Posted by Bigfish69 on 11:31 am | Categories: 4walls, belonging, church, church health, dysfunction, membership, oneness
Have
you ever heard someone ask which church do you belong? Has someone
said "would you like to find out how to become a member, or what it
means to be a member of this congregation?
Reminded
of this this morning as listening to an invite to a "New Friends"
dinner. Also, happens regularly at work when discussing what we did on
the weekend.
As
we know from scripture, as believers in Christ, as his followers, we
enter into his people. We become a member. We enter into his church,
his body. As such you can never be late to church, never be absent, or
on holiday.
So
to ask which church we belong to is a redundant question. All
believers belong to the same church. So the question must be being
asked in terms of which tribe do you belong. Okay we already trust in
this.
But
what is rattling around in me is the flip-side of that coin. Since we
are of the one body, to love put this reality means being able to enter
into any tribal gathering in peace. Why? Because we already belong.
It is therefore possible to see and live in such a way that these are
my people though they may not accept me in return.
The
other point is that when a congregation speaks of membership what do
they mean? Are they speaking of people who turn up (attend) or those
who are pursuing Him? Thus, on Sunday there may be 200 people in the
room, but maybe only 1 or 2 followers. Indeed, this can be true of
those called elders and leaders etc.
But
here too what do our eyes see? Unbelievers, the lost, the distracted,
the tribal, or people who Christ still died for? Do they treat his
sacrifice in vain? Maybe but is that our call when restoration always
is possible
Should
we accept the dysfunctions of today's tribal church? No. But then ask,
if sectarianism is not God's will, and a house divided is bound to
fall, then, maybe we need to approach our church family as we would any
other person.
If
sunday services, as they stand today, are the same in essence as any
other sphere, broken, and we are to live as Christ did/does, then we
need to be about pointing to the exit door in the knowledge that all
systems are already destroyed.
