Friday, July 17, 2009

Church Membership - Part Four

After all that we've said concerning wheat and tares and false teachers, how does this apply to church membership? Why do we and most churches require a person to actually go through the process of joining the church in order to minister within the local church? The answer should be obvious. The answer is quality control.

Oh, but that doesn't sound good, does it? It makes it sound like the church is some kind of elite club where the less than desirable need not apply. But that's not it at all. There is, and should be, no prejudice within the church. You can see this in Galatians 3:26-29:
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
When this says we are all sons of God, that doesn't mean every person, but every person who has come to Jesus Christ in faith for salvation. That's what makes us a child of God and an heir to the promise. Being Christ's is the only requirement. That puts us all on equal footing within the kingdom of God.

Indeed, the church is an equal opportunity employer. People aren't called by God because of their riches or power, or their good looks, or talent. Most of the time, it is in spite of a lack of any of these things. It tells us this in 1st Corinthians 1:26-29,
"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."
God doesn't often choose those with lots of natural talent. The rich and famous, the talented and powerful; anything they accomplish for God they would take credit for. "After all, I am so talented," they would say. Or, "That was my money that paid for that program, you know." But someone who isn't all that much in themselves - the common and despised person of this world - if he accomplishes something for God, he knows that God did it through him. God gets all the credit.

So, no! When I say quality control, I am not talking about excluding the less than rich and beautiful. I'm talking about the difference between saved and unsaved. Only the saved are part of the kingdom of god. Only the saved are children of God. Only the saved are part of the universal church. Therefore, only the saved should be allowed to be members of the local church.

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