I Will Be a Functioning Church Member

When I was growing up we were members of a country club and it included a swimming pool, and a golf course. Now don’t get the wrong impression. This country club was not the typical upscale clubs we often envision. It was just a middle class small private neighborhood place.

I began to learn a lesson. Membership means perks. Membership means privileges. Membership means others will serve me. Just pay the going rate, and you can have others taking care of you while you enjoy a life of leisure. And, tragically, this understanding of membership is what many church members hold today.

This is my church, so you have to play the music just the way I want it.

Look pastor, you need to remember who pays your salary.

If you don’t do this program, I’ll withhold my check to the church.

I’ve been a member of this church for over thirty years, so I have a right to get what I want.

I don’t pay good money to this church to listen to sermons that long. Okay, you get the picture. Those unfortunately typical comments come from members of churches who have an unbiblical view of membership. Their view of membership is more aligned with country club membership. For them, membership is about receiving instead of giving, being served instead of serving, rights instead of responsibilities, and entitlements instead of sacrifices. This wrongful view of membership sees the tithes and offerings as membership dues that entitle members to a never-ending list of privileges and expectations, instead of an unconditional cheerful gift to God.

I. Membership Means We Are All Necessary Parts of the Whole.

There are a number of places in the New Testament where we can see a clear picture of church membership. One of the more voluminous sections is 1 Corinthians 12 to 14. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains the metaphor of the church being a body with many members. In 1 Corinthians 13, he established love as the central attitude and action all members should have. And in 1 Corinthians 14, he returns to the messed-up church at Corinth that has the concept of membership all wrong.

Some church leaders and members view membership as a modern business or organizational concept, so they reject the label as unbiblical. Membership, to the contrary, is very biblical. The Bible explains “members” differently than secular culture. For example, look at the term in 1 Corinthians 12:27–28

Do you get the difference? Members of a church comprise the whole and are essential parts of it. The apostle Paul would carry the body metaphor further and explain that members are individual parts of the body. Some are eyes; others are ears. Some are feet; still others are hands. That is why he concludes (1 Cor. 12:12).

II. Membership Means We Are Different but We Still Work Together.

With a country club membership you pay others to do the work for you. With church membership, everyone has a role or function. That is why some are hands, feet, ears, or eyes. We are all different, but we are necessary parts of the whole.

Each part, therefore, has to do its work, or the whole body suffers. There is a beautiful diversity in the midst of unity in church membership. The Bible makes it clear that if one part does not do its job, the whole body does not function well. But if one part does its job well, the whole body rejoices and is stronger (1 Cor. 12:26).

III. Membership Means Everything We Say and Do Is Based on a Biblical Foundation of Love

Most Bible readers will speak glowingly of 1 Corinthians 13, commonly known as “the love chapter.” It is read at weddings. It is used for a husband to declare his love for a wife, or vice versa. It is preached to demonstrate a fuller meaning of agape or unconditional love. While there is nothing wrong with using the love chapter in these contexts, its original meaning was to demonstrate how church members relate one to another.

We are not to love fellow church members just because they are lovable. We are to love the unlovable as well. We are not to pray for and encourage our pastors just when they are doing things we like. We are to pray for and encourage them when they do things we don’t like. We are not to serve the church only when others are joining in. We are to serve the church even if we are alone in doing so. Church membership is founded on love. Authentic, biblical, unconditional love.

IV. Church Membership Is Functioning Membership

Do you know how to remain a biblical member of a church? Give abundantly and serve without hesitation. Sure, you can remain on the rolls of many churches and never show up or give. You can even be a revered member in a number of churches by giving a nice sum to the church each year, even though you never lift a finger in service or ministry. But please understand. That type of membership is not biblical membership.

Biblical church membership gives without qualification. Biblical membership views the tithes and offerings as joyous giving. There are no strings attached. Biblical church membership serves and ministers as a natural way of doing things. Biblical church membership is functioning membership.

The body is not only unified, it is made up of many parts. Think about the parts noted in 1 Corinthians 12:12–26: • The foot. • The hand. • The ear. • The eye. • The nose (at least indirectly by referring to the sense of smell). Each of these parts is supposed to function. The foot is to walk. The hand is to grasp and hold. The ear is to hear. The eye is to see. The nose is to smell. We who are church members are all supposed to function in the church. The concept of an inactive church member is an oxymoron. Biblically, no such church member really exists.