Christ and His Church are One

Many times people put a false dichotomy between Christ and the Church. Some will acknowledge that the Church is part of one mystical body but deny any real tangible or visible connection.

However, Scripture makes this connection vibrant--Christ and His Church are one. The Apostle Paul begins emphasizing the members of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12. Scripture goes on to account the relationship:

"And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:22, 23)

"He who hears you hears me, he rejects rejects me" (Luke 10:16).

Jesus appeared to Saul, on the road to Damascus and asked, "why are you persecuting me?". He didn't ask why are you persecuting my friends or my Church. He said why are you persecuting ME.

Christ is the Way, the mediator between us and Heaven. If the Church and Christ really are one, than the Church plays at minimum, a secondary supporting role in that mediation. The Church's very existence and purpose is to evangelize:

"Make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:18-19)

That's why the church is not only mystical, but also visible:

"You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14).

This passage affirms the relationship between Christ and His church, as Christ claimed to be the "light of the world", yet so are we, His church.

Christ used visible signs of faith such as healing with mud, spit, oil, laying on of hands, instructing to baptize etc. with a visible hierarchy built on the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets (Ephesians 2:20).

To say that we have Jesus but don't need the Church, is to deny Christ is part. Christ and His Church are one, it's the whole package. His Church isn't merely a man-made institution, but rather instituted by God himself (Matt 16:18-19). There might be some of us that are grumpy, stinky, and harder to love, but Christ calls us to love the least of these. We are all the least of these, and yet while we were still sinners, He showed His immense love for us, the Church, by dying for us (Romans 5:8). Let's live that example of love towards other members of the Church (John 15:13).