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.