I worked at a Presbyterian church for seven years. About halfway through my time there, the pastor took me to dinner and explained that the elder board was bothered by the fact that my wife and I had never shown an interest in becoming members. Becoming a member of a church never sat well with me, though I was never forced to voice my misgivings until faced with the direct question from my pastor. I answered something like this: "I am already a member of Christ's body, which means that I am already committed to this church and every other church that believes and calls Him Lord. What benefit would it be to go to classes and take vows of commitment to a specific faction of that body? This is not like marriage. I may be called to move to another church. I may not agree to all of the Presbyterian creeds, and even if I did, what if, in time, I came to believe something different than I vowed to believe? Would I have to retract my vows?" When I asked him why membership was so important, his answer was something like this: "It makes the commitment more palpable to the congregation. They feel more devoted to the ministry and mission of the church. They are more willing to serve. They are more willing to tithe regularly. It is not as easy for them to just leave." I understood his point, but in the back of my mind I was thinking that church membership is not like baptism or communion---scriptural mandates---but something that gives the leadership an idea of who they can depend on for tithing and service. It helps to give an individual church stability. That all seems good from a practical standpoint, but what about from a spiritual standpoint? Do we see the church as a spiritual organism, a body of millions connected to a single head (Christ) through a central nervous system (the Holy Spirit). Or are we divided into self-sustaining service organizations of like-mindedness (churches of various denominations)? Or both? How do you feel about this?
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- John Barnts
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6 comments:
I believe that the body of Christ is both. We should all, no matter what denomination we are apart of, understand that we are but a small part of God's body - to work together to reach unbelievers with Christ's love.
However, I believe that as individuals we have a need to belong to a group. Eric and I have belonged to both a mega church and a small church. Belonging to the larger group was exciting, but we lacked the individual interaction that you have with a small church. I kind of think of them as similar. Although I know that I am committed to the body of Christ in Florida, Colorado, Oregon, Egypt, California or wherever; that knowledge in and of itself is not enough. I need to belong. Is it a spiritual need? Is it a physical need? Well, I know that I do better spiritually when I am a member of a church because I am held accountable; I also know that it is my own physical need to belong as well.
I believe that we need to commit to each other through membership of individual churches, but that doesn't change my commitment to my friends from other churches. I don't think that we should ever look at someone and say, "Well, they belong to this church - I don't want to have anything to do with them." Our brothers and sisters are brothers and sisters no matter what happens!!!
"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1Corinthians 1:10) Paul goes on to declare that the Church should not be divided by various rituals of baptism.
So here we are, 2000 years later, building new church buildings with
baptismal tanks behind the altar. This is partly because so many of us were improperly baptized by Presbyterians, Catholics, Methodists, and other mainline cults. You can't join many evangelical congregations unless you have been properly dunked, and sign off on the approved doctrine.
Much of what Paul wrote had to do with divisions in the Church.
1Corinthians, chapter 12, notes that spiritual unity should be maintained despite the various gifts and roles that are unique to each individual. In fact, different roles are noted as essential to the functioning of the
church body.
The spiritual unity of diverse individuals remains a difficult concept. A careful study of 1Corinthians can explain how it works.
Rick Mugele
The practice of signing on the dotted line and becoming a member of a body of believers,read "church",is not to be found in the Word.The twice born are all members of the church.However the practice of a local church requireing perspective servers to subscribe to their Statement of faith on non negotiable doctrine is essential.It must not conflict with what comes out of the pulpit.There are wolves among us but not of us.
John,
The key to this is that we are all created as unique individuals and will eventually be one with God. Uniformity and conformity are not God’s delight. In Job, Satan’s contention is that God has hard wired Job to “love” and serve. The Old Covenant shows that we are not able to achieve unity through conformity with the Law. Under the New Covenant, we are supposed to operate through love, according to what is beneficial (1Cor. 6:12). We are commanded to go beyond loving the people that agree with us, and learn to love our enemies. Satan smiles when we establish laws, force compliance, and condemn those who do not agree.
The Christian community suffers a divorce rate about the same as the rest of the world, even though God hates divorce. Can we learn to love our enemies when we can’t make marriage work? Despite the obvious gender difference, the intention is that married couples are “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Paul writes that each spouse has authority over the other’s body (1Corinthians 7:4). And the church is the body of Christ (Col. 1: 18, 24). And the different parts of the church body need to function together (1Cor. 12). These are all physical terms and should not be dismissed as analogies of some vague and mystical spiritual unity that is independent of physical realities.
The world did have a physical unity after the flood. Men united to build the great tower of Babel (Genesis 11). God confused the language and divided the world, so physical unity, for the glory of man, is not something we should strive for. Nor should we seek unity through a common language, culture, or doctrine. We do need to learn to love the diversity.
The Star Trek “Borg” is the terrible picture of a culture that has been unified by the elimination of unique spirits. Even unique physical appearance is masked by the hardware of machine uniformity. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. It is for your own good.
Rick
I'm thinking that this subject, as are most spiritual-meets-physical things, is a matter of the heart, the motivation. If you are in a church that has documented membership, but you love where it is going, if jives with where Christ is moving in you, why would there be harm in signing a paper to show that body that you are there with them?
Just do a heart check- do you feel different once you sign on the dotted line? Do you feel more "in His service" Do you feel more spiritual than the ones that haven't joined?
A friend on Facebook made a point in John's note there that it's not like you're committing to it 'till death do you part. If God calls you elsewhere, you can "unjoin." As long as we are listening and moving in the Spirit's leading, then there is no need to stress about legalities. But again, if you feel more important or spiritually elevated or more committed, then I would suggest leaving the pen down for your own sake.
"It makes the commitment more palpable to the congregation. They feel more devoted to the ministry and mission of the church. They are more willing to serve. They are more willing to tithe regularly. It is not as easy for them to just leave."
Recognize between the lines of this quote just what is being said here. There is no mention of our salvation, which is the sole purpose of our being, and nothing else matters. This statement by the pastor is all about the survival of the specific church Frank attended and the means the elders use to maintain the church's viability. There is palpable fear displayed here by the elders by their means to maintain dedicated members.
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