10 Satanic Lies About the Church

Satan feeds us lies about the Church. He hates the Church and everything connected with it. And because he is the “father of lies,” he seeks to deceive us about the Church.

1. I Can Be a Christian Without the Church

The Church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head of that body, and all who have responded to his call have been incorporated into it. You cannot be a Christian without belonging to the Church, which is a concrete and visible community of believers on earth.

2. I Belong to the Church, but I Do Not Belong to Any Christian Congregation

Christ did not establish an imaginary Church, but a community of believers whose fellowship also finds visible expression. The congregation gathers for corporate worship, where believers encourage one another by hearing God’s Word, praying, singing psalms and hymns, and participating in the Lord’s Supper.

For all these essential elements to find expression, we need a concrete, visible church that gathers in a particular place at a particular time. The invisible Church is indeed Christ’s true bride, but on earth she finds expression in the visible community of believers.

3. The Church Is Not an Organisation

Christ established the visible Church as a community of believers. He also gave that community an organised structure. He called twelve apostles and entrusted them with specific responsibilities. The apostles continued his work by proclaiming his Word. They also founded and organised churches, appointing pastors, elders, deacons, and other ministers. They exercised church discipline as well. These are all features of an organised community. The Church is both Christ’s living organism and an organisation.

4. A Church Building Is Just an Ordinary Building

When believers gather for corporate worship, they constitute the Church. An individual alone is not the Church. The Church is a community. This is also how the place where believers gather came to be called a church. It is no ordinary place, because it has been set apart for a particular purpose: to serve as the house of the Lord.

When such a building, or another place, is consecrated for the fellowship of God’s people, it is no longer an ordinary building but a sacred place. It is sacred because it is the house of prayer of Christ’s holy body—the Church.

5. No Christian Congregation Is Good Enough for Me

Such an attitude reveals our self-righteousness. The great heroes of faith, both in the New Testament and throughout Church history, found their place within the visible community of believers. If no congregation is good enough for you, you have been deceived by Satan’s lies about the Church and into believing that you are the holiest person on earth.

Someone once said, “If you are looking for a perfect church and happen to find one, do not join it, because it will immediately become imperfect.”

6. We Do Not Need Ministers in the Church

We can always approach God directly in prayer and read his Word for ourselves. Yet Christ has given his Church an order and, within that order, ministers. The Apostle Paul writes:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11–12).

Here we see not only that spiritual ministries are divinely instituted, but also the importance of the Church—the body of Christ—as an organised fellowship.

7. I Am Part of the Church, but I Do Not Have to Attend Worship

Of course, various circumstances may prevent us from attending every service. Yet those who use this argument rarely participate in the corporate worship of God’s people. Christianity is not a hobby; it is a way of life. A vital aspect of Christian living is taking part in the gathered worship of God’s people.

Anyone who truly loves the Lord will long for the house of God. Together with David, they will say:

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’” (Psalm 122:1).

The Holy Spirit places a love for worship in your heart. Satan stirs up resistance to worship.

The Lord also gave us the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper, so that we might partake of it together during regular services, in fellowship with other members of Christ’s visible body—the Church.

8. I Do Not Go to Church Because I Am Better Than Those Who Do

A common argument among those who do not want to attend church is, “Everyone in church is a hypocrite.” The Church is a community of justified sinners. Among those who attend corporate worship, there are also sinners who have not been justified. God has allowed the weeds to grow alongside the wheat. The final separation will take place only on the day of Christ’s judgement.

But when we assume that we are better than everyone else and therefore refuse to attend church, we have fallen for a dangerous satanic lie. Arrogance, pride, and the desire to be greater even than God himself brought about Satan’s fall.

9. God Has Saved—and Still Saves—People Who Do Not Attend Church, So I Do Not Have to Attend Either

God saved the thief on the cross. Those who are unable to participate in corporate worship because of illness, persecution, or geographical distance can also be saved. Yet these are exceptional circumstances, and such exceptions do not give everyone else an excuse to remain outside the visible Church. As long as our health and circumstances allow, we are called to belong to the fellowship and actively contribute to building it up.

10. I Do Not Need to Support the Church Financially

The Church, as a community, has various needs. Meeting them requires financial resources: from paying regular bills and utilities to supporting ministers, mission work, and those in need. In many places, the Bible testifies that God’s people support the work of the community through their giving.

In both the Old and New Testaments, giving to God’s work was associated with blessing.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

If we give wholeheartedly and willingly—for God does not accept gifts given otherwise—his blessings will surely follow.

Author: Bishop Jasmin Milić