Why online church isn't enough

I do not take issue with those who occasionally tune in to an online church service due to illness, travel, or work. Livestreams are a valuable tool for connection when physical attendance is temporarily impossible, and I have no intention of demonizing the technology itself. What I do find troubling, however, is the growing trend of individuals who have replaced the embodied life of the local church with online services as their sole form of participation. The issue arises when individuals claim to be part of a church body without regular, physical involvement in a local congregation.

The church is not a livestream. Nor is it a building, or a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The church is the gathered people of God, the body of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus Himself affirms this embodied reality in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Christ’s presence is not merely theoretical or abstract—it is manifest in the gathered community. Why is this the case? Because Jesus, in His very being, is communal. The triune God exists in eternal communion, and the body of Christ cannot function apart from this relational reality. Not even God exists in isolation.

The church is the primary means through which Christ is redeeming the world. This is not a new initiative—it has been God’s intention from the beginning. In Genesis 2:15, Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden “to work it and keep it.” G.K. Beale, in The Temple and the Church’s Mission, argues that the Hebrew word shamar (translated “to keep”) is priestly in nature. It is the same word used to describe the Levitical duty of guarding the temple (cf. Numbers 3:7–8). Adam’s vocation, then, was not merely agricultural; it was sacred. He was a priest-guardian of Eden, God’s original temple. Eden was not meant to remain static—it was meant to expand, to spread God’s dwelling presence throughout the earth. Importantly, Adam was created after the fall of Satan. His role was, in a sense, a divine countermeasure—God’s answer to cosmic rebellion.

Scripture consistently affirms God’s desire to dwell among His people. Exodus 25:8 records God’s command: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Leviticus 26:12 declares, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.” Ezekiel 37:27 states, “My dwelling place will be with them.” In John 1:14, the Word becomes flesh and “tabernacles” among us. Revelation 21:3 culminates the biblical narrative: “Now the dwelling of God is with man.” G.K. Beale’s work shows how this dwelling motif links Eden, the tabernacle, the temple, and ultimately the church, into a unified biblical-theological vision.

Through Christ, believers are now the temple of God. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” Ephesians 2:21 expands this corporate image: “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” Beale notes that just as the temple was the meeting place of heaven and earth, so now the church becomes that meeting place—animated by the Spirit and oriented toward mission.

Christ is the second Adam, as 1 Corinthians 15:45 says: “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” While Adam failed to guard the garden, Jesus succeeds by guarding His people, even to the point of death. Adam’s failure did not begin with the fruit—it began when he permitted the serpent to enter the garden without resistance. He should have driven out the intruder, protected Eve, and preserved the sanctuary. Jesus, by contrast, lays down His life to protect His bride, the church. Where Adam was passive, Christ is active. Where Adam allowed the serpent in, Christ crushes its head.

The church, therefore, is God’s new Eden—not built by human hands but through the Spirit’s sanctifying work. It is a sacred space, spreading through the wilderness of the world by the evangelizing mission of the saints. As Eden was to expand and fill the earth, so too the church is commissioned to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18–20).

This is precisely why online church cannot replace the embodied, communal life of the local church. Isolation cuts believers off from the body of Christ. Hebrews 10:25 warns against “neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some,” and urges mutual encouragement in the gathered assembly. Church is not just a place to receive—it is a body where each member gives, serves, encourages, and is shaped through participation.

The New Testament prescribes order and structure for the local church, including the roles of elders and deacons. These are not modern inventions, but God-ordained offices for the health of the church. First Timothy 3 outlines the qualifications for both elders and deacons, underscoring that the church must be shepherded by qualified, accountable leadership. Order is a gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:33), and the Spirit is the very builder of the temple.

To disengage from the local church is to withdraw from God’s redemptive plan. It is to receive content while remaining disconnected from covenant. Online church creates a consumeristic relationship with the body of Christ, where one benefits from teaching and music without the transformative power of fellowship, accountability, and service. The church is not a podcast, a playlist, or a production. It is the living, breathing, battling body of Christ on earth.

We were never meant to live out our faith alone. The church needs your presence. It needs your hands, your voice, your prayers, and your gifts. The church is Eden restored, and its mission is to fill the earth—not with content, but with the glory of God through lives laid down in community.