by Adam Faughn<\/p>\n
In our world, we sometimes hear people who speak of how they want a relationship with Jesus, but they do not want much (if anything) to do with the church. This is not new; in fact, some of you will remember the days when the saying, “give me the Man, but not the plan,” was in vogue. Still, in our day, the numbers seem to be growing of people who want some connection to Jesus but not to the church.<\/p>\n
There may be any number of reasons they give for that. Some might say it is because Jesus is perfect, while the church, being composed of people, has so many flaws. Others, though they may not actually say it, want the Jesus of love and acceptance and not the “rules” they believe the church puts on people.<\/p>\n
Whatever the reason, those who think that you can have Jesus without the church are sadly mistaken. For one thing, Jesus is the Head of His body, which is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23), and you simply cannot remove the Head from the body without it being ugly and deadly.<\/p>\n
There is another reason, though, that I want to consider for a moment. It is found in a verse that many of us know and love. It is a passage that is filled with praise to God from the pen of Paul. Quite often in his writings, Paul just seemed not to be able to hold back praise to God, and words of praise just flowed from his mind onto the parchment.<\/p>\n
As he wrote about the plan of God through Jesus, Paul wrote these beautiful words of praise: “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen<\/em>” (Ephesians 3:21). Why would we look at that verse as we consider our subject? Notice that Paul is making it clear that the glory of God is given, yes, by Christ, but also by the church, and that is to be done until the world ends…and beyond.<\/p>\n It is vital for us to remember that in connection with our understanding of the importance of the church. Paul’s words should help us realize that God cannot be praised as He desires unless the church is praising Him, and that is to last for as long as the world stands. Those who want to try to have a relationship with Jesus without having a connection with the church are simply unable to praise God as He has demanded.<\/p>\n I would hope that each one of us would have a desire to praise God to the very best of our ability. Certainly, we would each say that we fall short of being able to praise God perfectly, but we should also want to praise Him as best we possibly can. If that is true, then we must be part of the church! We must be active in the church. For it is both “in Christ” and “in the church” where God’s praise is lifted to the fullest in this life.<\/p>\n Those who want to have a relationship with Jesus without having a connection with the church are missing out on so much. That includes their ability to praise and worship God fully. Why would anyone not want to praise Him completely?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Adam Faughn In our world, we sometimes hear people who speak of how they want a relationship with Jesus, but they do not want much (if anything) to do with the church. This is not new; in fact, some of you will remember the days when the saying, “give me the Man, but not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-90545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-sincere-men-want-to-evangelize\/","url_meta":{"origin":90545,"position":0},"title":"Two Sincere Men Want to Evangelize","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gardner Hall Biblical Insights 14(9) September 2014 The First Man The first emphasizes \"the true church,\" and when evangelizing, he begins his conversations with others by asking, \"How many churches did Jesus build?\" Later, he quotes Matthew 16:18 to show that Jesus built only\u00a0one. It wasn't the Baptist Church,\u00a0the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56865,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-didnt-fit-the-picture\/","url_meta":{"origin":90545,"position":1},"title":"He Didn’t Fit the Picture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Aaron Beard via Gospel Power, Vol. 14, No. 12, March 25, 2007 The first-century Jew was one who was completely aware of the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. The \"Law and the Prophets\" were constantly being read in public places. 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I don't believe it's dividing kingdoms because that means believing in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60302,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-was-the-church-established\/","url_meta":{"origin":90545,"position":3},"title":"When was the church established?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question about what year the church was established. Some are saying AD 30 but when I was converted into the church what I was taught is that the church started in Jerusalem in AD 33. Were we wrong as a church on the AD 33\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12598,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-it-say-that-only-members-of-the-church-of-christ-will-go-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":90545,"position":4},"title":"Where does it say that only members of the church of Christ will go to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does it say anywhere in the Bible that only the church of Christ will go to heaven? That is, only people who go to the church of Christ? What about the other churches, such as the Church of God, or a none denominational church, or the baptist? The reason\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Eye-of-the-Needle-Gate-114x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":91371,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wasnt-the-church-in-thyatira-told-to-withdraw-from-the-jezebel-in-their-midst\/","url_meta":{"origin":90545,"position":5},"title":"Why wasn’t the church in Thyatira told to withdraw from the Jezebel in their midst?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeffrey, I hope you are well. I have a question concerning the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-29. The letter to the church mentioned a Jezebel. Some compared her with the wife of Ahaz, who instilled and practiced evil. 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