THE CHURCH AND THE INDIVIDUAL

By David J. Riggs

Some are not distinguishing between the responsibility God placed upon the church (collectively) and that which He placed upon the individual. Some argue that anytime a command is equally upon all individuals, it is equally upon the church. This is no more correct than to argue that every command that is equally upon every citizen is equally upon the government (collectively). If a citizen is commanded to sit on jury duty, is it equally an obligation of the government (collectively) to sit on jury duty?

Ephesians 4:28 says, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." Here we have a command that is equally upon all individuals, but not equally upon the church (collectively). Can the church (collectively) advance labor projects so it can give to the poor? The only way the church can obtain funds to give to its needy is by free will offerings of the saints on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2).

Some, in trying to prove there is no difference in the obligation of the church and the individual, ask, "Don't the individuals make up the church and doesn't the church function through individuals?" Also, they ask, "If all of the individuals of the church are doing something, isn't that the church doing it."

Such questions only cloud the issue. The church is made up of individuals and the church functions through individuals; however, the individuals function in a group capacity which is different from their own individual capacity. For example, we have these instructions concerning discipline, "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church." (Matt. 18:17), and "...When you are gathered together...deliver such a one to Satan..." (1 Cor. 5:4-5). This places an obligation upon the church in the group capacity which cannot be fulfilled in the individual capacity.

If all of the individuals of the church were doing something, it would be the church doing it; however, they could be doing it in the individual capacity. The New Testament speaks of the church both in the collective sense (1 Tim. 5:16) and the distributive sense (Acts 8:1-3).

There are some obligations which God placed upon the church in the individual capacity which He did not place upon the church collectively. A good example of the obligation to wear the name "Christian." The church is obligated in the individual capacity to wear the name "Christian" (Acts 11:26; 1 Pet. 4:16); however, the church in the collective capacity is not equally obligated. No one calls the church "a Christian" and there are no passages which authorizes the church to be called, "The Christian Church."

1 Tim. 5:16 says, "If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows." This passage likewise shows there is a difference in the responsibility placed upon individuals and the church.