SOLITARY CHRISTIANITY
By PASTOR TONY
Throughout my time in seminary there were several things that my classmates and I would convince ourselves we would do after we graduated and had more time. One of those things was going back and reading some of the books that were recommended, but not required, or chapters of required books that we never covered. There were a few that my close circle of classmates were genuinely interested in, but couldn’t justify taking the time to read if we weren’t be examined on them. This is also one of the things that I thought was a good idea that would never actually happen. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised. One of my friends who read the recommended texts most rarely often sends pictures of him sitting on the beach in Florida, reading the books we said we would get to one day, or similar books. I think we’ve all begun to do this, not that there’s necessarily more time in the day, and all of us don’t read on the Gulf’s shore. But we’ve all realized it’s worth the time to go back. So, I’ve went back.
This week I found myself re-reading a book called Essentials of Christian Theology and had to stop when I made it to chapter seven. In it the author states: “being a Christian is not a solitary activity”(Platcher, 257). The more I read, the more I began to understand what this one theologian meant when he alluded to the idea that we cannot be Christians, alone, in solitary. Of course, this is something that has been heightened for me over the past year. Must Christians must be intertwined with a church community to truly claim the name, Christian? This question has stirred up disagreement between myself and many Christians throughout time.
“being a Christian is not a solitary activity”
In fact, I remember back to one instance from a few years ago while I was serving as an intern in a small United Methodist congregation near St. Louis. I went to visit one of the parishioners whose wife was highly involved in the church’s outreach, but he was not. While waiting for his wife to get home he asked me a question that I have not yet forgotten, he asked, “Can you be a Christian and not attend church?”
Today I still wrestle with the points he argued. He brought up that it is easier for him to study scripture and worship God while in solitary. He quoted scripture and emphasized his knowledge about God. Yet I rebutted, arguing that Christianity without fellowship is not genuine because it negates the human necessity of communion. (Of course I didn’t say it like that). I think what I emphasized instead is what Jesus did: Jesus modeled this for the church and showed them that communal meals, study, prayer, and worship are to be done together. And the church grew because of it.
I remember studying this book, Essentials of Christian Theology, a couple years ago and reading the chapter, Why Bother with Church. What my professor said in the most simple way was that it is difficult to be a Christian without gathering in the intimate communion; without being together with two or more believers. It is simply harder to grow when we are the only ones pushing ourselves to know God more fully. It is in community that we are held accountable, strengthened, affirmed, and supported as brothers and sisters of Christ. Even the earliest creeds speak to how important being together is. “It is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”(Platcher, 233). We are the universal church, created from the beginning in community and this point meets the needs of the introvert and extrovert alike; we all need Christian community to live out our faith. That’s the reason why I keep writing about it. That’s the reason, I’ll keep talking about it, especially now.