Withdrawals⤒🔗

A sad reality within our churches is the fact that some brothers and sisters withdraw themselves from the supervision and discipline of the congregation. Sometimes that is done to escape church discipline. Sometimes it is done with complaints such as, “There is not enough love in the church,” or, “We are looking for a more modern, lively liturgy.” Some who withdraw are not doing so in order to join another church. In fact, they make a point of saying that they still believe and still belong to the church of Jesus Christ. In other words, they hold to an invisible church concept which downplays the importance of the local assembly and congregation of Jesus Christ.

We all know what our confessions say about this. Article 27 of the Belgic Confession speaks of the church in this way:

We believe and profess one catholic or universal church, which is a holy congregation and assembly of the true Christian believers, who expect their entire salvation in Jesus Christ, are washed by his blood, and are sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Article 28 adds: We believe, since this holy assembly and congregation is the assembly of the redeemed and there is no salvation outside of it, that no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself, no matter what his status or standing may be. But all and everyone are obliged to join it and unite with it, maintaining the unity of the church.

Even a statement like, “and there is no salvation outside of it,” does not deny that there may be believers outside the body of Christ which is the holy assembly and congregation of the redeemed. This is not an absolute statement as article 28 makes clear when it says: “it is the duty of all believers, according to the Word of God, to separate from those who do not belong to the church and to join this assembly wherever God has established it.”

However the point is made very clear that to withdraw from the church or to be by oneself is dangerous and it is wrong. Why do we say that? We may consider three very important things.

The Glory of God←⤒🔗

We can never speak of the church or even think of the church without thinking of God first. The church is the church of the triune God: Father, Son and Spirit. We may think of Jesus Christ’s high priestly prayer in John 17 where He said this to his Father: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.” He speaks of the importance of unity among those whom He redeemed more than once. Then He says, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

What is important here is the glory of Jesus Christ. He laid down his life for the church and He desires to be glorified in and by his church. And how is He glorified? When there is unity among all those who are washed in his blood and Spirit: when they are one even as the Father, Son and Spirit are one. Jesus Christ is not glorified when Christians have little to do with each other, when they live as islands separated from each other, when they do not cooperate with each other, and when there is not a unified front to evangelize to the world. This is why our Belgic Confession speaks as strongly as it does: Christ is glorified in the true unity of his church. He demands that unity. We must be obedient.

Our Salvation←⤒🔗

Very closely related to the fact that the united church gives glory to Jesus Christ and so to the Father, Son and Spirit, is that the unity of the church is for the wellbeing and salvation of the members. Jesus Christ is the Head and King of his church and He has all power and dominion in the world to gather, defend and preserve his church. In gathering his sheep as one flock, He is able to defend the church and cause her to flourish.

Consider what He said to Simon Peter and the others disciples in Matthew 16: “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Why cannot even death overcome the church? It is because the church has the keys of the kingdom: the preaching and church discipline. We also read in 1 Timothy 3 about “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” Similarly in Ephesians 4 which speaks about the unity of the church and the blessings of the ascended Christ on his church – the office bearers – this leads to an assembly of true believers growing and maturing in faith so that they are no longer cast about by every wind of doctrine, and “we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

This is why our Belgic Confession speaks as strongly as it does: Christ is glorified in the true unity of his church.

The church which is the assembly and congregation of those who are washed in the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ is also a communion of saints. Think of what Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 12. As believers sit under one preaching of the Word and go to one table, they see each other’s joys and needs and so build each other up. Brothers and sisters who sit united at one table will see to it and must see to it that no one, in any circumstances, should live lonely and unloved within the congregation.

Again, to withdraw from the congregation not only deprives God of his glory, but also puts the brother or sister who withdraws at grave risk concerning their salvation and wellbeing. Moreover, it deprives the congregation of that person’s gifts.

A Witness←⤒🔗

Finally, withdrawals from the church send a terrible message to the world: it suggests a fragmented church and the fact that church membership seems an optional matter. It makes church membership look like membership in a club: if you like then stay, but if you don’t then go. I have heard a number of times over the years from people who start attending our worship services their deep perplexity and dismay at church members who attend irregularly and who withdraw from the church. Here people come from outside the church who welcome the preaching like gentle rain on a parched land. And meanwhile, those who have been privileged by church membership for years seem to disdain it. What a terrible witness this is to the world!

Why I Belong←⤒🔗

To belong to the church of Jesus Christ with all one’s heart, soul and mind, to have the preaching of the gospel, the sacraments, church discipline and the communion of saints is an inestimable blessing. We should appreciate deeply what Jesus Christ has given us. Psalm 133 speaks of how good and pleasant it is when brothers live in unity: “For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” It is for this reason that we not only understand the significance of the Belgic Confessions exhortatory words, “and there is no salvation outside of it,” but why the first question and answer of Lord’s Day 21 which deals with the church closes with these words: “I believe that I am and forever shall remain a living member of it.”