The Meaning of Membership

I want to dedicate this post to my lifegroup. Without them I would never have the opportunity to struggle through life to find truth the way I do. They have helped me to discover the meaning of membership with their questions and struggles. love you guys. I would also like to give credit to author Will Vaus and his book, "Mere Theology," for guiding me to this very important truth I have discovered that I have needed to discover for some time.

What does it mean to be a member? Nowadays amongst many organizations and clubs a member is someone who is an interchangeable part of a group. A member can be removed, replaced, and forgotten. In other words members are not that vital or cherished in any timeless or permanent fashion. Sadly, this idea of membership has infiltrated and infected the church and we have allowed it to become permissible, the result is death and decay.

Recently I was discussing the importance of attending specific church services with one of my closest friends. The issue was whether or not it was important for him to attend his age specific service at church that he was feeling compelled to attend, regardless of the fact that he had been burned and hurt by occurrences at the service that had happened in the past. He had this constant pull to return to the service, but his sense of security and his resentment of the things that had happened in the past were holding him back.

At first my only advice was to say that he would not be committing a crime either way. That it was ok if he chose to just go to sunday services and separate himself from the college group, but if he chose to go back, that was fine too. Then I began to rethink the idea of what it means to be a member. I proposed the idea, "i think that it is important for you to go back because you are a member of the church, and being that you are a college student, it is important that you function as a member there too." but why? This doesn't make sense until we fix our definition of what it means to be a member. Instantly I was reminded of my reading in "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.

In that book, Lewis outlines that the objective of a demon, if he cannot keep his "patient" from going to church, is to create factions or denominations within the chruch, and from there breed hate and resentment between factions. Also, to get the patient to search for a service and a ministry that "suits" him. If the patient is looking for a service that is suitable, he will become a critic instead of a learner.

I believe that for many of us, "ministries" within the church have become factions, and the different areas of involvement and the different services and speakers have created in us "church critics." That said, the enemy is using our divisions to breed hate amongst us, causing us to abandon "pure" or as Lewis puts it, "mere" Christianity. Christianity that is unadulterated and undivided, that is like-minded and focused simply on bringing Christ's love to all.

I see this in myself and in the people I serve alongside in church. I see people abandoning their posts in leadership and gossiping about the folly of others in ministry. People (I am guilty of all of this) bashing people in other "ministries" and even people involved in their same ministry. our "ministries" become like business ladders as we all try to progress in them. Within  the church serving and attending starts to become about ones own ambitions. This is mere tragedy. This all ties into what it means to be a "member" of something, particularly of a church.

Now that the folly has been laid before us, it is time we define membership. In doing this we will see why these things are so destructive. When we look at the word membership as it is used by Paul in the New Testament, we see that it has nothing to do with clubs or organizations, but rather, with the body. A member, is a piece of a body. Each one of us, by joining the church of Christ, no matter what the denomination is, is committing to be a member of the body. How then, can we cut ourselves off from our duties and commitments when the going gets rough or when times and/or peopl become disagreeable.

The way I see it, if the church is a body, then divisions or trials and disagreements within the church, are infections or viruses. Anything that is going to harm the ability of the body to function as a whole, is a virus. That said, we must always and ONLY seek to resolve these issues with a heart of love, understanding, and tolerance, relying fully on God and his Divine influence. We must trust in his ability to work on hearts and stop being so aggressive towards our own body.

It's like this. We cannot force anybody to believe our doctrine or to see things the way we do. God wants everyone to wrestle with their own trials and confusion, to try and battle against the clouded areas in their understanding, because in doing this, they seek him and draw closer to him. When we try to force ourselves and our understanding onto someone else, we take away from that blessed struggle, and we diminish our own trust in God and we prove to Him that we do not believe in his own intervention and ability to work in the life and mind of someone else. All we can/should do, is communicate in love, the truth we have found in our hearts.

If we see something in the church that pains us, we need to communicate with the necessary member, applying our insight like medicine to the virus. We approach the problem with love and communicate how it has harmed us or other members, and we leave the rest up to God. In doing this we open doors of contemplation. If we attack the member with hostility, aggressive or passive, we might be locking that door from ever opening and we might in turn, be making the virus much worse. Also, the worst thing a member can do when they stumble upon something they disagree with is cut themselves off from where they have been placed in the body. That is taking one evil and breeding a second. The virus will not be fixed by cutting off an arm or a leg. Rather, when we abandon ship, we weaken the body and make it more susceptible to utter failure.

The most important thing to remember is that you too could be wrong. We are imperfect, all of us. So it is important that as members of the body of Christ we stick together. That we do not attack our viruses with hateful or prideful words like knives, and that we do not cleave ourselves from where God has placed us on the body when times get hard or frustrating. We must have love like an unstoppable storm. Love that loves regardless of doctrine or wrongdoings. Love that looks for the best interest of everyone, even those who are clearly in the wrong. Love is the binding skeleton of our body. Cling to it.

Only God can perform surgery on the body. He alone can move us to where he wants us, and guide us to where we need to be. Open yourself up to Him and be willing to simply be a vessel, hardened by trust in Him to persevere any struggles that come your way as you serve him. I can tell you right now, it is probably not the will of God for you to leave you church or your "ministry" in anger or resentment. It is never God's will for you to perform surgery on His body.

Above all else, preach love. For God is Love.

God has lead me to this scripture, and it secures my thoughts on the subject at hand. God Bless.

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

2 timothy 2:22-26