The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 25th January 2009 by Robin Hawkins
"The Importance of Being in Membership"
The Importance Of Being In Membership
Reading: 1Cor 12:12-31
Last week, I spoke on the importance of being Church. This week it's on my heart to continue this theme, and talk about the importance of being in membership. Tim Ganie brought a superb quote from John Piper to our LG on Thursday. Let me read it to you:
"The body of Christ universally is expressed in the bodies of Christ locally. To belong to the body of Christ means in the NT to belong to a local body of Christ. Let me say that again, because that is very very threatening for many Lone Ranger Christians who like to move from church to church To belong to the body of Christ in the NT meant to belong to A body of Christ. They weren't separate. There are those who like to cruise. They say, "Well, I'm part of the universal church, and I just cruise. from church to church, from small group to small group, para-church ministry to para-church ministry, and I have no roots like this anywhere." That's' not biblical."
I'm tempted almost to sit down at this point. He's said it all! But as you know, temptation is to be resisted, and I hope you'll find it helpful if I take a few minutes to explain why being a committed member of a local church is so important.
Our society has a problem with commitment. It's a symptom of our Post-Modern culture. With family breakdown increasing to 50%, it's rare for someone to grow up today untouched by divorce, either in their own family, or a friend close to them. People associate relationship with pain, and pain is to be avoided in a society for which the primary motivation is pleasure. "I have a right to my happiness." - is a phrase we'll hear often enough. So the maxim has become: "Don't get involved, and you won't get hurt." The irony is that people long to be in good, strong, fulfilling relationships, but half of us apparently lack the skills to sustain them.
What people in general have failed to realise is that very few really meaningful relationships are built easily. This year, Julie and I celebrate thirty years of marriage. We have been very blessed together, but it would be foolish to let you think it's been plain-sailing. We've had to work hard through difficult times and disagreements, jut as every married couple has to, and it isn't always easy. But the end result is worth it, and the good times are many more than the bad.
One of the reasons God has put us into a community is that is that it's very character-building. We get the rough edges knocked off us when we have to rub alongside people who view things differently from us. We can avoid that kind of conflict very easily by jumping ship, and going to another church.
Let me tell you the story of man travelling to the City Of God. This is the place where God dwells. As he was nearing what he thought was the end of his journey, he saw on one hand this rough and barren desert stretching away into the distance, but on the edge of it was this city, from which he could hear coming joyful music and laughter. The traveller saw an old man working a field beside the road, and he asked the man whether this was the City of God. "No," he replied, "that's not the City of God. That's God City. The City of God lies through that desert there," and he indicated the rough and barren land. "There've been other travellers like you, come this way looking for the City of God; but when they've seen how hard it is to get there, they decided to settle here in God City. They've got all the music and singing, big Bibles, and all the right language; but God's not there. We have to be careful we don't settle for God City!
When you come to a new church, you'll find that as you get to know people, these relationships will go through three stages:
1) Veneer - where we're nicer than nice, and everything is a bit superficial.
2) Disillusionment - This is when we start to find out the truth about each other; and we find out that others are just as selfish, thoughtless, and insecure as we are.
3) Opt Out or Face Reality - We have a choice in this stage of opting out of church life, and perhaps finding another church altogether; either this or we agree to face the truth about ourselves and each other, and commit ourselves to working it out together. This is the rough ground that had to be crossed that I spoke of in the story of the traveller who was looking for God.
Bill Hybbells, Pastor of Willow Creek, a very large church in Chicago, said once that one of the reasons Willow Creek grew was that they were totally committed from the outset to working through difficulties in relationships. I would love to see that value in the hearts of every one of us, but I know it's easier said than done! What I do know is that those relationships I've had to really work at have often turned out to be the ones I value most.
We live in a society where people want to be independent. Yet this flies in the face of our calling in Christ, which is to be interdependent. This beautiful analogy of the church as a body that we read of in 1Cor 12 simply underlines this. We are all different parts of the same body. Each part is needed. Each part is valued. Everyone has a part to play, a gift or ministry to exercise. But each part is committed to those around it. Together we become effective members of Christ's Body. I've often said my thumb and forefinger are pretty useless on their. Together, they can do some very useful things. As a team they are far more effective than the sum of their individual parts. This is called Synergy. It's where 1+1 no longer equals 2 - you'll get far more value out of them than that. It's where 1+1=5. This is how effective we can be in advancing the Kingdom when we work together. Fortunately, my thumb and forefinger are firmly committed to each other.
So if it's in your heart to be more fruitful in the Kingdom of God, let me encourage you to make that commitment known to the local church, and become a committed member of it.
Another word we use alongside "membership" is "partnership." We get this from the word "Fellowship", and it speaks of being partners together on a mission. "..working side by side in the cause of the gospel.." - writes Paul in Philippians. Partners are committed to one another whether it's in business, or marriage. They know they can count on one another's support. In the Body of Christ, we need to know that too - that we can count on one another to be there. Sometimes we say to each other, "If you need anything, just call. I'm there for you" This is the kind of partnership we're called to in the Body of Christ.
Now I know that some of us will find this quite threatening. So I need to say again, this is a grace thing. You do it because you want to; because God's calling you to commit yourself to this local body of Believers. You know in your heart this is where He wants you to be. But God calls us to come right on in - not to hover half in, and half out - keeping your options open. When you joined that football team, or took on that new job, you did so because you wanted to, and because you believed God was calling you to do so. That's His grace to you. It doesn't follow that it will always be easy, but there is grace for the hard times too. There'll be times you don't feel like going to Life Group, but God honours our commitment - and when we go anyway, we'll find we come home refreshed and glad we went. There is grace for every day in church life - which is just as well because we'll certainly need it!
Listen! There is much joy in being a committed, fully-functioning member/partner in a local church. You'll become more Christlike in character; and more fruitful in ministry. There's the joy of times spent in God's presence, worshiping and knowing him speak and move among us. That is going to be much more of a reality when we are living out our commitment to one another. There's the joy of being in good supportive and open friendships, where we feel accepted, and have learned to lovingly speak the truth to one another. There's the joy of seeing others come to Christ, the joy of seeing them grow as disciples, take their first steps in ministry. There's the joy in giving of what we have so that God's work in this place can grow. There's the joy of praying together, knowing there is great power in agreement, and even greater joy when we see prayers answered.
There's much more I could say on this, but I'm going to leave it there. If you've never actually come into partnership/membership with us at King's, I want to invite you to have lunch with us afterwards. We're going to serve it up here, and it's an opportunity for you to explore with us a little more why membership is so important.
