There has been a major change in college sports and the details of the new program, the NIL, can be complicated. Basically, it says that any athlete can leave the team he has joined and enter a portal to be paid more to play for his new team. If no one signs him, he might think of himself as being a college athlete but is no longer part of any team.
Those in the first century all became part of a team in local congregations. This concept is clearly seen by looking at what the apostle Paul did when he left Damascus and came to Jerusalem. “And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him…” (Acts 9:26). They were not aware that he had boldly preached in Damascus until Barnabas explained this to them. When this happened, he was able to join that new congregation. “So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out” (v. 28). Paul became part of a local congregation because that is the place God uses individual Christians.
When Paul sought to bring unity to the local work in Corinth, he used the figure of a body. In 1 Corinthians 12, he illustrates the spiritual body at Corinth as having “hands, feet and eyes.” The body needs every part, and the eye cannot arbitrarily disassociate itself from the rest of the body.
The church is more than a body because it is an army, and we march together to defeat Satan. A soldier is not a soldier until he becomes part of a unit of the army. Both soldiers and Christians work together, protect each other, have common goals and serve those who have the oversight over us and our Commander-in-Chief—Jesus Christ.
The church is a family where we have brothers and sisters who exhort us and encourage us in worship. We eat at a common table around the Lord’s table. We know and love our brothers and sisters. We are not orphans! The Lord designed the church so that each one watches out and takes care of brothers and sisters.
Tragically, far too many members of the church never join the local church in its work. They are like unsigned NIL football players. They have uniforms but have no place to use it. They drift from one congregation to another and never become involved in any local congregation where God wants them to be. They have entered their own spiritual NIL portals and are like soldiers who never really enter the battle against sin. They are like members of a family who create a void between them and their brothers and sisters.
If you are a Christian who never joins a local church, you should consider these words and do what Paul did. He found the local church and joined it and then worked with it.