Hyper-Individualism
“I don’t need church to be a Christian.” A frequent refrain in discussions about church involvement in the West, this statement has more baggage behind it than what one would think. See, claims like this flow from a culture marinated in the juice of individualism. Western culture is full of hyper-individualists, in which the individual self is the pinnacle of existence and importance. Instead of family, nation, or church—a collective, in other words—we have been trained from a young age to see the independent person, yourself, as the main character in all stories. From “all about you” posters growing up, to media that emphasizes each person’s emotions and preferences as absolute truth, the air we breathe disciples us to think that “self is the kingpin of the cosmos”.1
Christians breathe this same air and therefore, as one could expect, hyper-individualism has infected the church. A simple example is seen in the typical language used surrounding salvation and sanctification; the well-worn tagline is to talk about a “personal relationship with Jesus.” While that is not necessarily false, the emphasis on a personal relationship, where “me and Jesus” are all that matters, puts the magnifying glass on the individual, not the collective. Some Christian teachers over the years have even emphasized this, with one preacher from the 19th century saying that “religion is a matter which concerns exclusively the relations between an individual and his Maker.”2 This statement, which many would adhere to, at best diminishes and at worst excludes the church from having any weight in the life of the Christian. Public spiritual disciplines like preaching, worship, prayer, and even the sacraments are placed way below the individual self. Self is king in religion too, apparently, and leads to, as cheesy as this sounds, “me” over “we” kind of thinking.
Collective Thinking
As Christians, we profess that God’s word is our teacher for all areas of life—including how we should think about the idea of hyper-individualism. So what does God’s word have to say about the matter? Specifically, when we think about spiritual disciplines like reading the word, prayer, and preaching, how much should we think about ourselves as individuals versus ourselves as part of a larger body, the church?
Quite simply, as R.C. Sproul has said, “Christianity is not a religion of individualism.”3 Now this statement is saying more than just the fact that all Christians are a part of the universal, global church. While that is true, what Sproul is implying is that Christianity is a religion of collective, or covenantal (to use the biblical language) groups. God deals with us as family units, church units, and national units in ways that force us to look beyond just ourselves.
Take Revelation 2–3, for example. In these two chapters, Jesus is addressing 7 distinct churches, encouraging them in what they are doing well and rebuking them for where they have let sin creep its way into their midst. What is often overlooked is that Christ is talking to them as a unit, a church, not as a hodgepodge of unconnected individuals. Even if a singular person in a church is not participating in a specific sin, Christ addresses the church as if that sin is a group problem with group repercussions. It is similar to when, in team sports, the whole team has to run when a single player or a couple players mess up; the coach is treating the team as a collective that wins and loses together.
The Bible is full of such examples: the sins of Korah result in the death of his whole family, the faithfulness of Abraham blesses his whole household, and the vast majority of New Testament letters are addressed not to individuals, but to churches. In this, however, it should be noted that individuals are not eternally culpable for the sins of others; we do not experience eternal judgment for the iniquities of those we are connected to. However, it is clear that God deals with his people by covenants between himself and groups, primarily seen in us being a part of the New Covenant community, with Christ being our head and us being his body.
This challenges our thinking as 21st century Western Christians. Instead of viewing ourselves solely as individuals, we must understand that when we have been saved we have been brought into a community of believers in covenant together with God and bound to each other. We are part of the body of Christ, and God deals with us as a body. There is no such thing as a Christian independent of the body—therefore we should not act like we can be a growing Christian independent of the local church.
Thanks for the Patience: Corporate Spiritual Disciplines
This brings us—finally—to the importance of corporate spiritual disciplines. With the preceding context in mind, it is not surprising that the western church has prioritized private, individual, spiritual disciplines well. We have thankfully emphasized personal time in the word and private prayer to a healthy extent. But our lack of covenantal thinking can often lead us to ignore the corporate spiritual disciplines that are to be practiced in the church.
We can see this in Ephesians 4 when Paul describes how God views the church and its collective purpose. We read:
11 And [God] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
We see here that God has given shepherds (4:11) to the church to equip the church as a collective body for maturity and good works (4:12–13) and to be chosen instruments by which the Spirit transforms the collective body into Christ (4:15). Yes, we are as individuals to be conformed to the image of Christ. But as a church body we are also to be like Christ, and that happens through faithful preaching from the shepherds God has given to the church.
This brings us to the primary public spiritual discipline we are going to focus on in this blog: preaching. As I said, the means of the church’s growth in maturity comes through the shepherds and teachers who regularly feed the church with God’s word. God has designed preaching to educate his people about him, as we will only follow after what we know. God has also designed preaching to encourage his people during the trials of this life, as we grow to love him more and more for what he has done for us in Christ. And, in addition to these, God has designed preaching to act as a rebuke to us in our sins, as correction is necessary for Christlikeness. Put bluntly, you need preaching, because God has formed his church to thrive under it.
In our age of personal bible time, finding solid preaching to submit to is actually more important, not less. For most of Christian history, the primary means of biblical literacy was through the preaching of the word, in which the faithful pastor who has labored over the text presented the truth to the congregation. But now, much Bible intake comes from individuals reading it on their own. This is certainly good, but presents a greater danger of misinterpretation and misapplication. Ensuring that every Christian regularly is fed God’s word by a qualified man who has spent time digging and searching for the truth of the text is one of the greatest ways to prevent poor theology.
Now, there is not enough space in this blog to talk through public worship and public prayer, two other important corporate spiritual disciplines. But, similar to preaching, these are to be prioritized and loved in the church as well. They are to be prioritized by Christians in the same manner we prioritize personal worship and personal prayer.
So what are the implications of this? To put it plainly, you are a part of the body of Christ whether you acknowledge it or not. In being saved, you have been brought into the God’s covenant people. Therefore, your healthy participation and joyful presence will bless others and benefit you. Conversely, your absence is not neutral; there will be a void in your own walk with the Lord when you are unengaged with the church.
Positively, seeing how this collective worldview relates to spiritual disciplines encourages us to see the beauty of God’s purposes in the church. Our God desires to feed us whenever we gather as a body, especially on the Lord’s day, through the spiritual disciplines. Preaching is more than being talked at—it is God using the elder who is teaching as a mouthpiece to instruct and lead his people. Worship is a foretaste of heaven, in which all the elect praise God together, not as mere individuals, to his glory and their good. And public prayer is us joyfully bringing our petitions to the Lord as a body, to his great pleasure (Rev 5:8). By faith take hold of the benefits given to you through these disciplines whenever you gather together to worship.
Discussion Questions
How does the viewpoint of covenantal collectivism versus hyper-individualism change the way you see God? The world? Yourself?
Have you experienced the joys of corporate spiritual disciplines before? What are some examples?
Of the three disciplines mentioned (preaching, worship, and prayer) is there one you want to prioritize more moving forward?
James Sire, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, Sixth Edition (Intervarsity Press, 2020) 196.
Phil Newton, “Radical Individualism: The Divisive Spirit of Our Age”, Founders, https://founders.org/articles/radical-individualism-the-divisive-spirit-of-our-age/
R.C. Sproul, “Christianity vs Individualism”, Ligonier, https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/ultimately-with-rc-sproul/christianity-vs-individualism
