Articles
The Value of (the) Assembly
According to online sources, the value of all the raw materials in an iPhone 6 was only $1.03. The cost of the components [individual parts supplied by various manufacturers] in an iPhone 12 Pro is said to be $406. Even if the price of the raw materials has gone up 100%, that is a huge gap between the cost of the raw materials and the finished product. Of course, design, engineering, and labor costs for the finished product are factored in, but it seems many people do not think the final cost is outrageous since over 200 million have been sold each year for the last eight years.
I am confident no one would volunteer to pay $1000 for those raw materials and be left to produce an iPhone in working condition. No, most people value the final assembled product, and willingly go to the store and pick one up, or order one online and have it delivered to their home. We recognize the value of assembly and all the steps that produce the final product. While we may not be constantly thinking about all the work involved in the final product, we do see the value in such an everyday item such as a cellphone, and could not even imagine life without it. It is much more valuable assembled, than in pieces.
Would that we see the value of the assembly of believers! It seems some have convinced themselves that they are just as pleasing and valuable to God on their own and without being a part of any local assembly of believers [a church]. Some apparently have convinced themselves they do not need to be a part of any assembly because they are valuable enough to God on their own, and have no need of joining themselves to their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to worship God, study His word, and edify other believers. But what does God really think about such? Let us not presume to know, simply because it is what we think or desire; let us consult His revealed word, the Scriptures, to know.
The Value of the Church. It is a sad fact that some see no value in the assembly of believers [the church], and will steadfastly refuse to be a part of one. But such a view is in direct contrast to the value God saw in it. Consider the following: God “put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body” (Eph. 1:22, 23). God established His only Son to be head of this church, so this would necessarily indicate its high value. Add to this the fact it was the church “He [Jesus] purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), and, as Paul noted, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph. 5:25). Christ clearly had a high value of the church, for He gave His life for it. [This is the church in the universal sense (all believers).]
But Christ had an interest in the local church, too, for it is He who “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11, 12); and in case we didn’t know, “the body of Christ” is the church (Eph. 1:22, 23). God established that there be “elders in every church” (Acts 14:23) who would watch out for the souls of the believers in that location (Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:17), so the local church is of great value to its head. The fact elders are also called “shepherds,” and their oversight is limited to the believers in one location, indicates the necessity of a local flock.
Logically speaking, someone — several ‘someones,’ as a matter of fact — must, of necessity, comprise that flock. It is not coincidental that God’s word also describes the local church as a “body”; Paul tells us, “the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body…you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Cor. 12:12, 27); in other words, a body [a local church, in this case] is comprised of “many members” — never just one member. There is never a case where the sheep are left to wander about on their own, without guidance and without being a part of a some collective of believers, and it is simply impossible [and nonsensical] for an individual to be called an ‘assembly.’ No individual disciple can be identified, on his own, as a church. God always intended individual disciples to join with other believers — to work together, worship together, study together, and to edify one another. Disciples are expected to assemble as a church.
What A Local Assembly Can Do. The average individual disciple can do much for the Lord, if properly motivated and with properly directed zeal for God and His ways; but how much more can be done when that individual disciple joins with other like-minded believers to do the work God gave them to do!
It is in the local assembly disciples may gather together, “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16); I cannot teach and admonish another if I am on my own. It is in the assembly these disciples can edify one another (Eph. 4:12; 1 Cor. 14:26) be encouraged by one another (1 Cor. 14:31), and “stir up love and good works” in “one another” (Heb. 10:24, 25). It is only if disciples are gathered together with other disciples that these things can be done properly; I cannot do this if I keep myself separate from a flock, or if I am not a part of any body of believers.
Can I do some of the work God has given disciples to do by myself? Yes, of course. Can I pray to God, sing praises to God, and study God’s word on my own? Yes, of course. But that is not what God desires. He never intended disciples to work and worship solely as individuals. There are simply too many commands God has given that demands I interact with other disciples and work with other disciples as a collective of believers. It is for the good of others and for my own good that God intended these things to be done as a church.
Do we value the assembly? Do we see that while individual disciples are most certainly precious to God, He intended His “manifold wisdom…be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10)? That wisdom will not be evident and cannot be made known by considering each disciple as solely an individual, for there is nothing more than the individual. As a church, however, Christ is clearly the head and the members are collectively His body and in subjection to Him; He is the Chief Shepherd and the church is His flock; He is the husband and the church is the bride. Without the church, the wisdom of God will not be made known and no disciple will accomplish all that can be done when joined together with fellow believers.
When Jesus told Peter, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18), He most certainly did so, and it was when the gospel was first preached and “those who gladly received his word were baptized…that…about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41), and, notably, “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). The obedient believers “were added…to the church,” but we find that those individual disciples willingly joined with one another to do the things the Lord commanded them to do, and it is that collective body of believers the world knew as the church.
Are you a member of His body? Are you a sheep in His flock? — Steven Harper
