Can I Be Christian Without The Church?

Can I be Christian without the Church?

We often hear people say  that they can follow Jesus without being part of a church. They claim that they are fed more by taking a walk in the woods than by going to worship services. Others say that all they need is the Bible to help them pray and teach them about Jesus.

Of course, we can get a sense of God’s grandeur and beauty through nature and there is much to learn about Jesus by reading the Bible at home. However, that does not mean that we do not need the Church.

Consider this. How would the world know about Jesus if Christians did not spread the good news of His death and resurrection? In fact, we would not even have a Bible unless believers like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John sat down and wrote it. Also, the Bible has survived down through the centuries because, before the printing press was invented, many followers of Jesus meticulously copied it by hand so that it would be available for others to read. Without a doubt, if there were no Church, there would be no Bible. And, if there were no Church, we would not know about Jesus.

Furthermore, the Bible itself teaches us that we need the Church. Jesus makes it very clear that He is establishing the Church when He says to Peter, “You are rock and on this rock I will build my Church…” (Mt 16:18). It is also clear in Scripture that Jesus gave His authority to teach and to celebrate the sacraments to His apostles and that He intended them to give that authority to others.

We see that in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter gathers the disciples together and explains that they need to find a replacement for Judas. In doing so, he quotes from Psalm 109 - “May another take his office.” Interestingly, the Greek word that is translated as “office” is the same Greek word that is used for “bishop”. Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, the apostles handed on their authority to other men who then handed it on to other men, and so on down to the present day. That is why we call bishops “successors of the apostles” because they have received the authority to teach and celebrate the sacraments which Jesus handed on to the apostles so that His Church can be built up through the centuries.

The Bible teaches us not only that Jesus established the Church but that He loves the Church. In fact, Saint Paul compares the relationship of Jesus to the Church to the relationship of a married couple. When teaching about how married couples should love one another, he writes: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). If Jesus loved the Church, we should love the Church as well.

We should also love the Church because,  through her, we receive everything we need for our salvation.

We have already mentioned how the Bible came to us through the Church. But it is also only through the Church that we receive the sacraments which nurture our faith, hope and love. Without the Church, there would be no baptism, which initiates us into the life of grace. Without the Church, we would not be able to receive communion which Jesus gave us at the Last Supper when He commanded the apostles, “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19). There is no other way to receive the graces that come from these sacraments than through the Church. No matter how many walks in the woods we take or how many hours we spend praying at home, we can never have the same real and life-transforming encounter with Christ that we experience through the sacraments.

There are also many reasons to be proud of our Church. No other institution feeds as many hungry people, shelters as many poor people or educates as many children as the Catholic Church. Down through the ages, she has stood up for the weak and the vulnerable against the powerful who would exploit them. She has survived many tyrannical and oppressive governments which have sought to destroy her. As Catholics, we should learn about our history, about the great women and men of faith who have witnessed to the love of God and about the great events that shaped who we are as the People of God. In particular, we should learn the truth behind events such as the Crusades and the Inquisition which people often refer to when they want to sully the Church’s reputation. Though Catholics have not always been perfect, there is still much for us to be proud of.

Another claim that we often hear is that all religions are equal and that it doesn’t matter which Church you belong to. How should we respond to those claims?

Because religions have different and contradictory doctrines, they can’t all be true. For instance, some religions teach that Jesus is the Son of God and other religions deny that. Obviously, they cannot all be right. And, if some of them are wrong about Jesus, then they cannot all be true. Doesn’t it make sense that we want to belong to the Church that teaches the truth about Jesus? Does such a Church exist?

We can answer that question by looking at the Bible. Jesus says clearly that he will establish His Church on Peter. There is only one Church which claims to be the one that Jesus founded on Saint Peter. That is the Catholic Church. And, if I cannot follow Jesus without belonging to a Church, doesn’t it make sense that I should belong to the one that makes the strongest claim to being the one He founded?

Pope Francis said recently, “We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with His living presence in and among us, can we put into practice His commandment, and thus be His credible witnesses.” The Church is God’s gift to us to make sure that we have everything we need for our journey to heaven. We cannot be true followers of Jesus, then,  unless we make that journey with others in the Church that Jesus established - the Catholic Church.