Cherish Your Church Membership
Just this week, I heard Pastor Kenny share an illustration about church membership that I thought was really helpful. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand, and this right arm with his left hand, and said, “Church membership is like this. We hold on to each other. And if one hand lets go, the other one still holds on.”
There is a lot to say about our holding on to each other, and what it means to make a covenant. The nature of a covenant isn’t just to hold on as long as the other person holds on. That doesn’t require a covenant; that’s just a normal relationship. A covenant is to promise to keep holding on, even when the other person slips, or loses their wits, or wanders. We keep holding, because we made promises to each other.
But before we emphasize what’s involved in our horizontal commitments to each other, it is good to remember the vertical aspect, the very heart and center and engine of church membership.
Do you realize what a wonder it is to be a member of a faithful church? It is an awe-inspiring wonder. It means that God has done for you what you could not do for yourself with all the time and money in the world. If you’re like me, you probably don’t marvel enough at what it means to be a member of a faithful local church. So, I want to read to you from our bylaws, and ask God to help us marvel at what a miracle it is to be received into membership in this church.
> Article 3, Section 1: “To qualify for membership in the Church, a person must be a believer in Jesus Christ who gives evidence of regeneration [this is, new birth] . . .
Do you know how amazing, how priceless, what a miracle it is that you believe? *This is not your own doing*, says Ephesians 2:8, it is the gift of God. If you have been born again, you have experienced a spectacular miracle; you have received a gift from God himself you could not have purchased with all the money in the world. Jesus says in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The wind blew, and God caused you to be born again.
And to be a member of this church means that you “give evidence of regeneration.” An elder from this church, who loves Jesus and his word, has heard your profession of faith and determined, best as he can tell, that wonder upon wonder, you are qualified. Then the Elders recommended you for membership, and no significant evidence to the contrary came forward. Then the members of this church acted officially, as we did a few minutes ago, to receive you into membership.
You don’t just join the church, like a health club. Under Christ, the church acts to receive you into membership. And in membership, we hold on to each other. We have covenanted to be the church together.
The exhortation this morning: cherish your church membership. Let’s be a people who do not take it lightly, but count it as a priceless gift.
Father in heaven, we can be prone to handle such holy things so lightly. It is nothing short of stunning that we believe. What a wonder that Jesus opened our eyes and gave us spiritual sight, and that he is working evidence of his work in our lives, enough evidence that a discerning, Bible-believing elder heard our confession of faith, and this church of faithful, Christ-loving, Spirit-indwelt, Scripture-submitted church acted formally to make us members.
Father, what a priceless glory it is to be a member in good standing of your Son’s church. May we never take such a wonder for granted. Grant that we would cherish our church membership, as we cherish your Son and his heart-changing, life-transforming work in our lives.
And this reminds us of our need to confession our sins.