Series: I Am a Church Member
(based on and adapted from Thom Rainer’s book by the same name)
“I Will Treasure Church Membership as a Gift”
Selected Scriptures
Open
I go into a bit of depression several times a year. One of those times is very close. It’s the end of the NCAA men’s basketball season. The other comes after the Super Bowl – the end of the NFL season. There comes quite a dry spell for me sports-wise between the close of NCAA men’s basketball and the start of the NFL season. I haven’t been a MLB baseball fan since the last player strike.
There are other times that I feel a bit down. Those times come at the completion of a sermon series. I almost always feel sorry to be done but I also know that there are always some people who are always glad when I am done.
Today, we’re going to finish our study together of Thom Rainer’s book I Am a Church Member. We’re at chapter six: “I Will Treasure Church Membership as a Gift.”
Every church member must decide between two distinct options. The first option is that we approach church membership in a similar way that we approach country club membership. We are joining the church to see what we can get out of it. We will determine what we like and don’t like. We are members who expect perks, privileges, and service.
Rainer asks, “What happens when the country club church member is asked to contribute to the work of the church?” He gives the examples of the opportunities of serving in the nursery and leading a fifth grade Bible study class.
One country club church member may agree to one of the requesst out of obligation and they do so because he or she has a legalistic approach to serving. They don’t respond because they want to but because they have to. Remember that country club church membership is not about working. It’s about being served. Usually someone who responds in this way begins their service with a bad attitude and they don’t last long in their service.
Other country club church members just get mad when they’re asked to serve. Some may respond that they did their time in earlier years – as if serving the body of Christ is a prison sentence. Others refuse to even give a reason as to why they won’t contribute to the ministry of the church. They just get indignant because they were asked. And then there are those country club church members who get mad at the pastoral staff. They usually say something like, “That’s what we pay our ministers to do. They’re just trying to get out of work.”
The first option is the country club church membership. The second option is the biblical option. This option views church membership as a gift. It sees membership as an opportunity to serve and give rather than the legalistic obligation to do so. Our entire attitude is different when we approach church membership in the biblical way. Church membership is a gift, not a perk.
Treasure
Treasure refers to something that is special, important, or valuable. If we see church membership as something to be treasured, we will not view it as being inconsequential and trivial. We will heed the scriptural admonition in Heb. 10:24-25 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
For some reason, the Lord’s Day, once considered a special day dedicated to the worship and service of God, is now treated like any other day by many professing believers. And local church life, once considered the center of indispensable relationships, is now treated like an extra-curricular activity rather than an essential ingredient of the Christian life.
In his book, Set Apart: Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life, Kent Hughes lists six disturbing trends among a large number of people who identify themselves as Christians. I find that these trends are all interrelated.
The first trend he terms hitchhiker Christians. Hughes says, “The hitchhiker’s thumb says, ‘You buy the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas—and I’ll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own! And I’ll probably sue.’ So it is with the credo of many of today’s church attenders: ‘ You go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills—and I’ll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I’ll criticize and complain and probably bail out. My thumb is always out for a better ride.’”
The second trend he calls the consumer mentality. Many of today’s Christians shop for a church like they build their supper at a cruise ship buffet. Hughes points out: “Ecclesiastical shoppers attend one church for the preaching, send their children to a second church for its youth program, and go to a third church’s small group. Their motto is to ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’” This has often been rightly called, Cafeteria Christianity.
Number three is spectator Christianity. Hughes says, “Spectator Christianity feeds on the delusion that virtue can come through viewing, much like the football fan who imagines that he ingests strength and daring while watching his favorite pro team. Spectator sports and spectator Christianity produce the same thing—fans who cheer the players on while they themselves are in desperate need of engagement and meaning.”
Number four is drive-through Christians. Hughes comments: “The nice thing about drive-through restaurants is that you can get what you want in a minimum of time with no more effort than a turn of your power steering… Of course, there is an unhappy price extracted over time in the habits and the arteries of a flabby soul—a family that is unfit for the battles of life and has no conception of being Christian soldiers in the great spiritual battle.”
The fifth trend is relationless Christianity. In light of the New Testament call to believers to be part of the life of a community of people, Hughes says that it is ironic “that there are actually churches that trade in anonymity, going so far as to abolish membership and the registry of guests. Some churches have even replaced a pastor-in-the-flesh for a video-projected preacher on the screen—a ‘virtual reality’ version of the church.”
Number six is churchless ‘worshipers.’ Hughes says, “The current myth is that a life of worship is possible, even better, apart from the church.” So, instead of faithfully participating in a church, there are self-professing Christians today who prefer to have their own private worship service at a local coffee shop, or down by the lake, or in their living room—pajamas and all!”
Church Membership
Church membership has to do with uniting yourself with other fellow believers for mission, mentoring, and ministry. Those things happen most efficiently in context with local church membership.
Some will argue that the body of Christ refers to the universal church – all believers everywhere for all ages. And they’re right. However, the universal church and the local church are not mutually exclusive.
The majority of New Testament books are written about and to local churches. The book of Act gives a historical narrative of the work of the Holy Spirit in the churches in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Cyprus, in Iconium, in Lystra, Pamphylia, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Caesarea, Troas, Rome, Malta, and others.
Nine New Testament books were written to specific local churches: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Four of Paul’s letters were written to specific people and address specific church concerns: 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The book of Revelation includes messages to 7 specific churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey): Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
Let’s look at this idea of the universal church and the local church from the standpoint of family. Every person ever born is a member of what we call the human family. That is, they are instantly a part of a large, innumerable collection of other human beings.
But, being born into the human family at large does not make you a member of a specific family. This family has a specific name and lives in a specific house on a specific street. Not everyone born into the human family can make a claim on the love, resources, and care of that specific family.
Imagine you’re in the mall and a little fellow you’ve never seen before in your life comes running up to you with a Nintendo Wii and an arm full of video games saying, “Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! Mommy/Daddy please buy this for me. Please can I have it?! It’s only $800.”
Obviously, the little boy is confused. You don’t accept this kind of begging from your own children. He’s a human sure enough, a part of that larger family. But he’s not a Luke or a Jones or a Smith. You’d politely direct this little boy to find “his real parents.” You might go so far as to help him look for them or walk him to the nearest help desk or security counter. But you wouldn’t regard him as a member of your family and entitled to your family’s ongoing resources and love.
For that to happen, something else must occur. There must be a common ownership or commitment, where members of family give themselves to the child and the child gives itself to the care of the family as a participating member. Whether this happens by natural birth or by adoption, there must be the recognition of mutual belonging. Those two words are key – “mutual belonging.”
Now such mutual belonging in a particular family doesn’t mean the child is no longer a part of the human family. He certainly is. The categories are not in contradiction. The specific family is a particular of the general.
Local church membership is about mutual belonging. It’s why it’s important. It’s also the key to understanding why arguing “I’m a member of the universal church and therefore don’t have to join a local church” is to wrongly put in opposition two things that belong together. I also denies the kind of ongoing care necessary to the spiritual life of Christ.
Mutual belonging in the church rests on three main concepts. The first is the recognition of a person’s new birth – Jesus Christ is their Savior and Lord. The second concept is the recognition by the local church of a desire, responsibility, and commitment to care for an individual as one of its own in a continuing relationship. The last of the three concepts is the recognition by the individual of a desire, responsibility, and commitment to care for and participate in the life of the local church. That’s what mutual belonging is all about.
Gift
A gift is something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.
That’s a fancy way of saying that a gift is not something that is deserved or earned. If there is payment or compensation involved, it’s a purchase and not a gift.
When we repent of sin, place our faith in Christ, and are baptized, we receive the gift of salvation. Eph. 2:8-9 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
When we receive the gift of salvation, we become part of the body of Christ. 1 Cor. 12:27 – Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Salvation is a free gift. It includes forgiveness of sins through Christ’s death on the cross. It includes adoption by God the Father. It includes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it also includes becoming a part of the body of Christ.
Membership in the body of Christ, the church, is a gift from God. It’s not a legalistic obligation. It’s not country club perks. It’s not a license for entitlements. It’s a gift.
Close
In Matthew 20, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus and asks that her two sons would sit on Jesus’ right and left hand. Jesus basically tells her that it’s really none of her business. That’s the Michael Luke paraphrase anyway.
Matt. 20:24-28 – When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus basically tells them that their attitude stinks! Well, that’s another close paraphrase anyway. Rainer says:
When we have an attitude of entitlement, we have a lousy attitude. We are always
looking for what we rightly deserve. And we get indignant when we don’t get our way.
But when we see life, salvation, and church membership as gifts, our whole perspective
changes. We don’t have any sense of entitlement or expectation. To the contrary, we want
to be last and receive the least because that’s the way Jesus did it. And we want to be more
like Him.
Healthy church membership means that you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first. [You’re probably wondering why I skipped this on the bulletin. I moved it to here] Central Park Church of Christ isn’t about me. It’s about what I can do for the kingdom of God.
When we receive a gift with true appreciation, we naturally want to respond to the Giver. Our response to Jesus Christ, the giver of salvation and the church is that we see service as a natural outflow of the joy of our salvation and the consequent joy of our church membership. We consider it a privilege to serve the King, so we look for opportunities in the church to serve others.
Church membership is a gift. We respond to gifts with gratitude. One key way we express our gratitude is to serve like Jesus did and like He told us to do.
Thabiti Anyabwile: “Church membership is a blood-bought gift of God’s grace. More than most of us realize, it is a life-sustaining, faith-strengthening, joy-preserving means of God’s mercy to us.”
The Sixth Pledge
I am a church member.
This membership is a gift. When I was baptized and received the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, I became a part of the body of Christ. I am a part of both the universal body of Christ and also a local body of Christ. And I am now humbled and honored to serve and to love others in our church. I pray that I will never take my membership for granted, but see it as a gift and an opportunity to serve others and to be part of something so much greater than any one person or member.
It’s Palm Sunday: the day that we remember the first day of Jesus’ final week of his human existence. People were expecting an earthly king and greeted him as such shouting, “Hosanna” and laying palm fronds and their coats before him. But Jesus came the first time as a servant riding on a donkey. When he comes again, he will return as King of kings and Lord of lords. Is He King of your life?
