February 05, 2007
Bingeing and Purging
In the past if you joined the church your name remained on the roll until you removed it. We binged on numbers. If you died and someone forgot to remove your name it was still OK because we could keep on counting you. Even if people hadn’t attended in years, we kept them on the membership roll and the mailing list. It was sort of like leaving the light on for the prodigal son. Today we’re purging the membership list. With the new condensed membership list they can ignore the opinions of those who fail to place membership. They can also save money on postage, remove voting privileges from dead beats, and discontinue shepherding obligations. Early in my marriage there was a period of seven years when we were inactive in church. Had we been removed from the membership roll I’m not sure if we’d have found our way back. I am forever thankful that the door of membership was left open for my return.
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Gail;
-----I understand you to be saying that the membership list at XXC has changed from being primarily a contact tool to now being a tool for verifying connectedness with XXC. There are some reasons why church leaders might desire to do this. I think there is the element in most churches that desires to sort those who are like minded from those who do not hold to the mind of the church leaders. Many Baptist churches even vote on the acceptance of a new member. At the church Char and I attend, we are openly recognized and highly regarded as Christian brothers and sisters, however, we can not participate in decisions by voting because we are not members of that church. It is undeniable that this sorting process, at least subtly, is an entry into partiality that will help maintain the leaders’ chosen direction for the church. It is an unspoken agreement that by joining membership with a church you are joining the philosophical nature of that particular church. I Cor. 16:15-16 somewhat implies the propriety of this concept, “You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it.”
-----Moreover, not just having a special connection expressed by a membership list, but also having an expression of particular commitment to the SSSSSS chosen by the leaders as the important element of the XXC member’s spiritual life, it now becomes easier for the leaders to call their followers into line. The leaders have been given the duty to direct the affairs of the church (I Tim 5:17), they have been given the responsibility to safeguard the people of the church (Acts 20:28), and they are given the obedience of the people of the church in order to effect these duties (Heb 13:17). So, having in hand this signed acknowledgment of “special” commitment linked to the definitions membership in the bylaws, the elders are placed into the position of dominance necessary for maintaining their chosen direction for the church.
----Every church must be more or less controlled by its elders and leaders. That is the foreground of the issue. But it is the subtlety in the background that really counts. That subtlety is not involved with the matter of how much or how little is the leaders control. It is involved with what are the church affairs in the elders‘ direction. Are they the ideas of the leaders, or are they the lost who need preached to, or the orphans who need cared for? Can the affairs of the church be listed such that the leaders can point to them and call to them the peoples’ attention? I am surely convinced that they can be and that they are. The affairs of the church are the godly behaviors, attitudes, and principles of the new life in Christ. They are the righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit, the gifts given all by the Spirit, and the relationships each has with the Father through Jesus Christ, and with each other. They are listed in the Bible. Are the elders at XXC rightfully handling it so that the members with “special” commitment can feel spiritually comfortable in subjection to them? Or are they sorting the affairs of the church into the ones they like at XXC, and the ones they don’t. I think the leaders of all churches are subtly over-involved with the membership list, and under-involved with rightly handling the church affairs list.
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