Thursday
As
a pastor, one of my responsibilities is to teach the new members
classes at our church. I always enjoy getting to know the participants
in the class and I especially like hearing the stories about how they
came to know Christ and how God has led them to our church. As a part
of the class I talk about the difference between being a participating
member and just being an occasional attender. Members are expected to
have a deeper level of commitment than those who are just attending and
investigating our church. Members are encouraged to give of their time
and financial resources. Members are expected to serve in some kind of
ministry. Members are expected to be a part of some kind of community
group or study. Most of the people who want to become members
understand these expectations because they are already doing them.
However, I recall one man who approached me after the class was over.
He pulled to the side and said in a kind of low voice, “Okay pastor, I
heard you talk about the expectations of membership here, but what about
the requirements?” I told him that they were essentially the same
thing, though we weren’t going to be following people around to check up
on them. I could tell he didn’t believe me when he said, “I mean what
do I really have to do?” I tried to assure him that there were no
hidden requirements for membership in our church. He looked at me kind
of skeptically for a minute and then went on his way. I have often
thought about his question. It kind of reminds me of the question
everyone used to ask the teacher when I was in school, “is this going to
be on the test?” In other words, what is the bare minimum I have to
know or do in order to pass? I think too many people approach church in
this way – what is the minimum I have to do, serve, give, etc. in order
to feel like I am a part of it?
Listen to how Acts describes the early church and its’ level of commitment…
All
the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every
day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord
added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:44-47
I
don’t know if you caught it, but the text says that they continued to
meet together every day! Did you hear that? Every day! What if you
came to one of our membership classes and I told you that one of the
requirements for membership in our church was that you had to meet with
other Christians from our church for prayer, study and worship for two
hours every day? Now, I need to tell you that we do not have any such
requirement, nor do I think we should. However, I do think most
Christians in America today view their church involvement as a matter of
convenience; they go when they have time or when it is not
inconvenient.
My
guess is that most of you would think that is a little over the top for
a church to require its members to meet for two hours a day. You would
probably feel that it is just unrealistic for you to give up two hours
out of every day to meet with other believers. Most of us have a hard
enough time carving out one or two hours a week for worship and
community. I cannot help but wonder if the members of the early church
in Acts would tell us that it is unrealistic for us to think that we can
just show up for an hour a week and think that we are going to be able
to live the life that Christ has called us to. Christ saves us as
individuals, but He calls us into a community, into His family, to be a
part of his Church. None of us can have the kind of influence separately
that we can together in Christ.
Jeff Frazier
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