Christ Followers seeking to live outside of community will suffocate

Anne Rice is a well-known author who returned to the Catholic church some five years ago and recently decided to "quit being a Christian." Rice said she would still be a "Christ Follower," but would not be part of Christianity.

She sounds like a lot of postmoderns out there: Love the Christ; hate the church.

There's a problem, though, which is quite eloquently detailed in a column  Jane Redmont: There's no such thing as being a solo Christian. A Christ Follower is by the very definition a member of the Church and you can not escape that mystical reality.  By virtue of faith, belief and embracing Jesus Christ, you are part of the Church Universal. What you are not inherently part of is the church institutional; however, God is community -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- and Christ Followers are created for community. 

Community can be experienced in different ways: organizational churches, small groups, missions and ministry groups, just to name a few. But however it is experienced, Christ Followers must live in community or they will cease to live. Community is oxygen to the Christ Follower; trying to live outside of community results in oxygen deprivation.

Breathe ... breathe ... breathe ... Anne,

deeply.