Thursday, Sept. 22

For an audio version of this, click here.

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