WHY A CHURCH?
Those who believe in the Great Plan form the community known as the
Church. Many men, who have given the subject only superficial study,
find it difficult to understand why a church should be necessary.
**Man Helped by God on Earth.** It was not intended, in the plan of
salvation, that man, though in forgetfulness, should wander alone and
helpless through the earth. Rather was it intended and made necessary
that men should gain experience by actual contact and contest with the
earth and earthly forces, under the watchful care of beings of
superior intelligence, who would help as demanded by man's free
agency. In an intelligent world it could not well be otherwise. In
fact, without the help of superior intelligence, the earth would be
chaotic instead of orderly. The Great Plan is founded on intelligence,
guided by a God of intelligence, and has for its purpose greater
intelligence.
Avenues of communion with God have been pointed out, but many men are
impervious to divine messages and need earthly help to understand the
will of God. The Church, the community of persons with the same
intelligent faith and desire, is the organized agency through which
God deals with his children, and through which such help may be given
man. Through the Church, God's mind may be read by all, at least with
respect to the Church community. Moreover, the authority to act for
God must be vested somewhere on earth. The Church holds this authority
for the use of man. Besides, it is the common law of the universe that
when intelligent beings are organized, as of one body, they progress
faster, individually and collectively. The Church as an organization
represents God on earth and is the official means of communication
between men and God.
**The Plan of Salvation for All.** In the Great Council the
earth-career was planned for all the spirits there assembled who
accepted the Plan. The earth and whatever pertains to it, are for all
and not for the one or the few. This means that man must not go
through his earth-life independently, doing as he pleases, living
apart from his fellowmen and accepting the Great Plan in his own way.
By his own free agency he became a member of the hosts of the earth,
and by his own promise, given in the Great Council, he must live in
accordance with definite rules to be enforced by God. The Church is
the community of those who, having accepted the Plan, desire unitedly
to work out their mutual salvation under the settled authority of God.
The purpose of the Great Plan can not be wholly fulfilled until all
have heard the Gospel. The Church as a body undertakes to carry out
this purpose. Only when the Church is not organized on earth, may
individuals who know the Great Plan, stand alone; but even in such
case it is the bounden duty of those having the knowledge, to give
themselves to the converting of others, so that the Church may be
organized.
**Orderliness.** If each intelligent being placed on this earth, were
to lead an independent life and deal independently with his God,
relative to all matters concerning him, many of which would of
necessity involve others, there would soon be disorder among humanity.
It has been found desirable in all earthly affairs to organize so that
order may prevail. By the organization known as a church all things
may be done in order. Chaos is abhorrent to the intelligent mind.
**Test of Attitude.** There is yet another reason for the
organization of a church. The plan of salvation is one founded in
intelligence. Man must accept and live its laws and ordinances
intelligently. The Church, by his adherence to these laws and
ordinances, gives a man a means of testing himself as to his attitude
towards the whole Plan. Whatever is done in life somehow connects
itself with the Church. A Church which separates itself from the
actual, daily life of the man does not acknowledge the essential unity
of the universe and is not founded on man's intelligent conceptions of
the constitution of the universe. The Church, therefore, must possess
a system of laws the compliance with which will enable a man or his
fellows to test his progress and spiritual condition, which, in turn,
will be a guide for his future work. It would be difficult for a man
to apply such tests to himself if he stands alone, away from his
fellow men and making laws for himself to fit his apparent needs.
**Authority.** There is much to be done for man and by man during the
earth-career. Every day brings its problems; laws are to be enforced;
ordinances to be performed, and God must communicate with his earthly
children. Much of this work involves authority, which must be settled
somewhere if order is to prevail. The authority to act for God is
committed to the Church, as the organized community of believers, and,
indeed, authority is a distinguishing characteristic of the Church.
Every man has or may receive authority to act in his own behalf in
many matters, but to exercise authority in behalf of others, requires
the kind of authority which God has delegated to the Church. Some form
of authority from God is necessary in all our work, and the earthly
source of God's authority is the Church, organized by the supreme,
intelligent God.
**The Great Purpose of the Church.** Finally, the plan of eternal
progress involves every living soul who comes upon earth. To the
Church is committed the great task of keeping alive this Plan and of
carrying it to all the nations. Those who have accepted the truth must
be kept active; those who have not accepted it must be taught; all
must hear it; even for the dead must the essential ordinances be
performed. The Church, then, is a great missionary organization. This,
of itself, justifies, the existence of the Church, for it is
improbable that any individual would or could undertake the conversion
of all the people to eternal truth.