though that the family of Christ-followers defined as the church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33), not the buildings people collectively attend regularly in our respective communities.

This is an important distinction, because it sets the stage for how we view the church universal. However, we cannot minimize the importance of collectively gathering together to worship our Lord who saved us, grow in our knowledge and understanding of His Word (Holy Scripture), and serve the needs of one another, our communities, and the world at large. Reason being, the body is only as strong as the sum of its parts.

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12).

It is important we remember that "God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose" (1 Corinthians 12:18). Knowing God created the body, which we refer to as the church, is paramount to understanding the big picture of why church unity is so important. 

Each member of the church body plays a vital and specific role. Therefore, we can never assume that the body would ever function to its greatest potential if it were missing parts and/or those parts assumed roles to which they were never intended.

Furthermore, Paul writes, "The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:21–27).

When we step back and examine why Paul wrote to great lengths on this issue, we begin to see how foolish it is to separate Christ from the church. Again, the distinction lies in helping our brethren understand that the church is not a building but the people of God. Therefore, how can anyone boldly proclaim he/she loves Jesus but not those who share the same love for our Savior (i.e. the church)?

Jesus taught, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34–35). When we compartmentalize our love for others in the church as completely independent from our personal relationship with Christ, our application of the Gospel becomes virtually meaningless.

Paul also wrote, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1–3).

What Paul taught is that we express our love for Jesus by loving our Christian brethren unconditionally. Therefore, it would be hypocritical to proclaim oneself as a follower of Christ and disassociate from the church altogether because the church is one body, standing firm in one spirit with one mind.

What is most compelling about those who love Jesus but not the church is their devotion to spirituality at the expense of religion. In essence, they compartmentalize the church as independent from their personal faith to reconcile the two, which creates a vast disparity in comparison to Evangelicals in certain areas.

For instance, according to Barna's research, "93% strongly believe there is only only one God, 94% affirm that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today, and 95% strongly agree that God is everywhere." All these attributes point to an Orthodox foundation of faith similar to Evangelicals.

However, "93 percent haven’t been to a religious service in the past six months," pointing to an individual expression of faith rather than a corporate one. In other words, "These individuals have a sincere faith (89% have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important to their life today), but are notably absent from church." 

What is even more compelling though is that 46% either somewhat or strongly believe that all religions teach the same thing (compared to only 1% of Evangelicals). That is a compelling statistic, but not surprising when we consider 26% prioritize Scripture reading as a spiritual practice (compared to 82% of Evangelicals).

Consequently, spirituality is extremely personal and private for this group in comparison to Evangelicals, with attributes such as spending time in nature for reflection (32% compared to 13%), meditation (20% compared to 5%), and yoga (10% compared to 1%).

The danger in maintaining one's spirituality as solely private is that personal accountability is minimized due to the lack of corporate interaction with other Christ-followers (i.e. no one would ever know to what extent someone reads their Bible or what they believe is absolute truth if personal interaction is limited or avoided altogether). 

"In addition, they are much less likely to read a book on spiritual topics (9% compared to 35% of Evangelicals), and never attend groups or retreats (compared to 31% of Evangelicals). This all points to a broader abandonment of authoritative sources of religious identity, leading to much more informal and personally-driven faith practices" (Barna).

It is important to highlight the differences those who love Jesus but not the church have with the Evangelical community, because when we reflect upon Philippians 1:27-30, we begin to see that our strength in numbers as the church universal is severely weakened by disunity in our spiritual beliefs, priorities and disciplines.

In order to live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ as Paul declares, we must stand on the same Biblical foundation and more importantly, apply what it says. The first believers of the Christian church understood this and grew mightily despite immeasurable odds, because they built a foundation from the beginning of fellowship in their homes, selfless community, Gospel-centered teaching, and corporate worship.

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers"..."And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42,45–47).

In other words, the Christian church likely would not have survived if its converts chose to disassociate themselves from one another in favor of private faith and worship. They needed one another desperately in order to strengthen, support, encourage, and hold one another accountable to God's holy standard as they faced persecution and martyrdom.

Loving Jesus but not the church would not have been a thought to ever cross their minds, yet today that sub-sect of Christianity continues to grow at the detriment of the church. How then do we respond based on where we identify personally in our faith walk?

Most importantly, we must determine and recognize where we stand theologically, and what role the Bible plays in our lives. Do we believe as the Psalmist declared, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105), or do we live according to relative truth which ebbs and flows based upon our emotions, feelings and experiences?

Keep in mind, Satan seeks to shift God's Word away from being absolute and central in our lives. Therefore, are we resting securely (vertically) under the authority of God's Word, or is the Bible positioned at our leisure discretion (horizontal) and thus subject to our own personal judgment?

Make no mistake, our posture and the Bible's position of authority in our lives is the most important decision we will ever make this side of eternity. Why? Because God's Word never returns void, it challenges us to live selflessly in community as the body of Christ (the church) with other sinful people who are not perfect either, but struggle with selfishness, idolatry and immortality just as we do.

That is why it is far easier to disassociate from the church altogether and compartmentalize our spirituality as simply a private relationship between Jesus and ourselves.

What those who love Jesus but not the church fail to realize is that Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). And what are the most important commandments Jesus calls us to keep?

“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30–31).

In the end, our enemies will themselves be frightened at their impending destruction when we corporately come together as we were intended to from the beginning and start living as the body of Christ—and that begins by loving one another through the power of the Holy Spirit, under compulsion of unconditional obedience and submission to God's Word and its position of absolute authority in our lives.

It does not mean we will never suffer for the sake of the Gospel as Paul declares, but it does testify to the life changing power of salvation demonstrated in our lives when we come together and stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel and not frightened in anything by our opponents.