Some people wrongly assume that those in community (with believers) are in Christ. Sadly, they assume this of themselves. But Jesus made clear that there would be tares among the wheat. Being around Christians does not automatically place one in Christ. Only repentance and baptism can grant the blessings of being in Christ. Yes, no doubt there will be those on the last day astonished that their constant contact with Christians has not resulted in their being in Christ. No one is saved apart from contact with the Church, but one is not saved simple by being around it or even in the midst of it.
Others wrongly assume that those in Christ need not be in community. Our age of Christianity revolted against the perceived (and perhaps at times actual) vain religiosity of Catholicism and it’s apparent clones (Lutherans included to be sure). The end of that revolt has often been a “Jesus and me” Christianity. The place of Christian communities often became nothing more than an optional festive weekly gathering where individual experience was still the prime objective. All of this flows from a lack of the baptismal talk that marks the entirety of the New Testament. Baptism talk is never Jesus and me talk, but Jesus and us. Yes baptism places us in Christ, but it also places us in community. It is not just Jesus and me. It is Jesus, me, and his Church. In community the church confesses. In community, the church interprets. In community the church is served by her Lord in order to be in service to others in the world. Those in Christ are, whether they like it or not, or whether they take advantage of the blessings of it or not, in community with one another.
Being in Community does not mean being in Christ, but being in Christ does means being in Community.
Phil,
You are correct in your premise. The Orthodox teach, to paraphrase a saying by +Bishop KALLISTOS that man may fall alone, but he is not saved alone. It is through the life giving sacraments and participation in the liturgical life of the Church that we are made one with God through His saving grace. And this really needs to be stressed today, because too many Christians, Orthodox and non, have a belief that it is simply “enough” or “sufficient” to be a Christian and not part of the Church. Even Scripture affirms the necessity of belonging to the Church, not apart from it, though that in itself is not a safeguard of salvation. This whole concept is plagued by egoism and “I’m the boss” syndrome.
Palodini,
Did we agree?