Thoughts on Church Membership
I was working on some material for our new members course this morning. Here is a brief snippet...
——The Components and the Vision
The question of whether or not you should join a church is not as an easy one. There are two very real dangers.
Disgruntled Members – Disgruntled members have joined a church but are extremely displeased with one or more aspects of the church. This leads them to suffer from a bitter and critical spirit that cripples them from joyful worshipping Jesus and humbly serving their church family and wider community.
Serial Church Hoppers – Serial church hoppers don't want to become—and sometimes have been in the past—disgruntled church members. Unfortunately they often develop an unrealistic and prideful view of what a church must be to live up to their standards. Because of these standards they end up flitting from church to church never investing in a church body because no church is good enough for them.
How do we avoid the “ditch on either side” and chart a course towards healthy church membership? The answer lies in realizing that a church's identity has two very important parts.
Biblical Components – The Bible is our guide and standard for what constitutes a church. God has clearly revealed the general components of a healthy church. If a church refuses to define herself by biblical standards then she ceases to be a healthy church eventually leading to not being a church at all.
The Vision of the Church – Assuming a church is biblically healthy the next question is, “What is the vision of this church?” God has placed every church in a particular community, for a particular reason, to reach particular people, in a particular way. This is the concept of being missionaries to your community. If you join a church because of its components but disagree with its vision then you can end up falling into the ditch of a disgruntled church membership. Imagine a sack race in which both people in the sack thinks the finish line is in a different direction. Agreement with the vision is a crucial question to ask of a church that you are considering joining.
Once you've discerned the biblical health and vision of a church you have to apply the “velvet hammer.” The “velvet hammer” is when a Christian—humbled and taught by the gospel—is able to possess simultaneous deep humility and profound strength. The humility comes from knowing that no church is going to meet all of your expectations and desires. So you willingly set aside your preferences for the sake of unity and vision. The strength comes from knowing that if a church ever deviates from biblical health that you're willing to leave to find a different fellowship. The question, “What would make me leave a church?” is an excellent diagnostic for judging how biblical our views are on church membership.
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