Several weeks ago, a pastor wrote me after finishing a nominating committee meeting, frustrated over finding willing and able members to serve. He asked some key questions on membership, which I tried to answer from my heart and experiences. I would be interested in your input on how I responded (below), and what you might add to the conversation on these two questions.
1. What is the purpose of membership?
Membership in the local church is like a marriage. Involvement with a body of believers should include a commitment. The commitment says “God has led me to be a part of this local church.” It is the recognition of 1 Cor. 12:18 for my life… that He has placed me here according to His will. This is where I am supposed to serve and glorify Christ. This commitment to a local church says I belong here, and I will not flee when things do not go well. It says I am under the authority of the leaders of the church, and includes permission for biblical discipline of me according to the agreed upon Uniform Policy. It also says that I believe what the C&MA has discerned to be Biblical orthodoxy, with the life changing emphasis of Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King, and am thus at least doctrinally qualified to teach/serve in this church. It says that I want to be a part of the worldwide outreach of the C&MA, and I accept that calling with my prayers and resources. I could go on, as I have started to preach now. I once compared attending a church without membership as a couple living together without the commitment of marriage. I got in trouble for that, but I think there are many dangerous similarities.
2. We say that members have privileges, but really, members have more responsibilities because they can be tagged to hold a position whereas if they didn’t become members, they would never be asked!
The privileges of membership can easily be diluted if we do not make the clear distinction of members. I prefer to talk about “membership meetings” rather than “congregational meetings.” I would seek to make the membership meetings a time of family gathering, not just business. Have food, introduce new people, and highlight what God is doing in their lives. Perhaps have quarterly membership meetings with food, a challenge or program, special training, updates in what God is doing in the church, or an inside track to the pastor and his heart. Tell them your plans for the future, your next series of messages, or some special insights into your ministry. I would not welcome any non-members (adherents is a sterile word, how about “friends”?) to these. When the annual meeting comes, I would make it a very special time of recognition and celebration. Voting on leaders should be a sacred moment, bathed in prayer. I think we need to control the meeting so that it does not get hijacked into non-missional issues of salaries or some disgruntled members issues. I digressed. Other ways that you can elevate membership is to send an email quarterly to your members thanking them, asking them to pray, introducing new friends in the church, etc. Also, sign all your members up for aLife… its free and its missional!
May I challenge you on the word “responsibility”? Responsibility is a privilege that every member of the body of Christ should welcome. If someone doesn’t want to serve at all, they might not be saved! Responsibility becomes a burden when, for whatever reason, we lose sight of the goal. Some tasks might need to be abandoned in order to simplify matters and keep sight of the goal. My pet peeve was requiring membership and election of those who were responsible for maintenance of a facility. Why does that require membership? We need many entry points for our church friends to serve, as well.
At FBC our simple orientation includes the right and privilege to lovingly correct and be corrected along with the other regularly included directives.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued when I saw this post being that I often find myself answering these same questions from within our community.
ReplyDeleteI will try to touch on both issues in the same answer because I do believe that they are intrinsically connected.
In addition to what Harris mentioned, membership must be understood universally and locally. Universally, a person is a member of the body of Christ when they, by grace, put their faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life. I realize that this is not the topic at hand, but is important to compare the two bodies.
Moreover, Acts 17:26 tells us that God has determined the exact time and place for His people. Therefore, He is not only calling us to be a member of the universal church body, but He is also calling us to be a member of the local church body in which he placed us. God has placed us strategically in a place where we could serve Him for the sake of the Gospel.
Now, using the same analogy that Paul did in 1 Cor. 12, all members are needed for proper function of the body. Therefore, if God has placed you in a church to be the thigh and you are not functioning as a member, the leg is going to be disabled. In relation to member privileges...if you, the thigh, are not willing to commit to a local body, He will use someone else. We get caught up in thinking that God's will is wrapped around us individually. The last time I checked, He does not need us. If we are not willing, He will use someone who is. Therefore, the primary privilege of being a member within a local church body is that God can use us more strategically within a body. The western thought of "personal relationship with the Lord" has backfired in our faces. The personal relationship is used many times as a cop out for evading church membership. While the Bible does call us all to a personal relationship, it also calls us to be a part of community, the body of a local church.
Furthermore, I truly appreciate Harris’s analogy of church membership to a marriage. At Trinity Alliance, we have a “Member Covenant.” In this covenant, we spell out the church’s obligation to its members and the member’s obligation to the church. I hope and pray that these words are encouraging, edifying, and helpful.
Our "Membership Covenant" van be found at www.trinityalliancetarpon.com