Hello everyone. We have an opportunity for those who are exploring membership at First Presbyterian Church coming up starting February 22nd. The class will run four consecutive weeks and we meet directly after the worship service from 11:20-12:00. If you are interested in joining the church, this will be a good opportunity for you to dive deeper into our theological commitments, church values, and the government by which we operate. Also, this allows for me and our elders to get to know your story and listen to your questions. One might wonder why membership is valuable? Here are three reasons I’d like to give you to think about.
1. Membership is Biblical. Quite often the New Testament writers will talk about being members of Christ’s body. (I Cor. 12:12-15, for example) In a sense all those who are united to Christ by grace through faith are part of “His Body”, this is what we call the “Catholic”, or, “Universal” body of Christ. Baptism serves as the rite, or sign and seal, by which we are ushered into the Church. Yet, there is also a sense in which we are part of a local, or specific, congregation. (I Cor. 12:27) So, while we are united as one “Universal” Church, we should also consider ourselves part of one local church.
2. Membership is about commitment. The Biblical vision of God’s people or community is described as loving each other. (I John 3:11) This love is not as the world understands love, a sort of sentimentality toward those who share your affinity. Rather, it is a sacrificial love which endures all things, and remains faithful through all seasons of life. (I Cor. 13:7) This “love” moves us to even submit to one another, (Eph. 5), and give up our possessions to help each other. (1 John 3:17)
3. Membership is beneficial to you and others. In my pastoral experience I have observed a general trend in American Christianity to treat religious faith as highly individualistic. “My faith”, or even “my preference” seems to be the guiding principle for how people look at churches. So, when passages that talk about church discipline come up in Bible reading, (I Cor. 5, Jude, Titus 2, ect.), people tend to balk at the idea as embarrassing or irrelevant. The reality is church discipline is a form of encouraging each other on toward Godliness. (Hebrews 10:24-25) Placing ourselves as accountable to each other and holding each other accountable might be the most practical way God draws us as individuals together and towards Him.
We do not practice membership as a purely pragmatic way of getting our names on a list to vote, or to be eligible for a name tag. (Both of which you will get!) Rather, we receive the blessing, “Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth, her charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth. One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.”
Ben Melli
