It’s Not That Kind of Membership
Recently I became an Amazon Prime member. They had a student rate offer, and with the number
of books I buy for school, it made sense.
There are many perks a Prime member receives that extend beyond the
average Amazon customer; Prime video, Amazon music, free 2-day shipping, etc. Yet, the moment the cost outweighs the
benefits—I will cancel my membership.
This is often how we think of membership in our culture. We think of service providers or clubs and all
the perks membership provides. This is
not a fruitful way to think about church membership, however. Church membership is less about the perks received
and more about the commitment given. Its
less like being the member of an exclusive club with all the benefits and more
like being a band of soldiers in a common fight—advancing the Kingdom of God
together.
A
Membership Like Marriage
Another helpful analogy is marriage. After all, the church is Christ’s
bride! Unlike a membership I can easily
cancel at any time, the covenant I have made with my wife is until death. It is a weighty thing, less focused on perks
and more focused on commitment.
Marriage and Church membership seem peculiar to a culture averse
to commitment and addicted to self-benefit.
According to a Pew Research study conducted last year, 69% of adults say
that it is acceptable for an unmarried couple to live together even if they
never plan on marrying. That percentage
jumps to 78% among adults 18-29. From
2013-2017, 59% of adults ages 18 to 44 said they were or had at one point been
in a cohabiting relationship. Worldly
wisdom would say this makes good sense.
After all, you don’t buy a car before test driving it, so why would you
commit to live the rest of your life with a person without testing the waters
first? If you can get all the perks
without the weightiness of marriage, why bother?
For the Christian, everything we do has a greater purpose—to
glorify God and enjoy him forever. This includes
marriage. Marriage reflects spiritual
realities. It reflects God’s nature as a
relational God who created his image bearers for committed relationship. It reflects Christ’s character; a savior
committed to his bride, the church.
Beyond that, marriage provides the security of covenant commitment
rather than the shaky foundation of an easy out when challenges arise. Statistics show that those who marry before
living together are far more likely to have a relationship that lasts. The same Pew research study showed that married
couples have a deeper level of trust, closeness and satisfaction within their
relationship across the board. Most
importantly, for those who desire intimate relationship, marriage is obedience
to God.
Much of what compels someone to neglect marriage also
compels them to neglect church membership.
If one can receive the perks of church attendance without the
weightiness of membership, why bother? What
are the benefits; a deeper level of time commitment, financial giving,
responsibility, and submission to the church body vs. showing up when it suits
me and getting involved to a degree that matches my comfort level? Worldly wisdom easily points to option 2 as
the most desirable. And yet, committing
to a local church through membership parallels the blessings of marriage in a
growth of trust, closeness and satisfaction in one’s relationship to the church
body.
Concerning marriage, while culture would say leave as soon
as the cost outweighs the benefits, Jesus only allows divorce in instances of
marital unfaithfulness. Concerning a local
church family, people often leave for many different reasons—the style of music
and preaching, the length of the service, desired programs, leadership’s response
to COVID-19, relational conflict, etc. A
pastor friend shared with me that one long-time attender of his church quit
because the light in the sanctuary was too dim!
However, like spouses in a committed marriage, church members are committed
to the local body. There are few healthy
reasons a church member would ever consider leaving their church; a long
distance move to a different community, a clear call from God to become a
blessing to another church body, or because the church has begun practicing spiritual
unfaithfulness—teaching that which is contrary to God’s word.
Church membership is not for the faint of heart. If you are married, you likely didn’t make such
a weighty decision on a whim. You counted the cost, and then gave yourself
to your spouse with great joy—the commitment intensifying the value of the
relationship. While marriage increases
commitment and commitment intensifies joy, so it is with church membership.
Why
must I be baptized as a believer to become a member?
In order to become a member of New Journey Church, you must
to be dunked under water as a crowd looks on.
Pretty strange, I know. And yet,
this is no hazing ritual. Why does New
Journey church require believer’s baptism as a prerequisite for church
membership? When we look to Scripture,
we see baptism as the clear sign God established for his followers to
communicate the reality of their covenant relationship with him; into the
water, a sign of death with Christ, and out of the water, a sign of being
washed clean and raised up to new life.
During the celebration of Pentecost in Acts 2, when a small
group of followers in obedience to Jesus waited in Jerusalem for the gift he
had promised them after his ascension, they prayed and the Holy Spirit
descended upon them in tongues of fire.
Immediately, they began to proclaim the gospel in different languages;
languages they didn’t know! Those who
had come to Jerusalem from all over the world to celebrate Pentecost heard them
speaking, and marveled at how this could be.
Peter shared with them an impromptu sermon proclaiming Jesus. Many were convicted asking what they should
do. Peter responded, “Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (vs. 38). Later we
are told, “So those who received his word were baptized,
and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (vs 41).
From the very beginning of the
church, we see that baptism was the sign of membership within the body of
believers. First, there is a receiving
of the word—belief. This is followed by
baptism, and that by being added to, or recognized, as members of Christ’s
church. We require baptism as a
prerequisite for local church membership because baptism is what God
established as the sign of membership in the church universal. It is an act of obedience to God’s command.
Keeping with the analogy of marriage, a
wedding ring is an outward sign that communicates the covenant a married couple
has promised to each other. On my
wedding day, my closest friends stood with me as I pledged my love and faithfulness
to my new bride. I know they would
confront me if I were ever unfaithful to Emily.
The covenant promise of marriage made before God and man naturally provides
accountability.
Likewise, God has given his church this
outward sign of Baptism to communicate an inner reality. Baptism and church membership communicate the
same things—a commitment to Christ and his church. Both invite accountability to Christ’s
kingdom values.
What is the Benefit of Church Membership?
Accountability is perhaps the clearest
benefit of church membership. By clearly
communicating to your brothers and sisters in Christ through baptism and
membership your desire to walk faithfully with God and his people, you are inviting
accountably to walking that path.
Scripture presents it as a given that
to belong to a fellowship of believers implies the necessity of confrontation if
one begins to wander from obedience to God.
We see an extreme example of this in 1 Corinthians 5 when a man had an adulterous
relationship with his father’s wife (likely his step mother). Paul calls on the church (notice not just
church leadership) to confront this man and if he does not repent, to “cast him
to Satan”. This means being put out of the
fellowship of believers and treating him like one still in need of salvation
(because his behavior may indicate that in fact, he is).
The harsh language and response (cast
him to Satan and remove him) that the local body of believers was called to demonstrate
toward this man may rub us the wrong way in our inclusive and tolerant culture,
but it is intended to have a restorative effect—to awaken him to the
seriousness of his sin and stir his desire for right relationship with God and
his church once again.
Embracing church membership is a
recognition of how easily we each can be swayed to drink from the broken
cisterns of muddy water the world seeks to quench their thirst. It’s a
public profession of desire for a family; brothers and sisters who will point
us back toward the Living Water. Its
embracing discipleship, and giving discipleship. Its committing to seek God’s Kingdom
together. It’s stirring one another’s
affections towards God so that He may be glorified.
We believe in the priesthood of all
believers. Another joy and
responsibility of church membership is the weightiness of providing direction
for the church through together listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit
and pressing into God’s word. Yes, one
way we see this is through church members voting on important decisions for the
body. Recognize though, this is not
about getting our way, but seeking Christ’s way. Like the Lord of the Universe who washed the
dust covered feet of his disciples, when considering direction for the local
church, we do so with humility putting others before ourselves.
Are you ready for church membership? Remember, its not about the perks…but I
guarantee the joy you will receive is greater than 2-day free shipping.
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