Membership - Part 2

Biblical Images of Membership

Membership must be more than a name on a roll or else it has little impact on kingdom work. The New Testament of course does not use the word, but there are plenty of images that allude to this idea and put forth a goal of a united community of like-minded individuals who are committed to more than affiliation with a church.

Members of the body of Christ
The first image gets referenced regularly: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are all members of one body. This passage goes on to lay out the need to work together in order to accomplish anything. If one part does not do its work, the entire body suffers. This image can be translated easily into our culture. Anyone who has hurt a foot, leg, arm, back, or any body part knows that when the body compensates for an injury then soreness and discomfort inevitably develop.

In the same way, if we are not committed to the body of Christ, it will suffer. This, I believe is where most people miss the understanding of why they should go to church, participate in activities, invest in other people’s lives. When asked why they don’t go to church, they say, “I don’t get anything out of it,” or “I can worship God by myself.” Though this sort of thinking may be true, it is also very selfish. Though you or I may be perfectly content to worship in solitude, we are hurting the body by withholding the blessings God has given us and expects us to us to help the body.

The next two images come from the following passage from Ephesians 2:19-22:

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Members of God’s Household
As Christians, we are joined by more than common beliefs, a common heritage, or even a common background. There is a saying that I have heard before, “You can’t choose your family.” Even those kids that divorce their parents are still linked to them for life by something greater than some piece of paper. Families are bound by blood – their genes unite them and are passed down from generation. Families care for one another and actively seek to uplift and encourage one another while maintaining the status of the family name.

This is the relationship that God invites every believer to inherit. God has adopted us into his family, but this adoption breaks barriers of blood lines and genealogy. We are now part of God’s family, and the just as Christ has shown His commitment to the family by sacrificing His own life, as members of the family of God we commit to one another in the same way that a functioning family does. We don’t renounce our love for our family nor do we for the family of God.

A Holy Temple
This final image was not one that I had originally intended to discuss as I brainstormed images of the church. And yet, it stands out as quite different than the other images, especially in the Ephesians passage. As members of the universal church, the way we truly display that membership is by becoming a place a holy temple – a place where God lives and where His Spirit dwells. Though we are each individual temples, there is also a plurality described here that the combines our individual lives to form a place where we see God revealed – together. For a complete picture of God, for a complete revelation of God, for a full indwelling of the Spirit, God calls us to be “built together” and united as one.

This building is not limited to your church of your chosen denomination in the city you reside in the 21st century. It consists of all churches across the world, across all denominational lines, across all times. This temple has been built by those who have gone before us, and we continue to build. This image reminds me that the church is so much bigger than what I see. I am a brick that has been fused together with countless others that stands as a testament to God’s presence in this world. And relegating that wonderful status to a name on a roll diminishes the power and impact of membership in the church.