Answer

Why Do I Need the Church If I Can Follow Jesus on My Own?

You may have a real relationship with Jesus Christ and still wonder what a building, a calling and a three-hour Sunday add to it. Sometimes the question comes from frustration with people at church rather than with Christ, and that is worth naming honestly.

You can love the Savior on your own. What you cannot do on your own is receive the ordinances He requires, and those are not incidental to discipleship. The Church exists to carry authority and to carry each other, and neither is available alone.

Eternal Truths

Ordinances require authority, and authority is not self-appointed. In John 15:16, the Savior tells His Apostles that they had not chosen Him but that He had chosen and ordained them. Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and temple covenants come through that line rather than through sincerity alone.

Belonging to each other is part of the covenant, not an add-on. At the waters of Mormon, those seeking baptism covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens” and “mourn with those that mourn” (Mosiah 18:8–10). That is a promise you cannot keep by yourself, and it is not optional.

What Can Make This Confusing?

It is frequently true that you get more out of studying alone than out of a particular Sunday lesson, and admitting that changes nothing. Church attendance is not a content-delivery service you are grading. The other thing that makes this hard is quieter: many people who ask this question do not feel like they belong, and almost nobody says so out loud. Drift, not apostasy, is the usual path away, and it happens to people who still believe.

Questions to Think About

• Am I frustrated with Jesus Christ, or with people at church?
• Which of my covenants require someone else in order to be kept?
• If I do not feel I belong, who have I told?

What You Can Do

Say the quiet part to one person this week — a friend, a leader, a member of your quorum or Relief Society. If belonging is the real issue, it is the one thing that will not fix itself through more private study. Then pick one person in your ward to carry something for. The essay behind this answer goes deeper into authority, ordinances and community.

Jesus Christ built a Church because He intends to save people together, and He does not ask you to hold on to Him alone.