We tend to think of membership as something we can take advantage of whenever it suits us and ignore when it is inconvenient. You might be a member of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club, for example, but if you don’t actually shop there, the only thing you lose is you’re $50 club fee. You might be a member of a gym or athletic group, but no one really cares if you actually go to work out or not, so long as the gym gets their money. The only person you are hurting my not going is yourself. Your use of membership privileges in almost any organization is entirely up to your own desires and convenience.
Membership in the church, however, is something entirely different. In fact, the word “membership” in our modern understanding should not even be used to describe church, for this is not a place we come and pay our dues in order to receive certain privileges and special treatment for ourselves. It’s not about getting a discount on a cemetery plot or use of the fellowship hall for family events. It’s not about making sure I have a pastor available to come keep me company in my home every couple of weeks. It’s not about singing my favorite songs or feeling good about going to a service once a week where I can feel good about myself just because I went.
If we are to be called “members” at all, we are to be considered members not of an organization, but of a living body, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12.
As Christ’s living body on earth, we do not have the same leeway we might have in other clubs or organizations to grow slack in our participation. A hand cannot say it is too tired to help someone when the head tells it to and a foot cannot say it is too busy to walk when the body needs to go out in the community to serve. As members of the body, we do what the head instructs us to do, with no questions asked. There are days when our body part may be sore or tired and not feel like moving, but we must continue to function regardless. If not the whole body will become paralyzed…
