In the field of logic
(reasoning), there is a logical fallacy (i.e. a failure in reasoning) known as
a “false dichotomy.” This “occurs when
an argument presents two options and ignores, either purposefully or out of
ignorance, other alternatives” (philosophy-index.com). For example, if I said,
“there are only two types of people in the world: those who like to read books
for entertainment and those who like to watch movies for entertainment”, I would
have made the following claims: (1) If you are a movie person, you cannot be a
book person at the same time and visa-versa; (2) You must be one of these two
options and; (3) There cannot be any other options available. The error of this reasoning is obvious: (1) I
may be someone who likes books and
movies; (2) I might be someone who doesn’t like books or movies; or (3) I might be someone who likes other forms of
entertainment like magazines, podcasts, live stage productions, musicals, etc.
The reason I call this fallacy
to attention is because I have heard who I assume to be well-meaning people attempt
to separate what they call “church” or “organized religion” from Jesus Christ
Himself. “Give me Jesus, keep the
church!” they say. It is almost as if they are implying, “there are two types
of Christians: those who ‘do church’ and those who ‘do Jesus.’” They may classify
those who ‘do church’ as hypocritical, ritualistic, old-fashioned, irrelevant,
or just plain boring. They may classify
those who ‘do Jesus’ as ‘spiritual but not religious’, free-spirited, or
independent. Yes, to them someone can
have a perfectly acceptable relationship with Christ without the church at all.
Is this a fair dichotomy? If I want to follow Christ faithfully, do I really
have to decide between Jesus and the church? Is it the case that the church is
optional? Or is there another alternative?
Let me ask a silly question. Would it be considered wise for a person to
separate one’s head from their body? Unless you are a guillotine, I hope you
said “no”. By separating Jesus from the
church, one is doing precisely that, i.e. separating His head from His body.
The Scriptures teach
that God the Father “put all things under his [i.e. Christ’s, TJC] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22–23).
It is clear that the Bible uses the term “church” and “body”
synonymously here. The church is
Christ’s body and Christ’s body is the church!
Also, “Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the
body” (Eph. 5:23). The church is synonymous with Jesus’ body and Jesus is the Savior
of the body. Furthermore, The church is
that “which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The church is
that for which Jesus gave His life!
Before his
conversion to Christ, Paul was named Saul of Tarsus. By his
own admission, Saul persecuted Christians (i.e. those who belonged to Christ’s
church) by heated verbal and physical assault, arresting them, and even giving
his consent to their execution (Gal. 1:13; Acts 8:3; 9:1; 22:20). Paul was en route to Damascus to drag some
Christian prisoners back to Jerusalem when the Lord appeared to Saul. Jesus said something very interesting to him:
“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me”
(Acts 9:4)? While Paul thought he was
merely assaulting the church (i.e. Christians), he quickly learned that by
doing so, he was assaulting Jesus Christ.
Therefore, when someone persecutes or assaults the church today they are
at the same time assaulting Jesus. This
would include speaking disparagingly about the church or trying to separate it
from the Lord.
In light of
God’s word, the ‘Jesus versus the church’ scenario not only turns out to be a
false dichotomy, but also a belief that is foreign to Scripture. An honest examination of the Bible will
enlighten misunderstandings related to the church: its head, purpose, members,
blessings, responsibilities and its necessity. The truth is, we can only have
Jesus through His church (Eph. 1:3).
Torrey Clark is the preacher for the church of Christ
Northside (www.churchatlagrange.org) and host
of the weekly Christian worldview talk show, Culture Shock (www.thelightnetwork.tv/shows). Torrey can be
reached at clarktorrey@gmail.com
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