Church membership can be one of the most confusing aspects inside of the life of a church. At some places, it is nothing more than walking down an aisle and shaking a few hands. After that, there is simply an invitation to a few business meetings, but no real life. Some churches have a membership in the hundreds with only a handful of people actually accounted for. Other churches require a seemingly intrusive account of every aspect of your life, right down to your preference of carpet color.
While these may represent a caricature of what actually takes place in most churches, there is a theme that many of us have seen and not quite understood about what it means to be a member of a church. We have seen it be good, but usually seen it done bad.
Tomorrow at Village Church, we will tackle the missional environment of church membership. Church membership is ultimately about the Gospel. It offers us a way in which to outwardly express the work that Jesus is doing inwardly and identifies us as being a part of His body. Sure, you may think being a part of the universal, invisible Church is enough, but God has called us to build that Church. How will we do that if we don’t identify with a local church, and then how are we tangibly building that church?
In church membership, we enter into a real life of discipleship where we know and are known by each other and enter into environments in which we are made to be disciples as we are making disciples. Join us!