January 29, 2007
Litmus Test
Our leaders recently prefaced their opinion on membership by saying that our, “…standing with Christ, commitment to His kingdom, or eternal life” are not dependant on membership in XYZ Church (I would agree). That being said, we’ve been given a new litmus test for membership. We’ve been told that in order for new members to join the church and for current members to retain their membership, they must annually sign a ‘membership commitment form’. Somehow this just feels like I’m subscribing to a magazine. The newsletter describes it as, “…just an avenue by which you can state your loyalty to this local body…” I never knew that loyalty could be as simple as signing my name once a year.
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Gail;
----When I posted my comment to your blog yesterday, I was not sure about your leaders intentions concerning their commitment slip. A distraught friend brought me a copy of the February church paper. After reading the pastor’s note, I now see the light. Your leaders are actually going to make this commitment slip a test of membership at their church! That is pages 319-320 of “The Purpose Driven Church” by Rick Warren, and it is James 2 of “The Holy Bible” by God. The problem is, Warren says do it, but God says don’t do it in the church.
----Although the divisiveness of this membership test is subtle, its effect is poignant. Everyone is welcome at their church, but only these special members can take part in any direction, planning, leadership, or teaching there. Pastor X readily admits that being a member at his church in no way effects your standing with Christ. Of course, we are all bright enough to know that means you can be just as effective for Jesus by not being a member of XX Church as you can by being a member. But in order to fully participate in the efforts for the Lord at XXC (but not in the benefits because Pastor X states they are not for members) you must make this profession of, “…your loyalty to this local body…” When you have made the statement you now join a higher plane of Christians in attendance there, the more elite group, lets say.
----But what makes them more elite? They have simply been willing to sign an expression which captures their loyalty to a particular group of people who desire to do certain agreed upon courses of action for Jesus Christ in certain agreed upon manners. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact I think it should be welcomed! The Gideons narrowed their service to the Lord to the distribution of Bibles, the Awanas to the Christian training of children, Tell Asia Ministries to the evangelization of India, and we could continue with an extensive list of clubs and societies which have narrowed the focus of their efforts for the Lord and require statements of loyalty and obedience to their bylaws. Admittedly, they must be called clubs, societies, fraternities, and such. And they don’t claim to be churches. Pastor X must be more honest with his members. He has made it into a club by narrowing its focus and requiring commitment to its bylaws (reread them again, carefully.) He can no longer call it a church because a church is a body of members with the Word of God for bylaws and loyalty to ONLY the Lord and EVERYONE in Him, no exclusions from voting, no narrowed focus.
----That is were the subtlety of the divisiveness rests. In His church there is no special leader. There is no upper standing. There is no loyalty to some more than to others. I honestly believe I Corinthians 4:6 is the point of all its first five chapters which speak to what your leaders are trying to do and be. People coming to their church will be thinking that they are coming to the Lord’s church and committing their loyalty to Him. In their hearts, they will be. But they will soon discover that in order to be of any count in Pastor X’s church, they must further extend their loyalty to his church club, becoming not just a member of the body of the Lord, but also of the inner club - a member with a special seat! (James 2:3).
----But lest we start off on how terrible these sinners are for going beyond what is written, let’s notice that most other churches (including traditional churches) do the same thing, just more quitely. The church that Char and I now attend recently voted for elders (of which three are women, all husbands of one wife I suppose). In order to vote one had to be a member of that church club. It involves signing onto a membership roll just as your leaders‘ church club involves signing a commitment slip. The signature at our church represents a loyalty to that particular church and the affairs its leaders deem to be important (have narrowed their focus upon). That makes the church we attend as much a club with an upper-crusted division as the church you attend. And it makes it as much the church of its leaders as the one you attend is the church of your leaders.
----This reality of church life bothered me to the core when I was in Bible college. But I actually chose to not enter the ministry because I would have vociferously attacked it. I felt my efforts would only have led to another denomination, another division. I didn’t want a bunch of people running around calling themselves Coreyites trying to be like me instead of Jesus. We can complain about these things all we want (and we should), but they are the condition of the church clubs in the world today, having been steered into narrow focuses by the direction of men. Do you now see the lite?
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