I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church (Apostles' Creed 10/13)

This article was first published in French at TPSG.

This week, we come to the phrase “(I believe in) the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.” Woah, woah, you may say! Aren't you an evangelical? I certainly am. Yet once I explain the meaning of this surprising phrase, I am convinced you will agree with the statement as well.  

Holy

The first thing I need to do is define our terms, and the first term is “holy.” Why is the Church described in the Creed as holy? Is it because it is perfect? Far from it. It is deeply flawed, as am I. But Christ is in the process of transforming his Bride, and that sanctifying work will only be completed in glory (Ep. 5:25-27). 

 

Catholic

For many evangelicals, this one word can be a stumbling block in embracing the Creed. Yet “catholic” here simply means universal. So, in the Apostle’s Creed, we are not confessing allegiance to the Pope, nor to the Roman Catholic Church, but rather to the one true universal Church, made up of the redeemed throughout the world and throughout the ages, whose head is Jesus Christ. That is why when many Protestants recite the Creed, we use the word “universal” in place of “catholic.”

Church

The term Church is commonly used in three ways:

1.     The Universal Church

This speaks of all believers since Pentecost, including the redeemed from every nation, tribe, and tongue (Rev. 7:9-12). We form a part of a beautiful, multiethnic tapestry, the extent of which we will only fully grasp and enjoy in eternity. 

2.     The Church Building

This refers to the structure in which believers gather for corporate worship. These may vary, but in the end, the building doesn’t really matter. After all, our persecuted brothers and sisters may not be able to meet in a dedicated building, but that small living room, enrobed in curtains so no one on the outside can see in, where songs are sung in a whisper, is just as much a place of worship as the imposing structure where an established group of believers meets in freedom and safety.

3.     The Local Church

We live out the Christian life in community at this level. This is where we invest much of our talents, time, and treasures. The local church is where we give our allegiance in a literal way by becoming members and submitting to its leaders and thus agreeing to be held accountable.

 

Communion

R.C. Sproul explains this concept best:

 

The word "communion" here does not refer to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist. In the Apostles' Creed, "the communion of saints" means that there is a communion, a brotherhood that unites all Christians in the world through the bond of the Holy Spirit. This communion transcends confessional, geographical and ethnic boundaries as well as temporal limits.

 

Saints

If you grew up Catholic like me, you may have thought of the saints as the people represented in statues, stained glass, and other icons. As a child, I was taught to pray to the saints (and to Mary and to the angels). They were the cream of the crop, those whom the Vatican had deemed worthy of veneration. So, imagine my surprise when I came to faith and discovered that I was a saint, as are all who have been united to Christ.

 

Furthermore, in the context in which the Creed was composed, the idea of being holy meant that the body of Christ, as a whole, as well as its members, were sacred, set apart from the world. They were to be salt and light in an insipid, dark world (1 Pet. 2:9).

 

The Creed in Context

Having clarified the terms in our phrase, it’s important to understand what they meant to their original audience.

 

In the second century, the emergence of counterfeit churches created a great deal of confusion for believers. Among them were the Gnostics, the Marcionists, and the Montanists, each claiming to be the true Church of Jesus Christ. The Apostles’ Creed would have provided these beleaguered saints a confession of faith that would allow them to distinguish the true Church from all the fake ones that were springing up. 

 

The Communion of Saints Today

Once we understand the context in which the phrase arose, we should ask ourselves, what it means for us today. I believe that in light of the changes we’ve seen in our culture during this pandemic, the biggest question that comes to mind is this: What part should the Church play in a believer’s life? Do you have to go to church services in person to be a Christian? 

 

Why In-Person Church Attendance Matters

Here are a few reasons why in New Testament terms, it was unthinkable for a believer to be detached from the local church:

 

1. Most of the NT letters were written to churches. And the pastoral epistles written to individuals were intended to equip their shepherds to lead their churches well. Even the scrolls on which were written the four gospels and Revelation circulated among churches. This was how the Apostolic message was transmitted. 

 

2. Along similar lines, Scripture was designed to be lived out by God’s covenant people in community. We Westerners are often individualistic and tend to think in terms of “me” and “I.” But most of the NT imperatives are in the second person plural. Moreover, the Greek term translated “one another” occurs 100 times in the NT. And the imperative “love one another” alone occurs at least 16 times. We can’t fully enjoy union with Christ if we isolate ourselves from the body of Christ. 

 

3. Some people claim that they don’t need the Church. They say they can worship God better in nature. They view the Church as being full of hypocrites, and they want nothing to do with it. But in response, I would say this: if you love Christ, you must love his Bride. She’s why Christ came. 

 

Rich Mullins was a popular singer when I was in university. In answer to the above objection about hypocrisy in the Church, he said the following:

 

I never understood why going to church made you a hypocrite either, because nobody goes to church because they're perfect. If you've got it all together, you don't need to go. You can go jogging with all the other perfect people on Sunday morning… Every time you go to church, you're confessing again to yourself, to your family, to the people you pass on the way there, to the people who will greet you there, that you don't have it all together. And that you need their support. You need their direction. You need some accountability, you need some help."

4. A professing Christian who is trying to live out their faith without the love and support of God’s people is likely to lose their passion for Christ a lot more quickly than one who remains in community. And that person is left far more defenceless against the evil one. Simply put, “A Christian without a church is a Christian in trouble.”

 

The Oxymoron of Virtual Church

Colin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman state the point well in their book “Rediscover Church”:

 

Praise God that we can “download” biblical truths virtually. But let’s [also] praise God that the Christian life is more than just an information transfer. When church is only online, we can’t feel, experience, and witness those truths becoming enfleshed in the family of God, which both fortifies our faith and creates cords of love between brothers and sisters. Virtual church is an oxymoron. . . . The Christian life and the church life cannot finally be downloaded. It must be watched, heard, stepped into, and followed. (51–52)

 

Anything Worthwhile Requires Sacrifice 

These past months of intermittent confinement have taught me how desperately I need the Church. I need to be with the family of God on a regular basis, even if it requires more effort on my part than tuning into the service from home in my pyjamas. But anything worthwhile requires sacrifice. As we cry out to God for a swift end to this pandemic, may we also pray that when it does, we’ll find Christ’s Bride stronger and more committed to the Great Commission than ever.