This is, really, the crux of the matter.
Unless a Christian defers to the authority of the Church, he is binding and loosing for himself.
And he has no authority to do so.
And I think the test of this is if the Christian can say, “I believe [A] but the Church teaches **, therefore I conform my views to the Church’s”
What is always the pattern with non-Catholic Christians is: “I believe [A] and will church shop until I find a church that also teaches [A]”.
That’s the epitome of creating a church in one’s own image.
(And in the interest of transparency, I will offer my own example: I believe that divorce and re-marriage should be fine. But the Church teaches that it’s adultery. Therefore, I conform my views to the Church’s.
I don’t leave my Church to find another church that teaches: divorce and re-marriage is perfectly fine…because, if I did do that, I’d be worshipping at the almighty self’s altar, not the altar of the Almighty.)**What you describe is called ecclesial consumerism. There is a very good article about it found here:
calledtocommunion.com/2010/07/ecclesial-consumerism/