A debate that has rattled around Christianity for a long time is the discussion surrounding the nature of the Christian experience. Is it basically individual or basically corporate? I was for many years a proponent that Christianity is the development of an individual relationship with God. This position stands in contrast to the feeling among many churchmen that the attempt to develop a one-on-one relationship with the Father is both misguided and dangerous. I feel that the Lord has now moved me to a more moderate position that reflects a more developed understanding.

I now see that it is not a question of individual or corporate but rather a question of individual and corporate. I maintain that the original understanding I received is correct. Namely that God’s cherished desire is to create a family of children coming to Him by free will choice and birthed in Christ. The Bible provides evidence for both levels of relationship. The corporate nature of the Christian walk is most notably seen in the numerous occurrences of the word “church.” This is the translation of the Greek word ekklesia which refers to an assembly of people or as a group of called out ones and occurs more than 100 times in the New Testament. “And He is the Head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead;” (Colossians 1:18a) This is combined with more general references to gatherings of believers: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting on another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

From the number of times the reference the gathering of believers as seen in the Bible it is foolish to discount this aspect of the Christian experience. On the other hand, to diminish or deny the individual aspect of Christianity is a great evil and leads to much mischief. The individual nature of the walk with God in Christ is evident, not so much directly, but by inference. This inference comes from the number of times God refers to Himself as “Father.” “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascent to My Father and to your Father; to My God and your God.’” (John 20:17) From the numerous times that the Bible tells us that we are in a family relationship with God we cannot reasonably reject the individual nature of our connection to God.

Indeed, the fact that we are born into this relationship precludes any other legitimate understanding of our union with God. We are never “born” into an organization or corporation. We are not born into anything except a family. Family relationships are always personal and individual no matter how large the family is. “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:” (1 John 3:1a) So just as the corporate aspect of the Christian experience is undeniable, so the individual aspect is equally undeniable.

The real issue here is not one or the other, individual or corporate, but what is the proper balance of the two. There is no formula or easy answer to this question. In truth there is no general answer to this question and in this truth lies the importance of the resolution of this issue. The amount of our Christian experience that is corporate and the amount that is individual can only be resolved between each one of us and the Father. In other words, to live successfully my only hope is to be in surrendered submission to the Father’s will for my life by living as He would have me live. Sometimes that is individually and sometimes it is corporately.

The danger today is that so many people see the Christian walk as only existing in the confines of the organizational church. This is a view that may be as narrow as including only recognized denominations or as broad as including all gatherings from home groups to great assemblies. However broad or narrow, this view misses some vitally important aspects of our relationship with God. I feel that God has always built His works from the most fundamental level on up. We see this in the universe which is incomprehensibly huge yet is constructed from the atomic level. I believe that it is mankind who imagines in the gigantic: how to build a better universe, but God works in the infinitesimal. The Father understands that the only way to achieve perfection is to start with perfect pieces.

In Christianity we often enter the situation at least one level too high. We keep trying to build a better world while neglecting the individuals that make it up. The most common argument I hear for this corporate approach is that we need organizations to keep us on the right track. When I propose the fundamentally individual approach to relationship with the Father I am most often chastened with “But you need the body to guard against going into error.” There is some truth to this statement but the principle problem with it is that it is founded on weak faith.

If God is truly our Father (and He is because He says so) then we must think of Him first in these terms. We must ask ourselves how does a father (and a perfect father at that) relate to his children? The worry about error in the individual walk with God forgets that the Father wants to guide and lead us directly – Himself: “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5) In the dispensation of God’s grace the Lord’s original intention is fulfilled. This is the Father’s desire to have deep, intimate and personal relationship with every person who chooses to accept membership in His family.

The desire of the Father for direct contact with each of us goes back to the Old Testament: “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord:’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest for them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34) It is in the atoning sacrifice of Christ that we are reconciled to the Father. This is the great beginning action that opens the door to our restored personal relationship with God. If we will but trust the Father by faith and submit to His loving leading in our lives, we have to have no fear of going astray. We will make mistakes, but if we remain open to the Father’s guidance we will not go far in error.

No true Christian can deny this, if God is a trustworthy parent (and He is because He says He is) then He will not let the trusting child go very wrong. The belief that we must have groups of pastors and elders to keep us on the right track denies the Father’s ability or desire to do this for us. It is a great insult to teach or even infer that God is not good to His word. If the Father says He will lead us and care for us and teach us then that should be good enough for us. That He may sometimes use other people in this task is not beyond possibility. However, I feel that this is usually done only when we are not listening to the Lord ourselves. In receiving guidance from the Father we most often need surrender more than organization.

In the end I think we need to see our relationship with the Father in more global terms. This would be a view that sees the Christian life as an individual relationship with God that blossoms into a wider corporate life touching people. This allows the Father to grow us into the full representation of Christ that He desires for each of us while using the synergies of corporate activity to move our world to an expression of the world He desires for us.