"I DON'T NEED THE CHURCH" [1]

YOU JUMP FOR JOY

1. FROM THE disciples' boat on the sea, Peter calls out to Christ, "If it is you, bid me come to you on the water." "Come," answers the Lord. [Mt 14:82-29] Separated from the apostles, Peter's faith falters. Jesus knows Peter will sink into the sea. And he has something to teach him. He catches Peter by the hand, saying, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" [Mt 14:31] You who call yourself Christian, the lesson of Peter is intended for you. You take passage on the Barque of Peter, but you boast to the wind, I don't need the Church! The wind throws back your own voice to you and you claim, Jesus spoke to me. Doubt tempts you overboard and you jump for joy.

2. TAKE THIS story to heart! Peter's jump from the boat does nothing to erase his or the apostles' fears. [cf. Rom 8:15] On the contrary, his impetuous folly leads him from fright to disaster. Jesus restores Peter back to the boat and to the company of the Twelve. Then the Lord calms the winds.^[2] Do you undermine what Jesus does with Peter? Or do you presume to teach the Teacher? May the Spirit open your eyes of faith!

BRIDE AND GROOM

3. THE BOAT exemplifies the Church, do you see. Examine the Sacred Scriptures--the Ship's Log--to see how Christ situates Peter, the apostles and all believers in the visible community of faith. Moreover, it was Jesus who ordered them into the boat in the first place. Peter and the apostles are the Body of Christ, the Church: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." [1Cor 12:12] The apostles' proclamation of faith is precisely the mission of the gathered Church: "And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" [Mt 14:33]

4. REPENT, THEREFORE, and humble yourselves before God's Spirit. Enough, then, of your double-talk. You say, I don't need the Church. I answer, You will drown in fear apart from Christ and his boat. You cannot accept the Lord and shun the Church he established,^[3] for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready". [Rev 19:7] From the ages of ages, the eternal, absolute, and unchanging God decreed the vesting of the Church "with fine linen bright and pure--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints". [Rev 19:8] Make no mistake, you cannot love the Groom by loathing his Bride. In other words, reject the bride and the groom must reject you. You cannot step out of the boat without first deserting its Captain.

ONLY IN HELL

5. THE CHURCH established by the eternal Logos--the Word-Made-Flesh--is the concrete, visible communion of his Kingdom of light and grace. Banish the wicked person from the Church, writes St. Paul, for God will judge outsiders. [cf. 1Cor 5:12-13] An outsider is anyone who discredits the divine Groom as a generic knockoff, anyone who slanders his divine Bride as spiritually bankrupt. You say, Who needs anything but the Bible? I say, Heed your own words.

6. TURN TO the Book of Hebrews and submit to what you read:

LET US hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. [Heb 23-25]

^[1] cf. Mt 14:22-33.

^[2] "And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, 'Save, Lord; we are perishing.' And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?' Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, 'What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?'" [Mt 8:23-27]

^[3] "Then came one of the seven angels spoke to me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.'" [Rev 21:9]