Under the universal cultural influences of individualism and deconstruction of tradition, many Christians seemingly believe they can maintain an effective, healthy, and intimate walk with Jesus apart from the Church. In the tradition of Jesus’ use of parables to help us understand abstract spiritual truths, New Testament authors compared the Church to an army, the body, and marriage—all of which by definition are meant to be a unified sum of their parts.
Scripture References: Acts 9:1-5, Ephesians 6:10-17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Ephesians 5:31-32, Hebrews 10:23-25