Membership Matters, Part 2
Why is church membership significant? What biblical principles inform us about how believers come together to form a body? Last week we studied what Paul had to say to the church at Corinth about the unity amongst a diversity of gifts that are to be used for the building up of the body. This week we shift our focus toward three biblical principles from Ephesians 4 that drive six membership principles that are useful for seeking out Christ’s vision for the church.
The first biblical principle is unity. Paul exhorts us to maintain the unity that Christ has created in His church through the gospel of peace. It is here that Paul encourages us to remember our calling from the one Lord by one faith demonstrated by one baptism. The theme of unity is crucial as we move forward as a church in seeking out Jesus. A unified body is one that is healthy and purposeful in its actions and inactions. As a church we must learn to move as Christ.
The second biblical principles is edification. In today’s “dog eat dog world,” it is very much counter cultural to take on an attitude of edification. As we were edified by Christ’s work on the cross and resurrection, so we as a church are to be edifying to all despite their shortcomings. For it was Christ who died for our sins despite our shortcomings. The Scriptures teach us that every believer is gifted in some way and that gift is not to be used frivolously but used to edify the body of Christ.
The third biblical principle is truth. Truth is revealed to us completely in God’s inerrant Word. What the bible has to say about church and life matters can be depended upon as good for faith and practice. Therefore, as church members, we are to be contantly discipled with the source of truth – God’s Word. Uncommittedness is a common malady of our day. People have difficulty commiting on several different fronts: marriages, friendships, social organizations, and yes, even church. Church has largely been cast out to the fringes of most people’s calendars and that will prove to be detrimental to society as a whole. The church is God’s plan for missions! If we are going to make a meaningful impact on our culture through missions, then we must look to the one venue that can foster that environment and that is your local body of Christ. A strong committment to the church indicates a strong committment to the Lord Jesus Christ and hopefully a strong committment to reaching the nations for Christ.
Come prepared this Sunday to be dealt with by the Holy Spirit – you will not want to miss this opportunity as we seek the face of God through His Son and His revealed Word to you. Come and be a part!
