Church Members

This is not a continuation of the large debate from last month. It is only loosely connected. Last month we discussed whether it was right and biblical to be a member of a church. I said it was and gave biblical reasons; others disagreed. As it turned out, I had ignored completely the actual reference that made it clear that church membership was mandatory.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Cor 12:12-14)

There you have it. The church is made up of members. Okay, I hope you see the play on words there. This isn't about going to a membership class or signing an agreement or the like. This is using the word "member," not in the sense of "being part of a group," but "a part or organ of the body, especially a limb." (Interestingly, the dictionary lists that last one as "archaic.") This version of being a member of the church is a given, not a choice. When we become believers, we become part of the body of Christ.

The text the quote above comes from is all about spiritual gifts. Paul says, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7). So each of us has at least one gift and that gift is not for you; it is for the common good. The other point Paul makes there is that our gifts differ -- we are not all the same. Just as the human body has various parts with various designs and purposes, the body of Christ has ... members ... parts with various designs and various purposes. The body needs all of them. No design or purpose is more important or valuable than any other, and no design or purpose is of lesser value than any other. "But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?" (1 Cor 12:18-19)

Putting aside, then, the debate of church membership, we Christians need to embrace fully the principle that we are indeed members of the church. We are necessary members. No one is intended to "show up" at church, to "soak it in," to simply "get fed." We are members of the body of Christ, specifically and individually equipped by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:11) to contribute to the well-being of the whole. If we are not ministering at church in accordance with our gifting, it looks a lot like something that the medical field would call "cancer" -- cells growing and not doing their job. And we know that's not good.