It's Between Me and God

That's what a lot of people claim about their faith when stating that they don't need to be a part of any church. My faith is private, they say. I can worship God by myself in a beautiful natural setting. Why bother with church? I don't need anyone else in order to have a relationship with God. Well, I hate to break it to them, but if they really do have a relationship with God in Christ then they are part of His church whether they know it or not! The church is made up of every single person that belongs to Christ. Christ's church is simply the "church" and doesn't splinter into the countless denominational names people have called it over the past 2000 years. And while I'm at it- if you are alone in a beautiful natural setting are you really worshiping God? Praising- sure! Listening to- absolutely! Communing with- yeah! But worship is a bit different than those things. The worship God calls us to do is to serve others with a loving attitude. He calls us to give up our will to accomplish His will. We serve those that already belong to Christ (His church) and we serve those outside the church in order to show God's love and hopefully bring them to Christ. Real faith is personal, yes, but never private.