People think they can draw near to God on their own terms. They think a walk in the woods or an Arby’s breakfast bible study can be their primary source of spiritual nourishment. They are wrong. God has designed and determined the means in which we will draw near to him. We cannot change it. We cannot improve upon it. So, what is the way we draw near to the Father? John Calvin answers:
Shut up as we are in the prison house of our flesh, we have not yet attained angelic rank. God, therefore, in his wonderful providence accommodating himself to our capacity, has prescribed a way for us, though still far off, to draw near to him. (And that way is the) church, into whose bosom God is pleased to gather his sons, not only that they may be nourished by her help and ministry as long as they are infants and children, but also that they may be guided by her motherly care until they mature and at last reach the goal of faith. “For what God has joined together, it is not lawful to put asunder,” so that, for those to whom He is Father the church may also be Mother. (Institutes, IV.1.1, “The Necessity of the Church.”)
You cannot draw near to God outside of the church. She is our mother and through her ministry we are brought near to the Father.
M. Scott Foster is a former youth pastor and church planter. He currently is studying pastoral theology at ClearNote Pastors College in Bloomington, IN. You can contact or follow him on 
