作者：Nicholas Davis 譯者：駱鴻銘
當你成為耶穌門徒時，你並不是祂在世上唯一的門徒。耶穌也呼召了其他人，我們是彼此互屬的。基督信仰不是給那些喜歡踽踽獨行的人的宗教。信福音或許是我們自己的決定，但是一旦我們信了福音，現在活著的就「不再是我」了，「乃是基督在我裏面活著」（加二20）When you become a disciple of Jesus, you are
not the only disciple in this world. There are others whom Jesus has also
called, and we all belong to one another. Christianity is not a religion for
those who would like to walk alone. We may need to make an individual decision
to believe the gospel, but once we do, it is no longer “I who live but Christ
who lives in me” (Gal 3:20). Christ has a visible body, and he calls it his
“church.”
作基督徒的意思從來不是說你要和其他基督徒分開來生活——我們被造成為同一個群體，是這個群體的一部分。以下是幾個理由，說明為什麼每個基督徒都需要本地的教會。Christians were
never meant to live apart from other Christians—we were made to be part of the
same community. Here are several reasons why every Christian needs the local
church.
1. 每個基督徒都需要屬靈的照護1. Every Christian needs
spiritual care.
固定參加一間教會、卻不是這間教會的正式會友，是非常普遍的現象。這種教會出席狀況所未能明白的一件事，就是所有的羊都需要一個牧人。當然，耶穌是我們最高的牧人，但是祂是藉著祂手下的牧者來帶領祂的羊群的，而這些牧者是特別蒙召來照護祂的子民的。以下經文保證每個基督徒都會受到屬靈的照護：It’s common for
people to attend a church regularly without officially belonging to that
particular church. What this sort of church attendance fails to understand is
that all sheep need a shepherd. Jesus is, of course, our ultimate Shepherd, but
he leads his sheep through under-shepherds who are specially called to care for
his people. The biblical warrant for the spiritual care of every Christian
comes from the following passage:
我這作長老、作基督受苦的見證、同享後來所要顯現之榮耀的，勸你們中間與我同作長老的人： 務要牧養在你們中間神的群羊，按著神旨意照管他們；不是出於勉強，乃是出於甘心；也不是因為貪財，乃是出於樂意； 也不是轄制所託付你們的，乃是作群羊的榜樣。 到了牧長顯現的時候，你們必得那永不衰殘的榮耀冠冕。 你們年幼的，也要順服年長的。就是你們眾人也都要以謙卑束腰，彼此順服；因為神阻擋驕傲的人，賜恩給謙卑的人。（彼前一1～5）So I exhort the
elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the
flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but
willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not
domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And
when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all
of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble.” (1 Pet. 5:1–5; emphasis mine)
從類似這樣的經文裏很清楚可以看到，上帝要每個基督徒在有血有肉的長老的權柄下，接受屬靈的照護（另參見：來十三7）。長老是上帝所呼召，要來照管祂的子民的。長老們在末日時，要為百姓的靈命是否得到照護向耶穌——真正的牧人——交帳。It’s clear from
passages like this that God desires every Christian to be under the spiritual
care and authority of flesh and blood elders (see also Heb. 13:7). Elders are
those whom God has called to shepherd his people, and they are to give an
account of their spiritual care to Jesus—the true Shepherd—on the last day.
此外，保羅吩咐提摩太和提多，要把使徒的教訓，「交託」給「各城」的長老（徒十四23；提後二2；多一5）。他盼望在每個教會裏，都有蒙召並受指派的人，來服事在各地聚集的百姓。
有誰會真正想獨自生活而不受保護呢？很不幸地，這正是許多基督徒實際上正在作的。他們拋棄了在正常狀況下，會從一個本地教會得到的正規照護。Additionally, Paul
charged Timothy and Titus to “entrust” the apostolic teaching to “elders in
every town” where there is a church (Acts 14:23; 2 Tim. 2:2; Titus 1:5). He
expected each church to have people who were called and appointed to serve in
every place that people gathered. Who really wants to live life unprotected and
alone, anyway? Unfortunately, this is what Christians are functionally doing
when they forgo the ordinary care they would normally receive from a local
church.
2. 每個基督徒都需要對其他人負責2. Every Christian needs
accountability.
我還在大學唸書時，有一個可以互相問責的同伴，我可以和他分享內心深處的掙扎。雖然這種團契相交很好，但是如同和其他基督徒的交往一樣，其功用僅止於此。直到我大學快要畢業時，我才體驗到屬於一個教會的好處。我不僅屬於一個可以互相問責的夥伴，也屬於一群真實的人，是我可以尊敬、向他們學習的，無論是在教義上還是在生活的經驗上。When I was in
college, I had accountability partners with whom I could share my deepest
struggles. As great as that fellowship was with other Christians, it only went
so far. It wasn’t until the end of college that I experienced the benefits of
belonging to not only an accountability buddy but also to a group of real men
to whom I could look up and learn from in both doctrine and life experience.
此外，當我有一個可以互相問責的夥伴時，我只需要對我所分享的事交帳。進一步說，若我真的分享了非常「糟糕」的事，我的朋友只能告訴我，這是錯的。除此之外，他對我沒有任何的權柄。但是，如果我們是一間教會的會友，這間本地教會的長老，就有要我對我認信的信仰負責任的權能。如果我公然否認福音，我會受到指責，受到糾正。對基督徒來說，這是必要的，好叫我們不會變得心硬或者徹底離棄信仰。Additionally, when
I had an accountability partner, I could only be held accountable to what I
shared. Furthermore, if I did share something really “bad,” my friend could
only tell me that it was wrong. He didn’t have any more authority than that. If
we are members of a church, however, then the leaders of that local church will
have the ability to hold me accountable to my profession of faith. If I am
denying the gospel outwardly, I’m rebuked and corrected. This is necessary for
Christians, so that we don’t become hard-hearted or leave the faith altogether.
在馬太福音十八章，耶穌描述了「教會懲戒」的做法。這也許是個聽起來很嚇人的詞，但是它概述了當另外一個信徒向一個基督徒犯罪時，這個信徒所應當採取的步驟。如果兩個基督徒之間的罪無法得到解決，最後的步驟就是「告訴教會」（太十八17）。基督徒在此生中能忠心地順服耶穌的唯一方式，就是他們不能只屬於一個範圍更大的身體（譯按，例如學園傳道會），而是必須屬於他們自己的基督徒群體：他們必須實際上屬於一間基督教會。In Matthew 18,
Jesus describes the practice of church discipline. This may sound like a scary
term, but it outlines the process a believer should take when another believer
sins against him. If the sin cannot be resolved between the two Christians,
then the last step is to “tell it to the church” (v. 17). The only way
Christians can faithfully obey Jesus in this life is if they are part of a
broader body than their own Christian group: they need to actually belong to a
Christian church.
3. 每個基督徒都需要其他人3. Every Christian needs
others.
當耶穌基督在十字架上受難時，祂拆毀了隔在猶太人和外邦人之間的牆，廢掉了其中的冤仇（弗二13～16）。基督的身體裏有許多的肢體——許多世代，許多種族。從來就是如此。在希伯來書第十一章，希伯來書的作者描述了喇合，一位非以色列人的娼妓，如何靠著信仰被嫁接到上帝的子民裏頭。在新天新地，也永遠會是這樣：When Jesus Christ
died on the cross, he tore down the walls of hostility that existed between
Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:13–16). The body of Christ has many members—it is
multigenerational and multiethnic. It has always been this way. In Hebrews 11,
Paul describes how Rahab, the non-Israelite prostitute, was engrafted into the
people of God by faith. It is also always going to be this way in the new
heavens and new earth:
此後，我觀看，見有許多的人，沒有人能數過來，是從各國、各族、各民、各方來的，站在寶座和羔羊面前，身穿白衣，手拿棕樹枝。（啟七9）After this I looked, and behold, a great
multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and
peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed
in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Rev. 7:9)
有罪的人都喜歡和與我們同類的人混在一起。但是當上帝把我們結合在一起，成為一個教會身體時，祂對我們的呼召是要完成遠比這個更偉大的事。在這個由祂的道所創造的新團體裏，我們被迫要和一些也許是我們不喜歡的人在一起，但是我們都蒙召要彼此相愛。As sinful human
beings, we tend to hang around people who are most like us. But God calls us to
something much greater and grander than this when he knits us together as one
body in the church. In this new community that God creates by his Word, we are
forced to be around people whom we may not always like—but we are still called
to love.
圍繞在我們身旁的是比我們年長、比我們年輕的基督徒，吃完上一頓飯、不知道下一頓在哪裏的人，那些特別有錢的人，還有那些與我們完全不同的種族、有著完全不同文化的人。福音把所有這些差異結合在一起，這說明了上帝正在救贖的這個新創造是何等美麗。上帝的創造是多彩多姿的，祂所救贖的也是多彩多姿的。We are surrounded
by older and younger Christians, people who are barely making it from paycheck
to paycheck, those who are independently wealthy, and those who are racially or
culturally very different from us. The gospel brings all of these differences
together, and it shows forth the beauty of the entire creation that God is
redeeming. God created variety, and he is redeeming variety.
在帖撒羅尼迦前書五章14～15節，保羅寫信鼓勵一個成熟的教會說：「我們又勸弟兄們，要警戒不守規矩的人，勉勵灰心的人，扶助軟弱的人，也要向眾人忍耐。 你們要謹慎，無論是誰都不可以惡報惡；或是彼此相待，或是待眾人，常要追求良善。」我們的確需要彼此，當我們團結一致時，我們總是會漸入佳境。In 1 Thessalonians
5:14–15, Paul wrote to encourage a mature church with these words: “And we urge
you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be
patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always
seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” We really do need one another,
and we are always better off when we’re together.