We’re living in a very individualistic age. So, this is a very countercultural thing for us to preach. And it’s actually something that, some of you will struggle to hear because it’s not the way that you’re used to thinking. But we hold those two extremes in tension…
We reject the Roman Catholic doctrine that the church should be holding people back from any individual expression of their faith and any individual understanding of the Bible. No, no, we don’t do that.
However, we don’t go to the other extreme either, to say, ‘well, we’re all individuals and our own private connection to God and the Bible can exclusively take place outside of the context of the church.” No. That’s not how God has chosen to work.
And if you just think for a second who God is, then you’ll realise that it would be mad to suggest otherwise, because God the Father sent his Son into the world to save… his church. If the church is who his Son is married to, why would we dream of disconnecting the church from the Christian life?
