I Will Treasure Church Membership as a Gift

Every church member faces two distinct scenarios where the choice is just as obvious. In the first option we approach church membership similar to country club membership noted in chapter one. We are joining the church to see what we can get out of it. The pastor is to feed us through his sermons. We have specified an acceptable range for the length of the sermon. The music is to fit our style exactly. Any deviations are not acceptable. The programs and ministries are for our benefit. We will determine what we like and don’t like. We are members who expect perks, privileges, and service. So what happens when the country club church member is asked to contribute to the work of the church? What happens if such a member is asked to serve in the nursery for a few weeks? What happens if that member is asked to lead a fifth-grade boys’ Bible study class? The response is predictable. One country club member may agree to the request out of obligation. She has a legalistic approach to serving. It’s not that she wants to do it. After all, country club church membership is not about working; it’s about being served. But since she’s been asked, she begrudgingly accepts and begins the ministry with a bad attitude. She won’t last long. Other country club church members just get mad when they are asked. Some may respond that they did their time in earlier years. They make ministry sound like a prison sentence. Still some refuse to offer a reason why they won’t contribute; they are simply indignant that they were asked. And yet another group of country club church members gets angry toward the pastors. After all, that’s what we pay them to do. Those pastors are just lazy, trying to get out of work. But there is a second option to church membership. It’s the biblical option that sees membership as a gift, something to be treasured. Membership means we have the opportunity to serve and give rather than the legalistic option to do so. Our entire attitude is different when we approach membership the biblical way.

The Biblical Perspective of the Gift of Church Membership

When we repent of sin and place our faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the gift of salvation: “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). Throughout the Bible, we see verse after verse that speaks of the gift of salvation, the gift of Christ’s work for us, and the gift that means we cannot earn salvation through our own works. When we receive the gift of salvation, we become part of the body of Christ. Right before the apostle Paul notes some of the gifts of the Spirit, he writes these words: “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. And God has placed these in the church” (1 Cor. 12:27–28).

Do you see what’s taking place? You received a gift, the free gift of eternal salvation. That gift includes eternal salvation. It includes forgiveness of sins by Christ’s death on the cross. It includes adoption by God the Father. It includes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And it includes becoming a part of the body of Christ. That’s right: membership in the body of Christ, the church, is gift from God. It’s not a legalistic obligation. It’s not country club perks. It’s not a license for entitlements. It’s a gift. A gift from God. A gift that we should treasure with great joy and anticipation.

Universal Church or Local Church?

Now some will argue that the body of Christ refers to the universal church. The universal church means all believers everywhere for all ages. They would be right. But the universal church and the local church are not mutually exclusive. To the contrary, the majority of the New Testament books are written about and to local churches. The book of Acts provides a historical narrative of the Spirit’s work of the churches in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Cyprus, in Antioch in Pisidia, in Inconium, in Lystra, in Pamphylia, in Macedonia, in Thyatira, in Thessalonica, in Berea, in Athens, in Corinth, in Caesarea, in Ephesus, in Troas, in Rome, in Malta, and others.

Look at how many New Testament books were written to specific local churches: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians. Four of Paul’s books were written to individuals in specific church contexts: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Even the book of Revelation has the context of letters to local churches. The point? It’s a lame and invalid excuse to say you will limit your involvement to the universal church. The Bible is clear that we are to be connected to a specific church in a specific context.

Understand the Gift

Church membership is a gift. A gift must be treasured. It should not be taken for granted or considered lightly. Because it is a gift, we must always be thankful for it. And when we are thankful for something, we have less time and energy to be negative. When we receive a gift with true appreciation, we naturally want to respond to the Giver. We, therefore, see service to God as a natural outflow of the joy of our salvation and the consequent joy of our church membership. We consider it a privilege to serve the King, so we look for those opportunities at the church where we serve.

Healthy church membership means you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first. Look at this passage from Matthew 20:26–28. The context is some of Jesus’ disciples seeking to be first, to get their own way. (Sound familiar?) Jesus then brings them together and tells them their attitudes stink. Okay, He didn’t use that word, but He meant it. Church membership is a gift. We respond to gifts with gratitude. And one key way we express our gratitude is to serve like Jesus did and like He told us to do. My guess is that churches would be a lot healthier if members decided to serve and to be last.