Getting off the Plateau
Every Member Matters
Hebrews 10:24-25
Last week we talked about how to get off the plateau. Over 80% of the churches in America are described as declining or plateaued. That’s not to say there aren’t pockets of life and places that are healthy, but by and large, the American church is in crisis.
Perhaps the best way to rectify that situation is for churches to develop a healthier membership. Again, that isn’t to say that even in a plateaued or declining church there aren’t members who are thriving and alive and full of Christ-likeness, but I think it safe to say all us have areas that need attention.
Over the next few weeks we’re going to explore several areas that comprise our relationship to God and how we express it. We began last week with worship and discovered God is seeking worshippers who are flexible in how they worship, focused on Who they worship and faithful in the way they worship.
It doesn’t matter if you meet in a little cracker box country church with a clanging upright piano or downtown in an elaborate building with a $100,000 dollar organ, nobody has a corner on worship. It is a 24-7 experience in which every child of God is privileged to participate.
Now worship is a very subjective experience. That is evidenced in all kinds of ways. Some like praise and worship music while others like hymns.
Some prefer Southern Gospel or bluegrass. I have one friend who thinks you should never sing anything written after 1950. There is no right or wrong kind of music to use in worship. It is simply personal preference and when the heart is right and focused God is blessed by all of it.
Some have strong opinions about how to observe the offering or what version of the Bible should be used. Again, those are personal preferences and there is no right or wrong unless they become divisive and interfere with our worship. It’s all rather subjective.
The subject before us today is more objective and that subject is church membership. What does it mean to be a member of a church? Does it make any difference if you are a member or not? What makes being a member of a church any different from being a member of any other institution or organization in the world?
Well the Bible has some very instructive things to say to us about the church and hopefully as we consider them you will be able to understand why membership matters and every member matters.
One of the primary pictures the Bible uses to describe the church is that of a body and its member and I want to draw from that imagery today to help us understand the significance of what it means to be a member of a church.
Romans 12:5
If you talk to people in general terms about membership, they very often think about paying dues or secret rituals or having your name on some invisible roll that nobody ever sees. In fact, I’ve often said when people join a church, perhaps we should give them a membership card and charge them dues because I’ve know many who are much more faithful under those circumstances to some human organization than they are as a member of the church fo the Living God!
Paul had a very different picture of membership in a church. To Paul, being a "member" of the church was the same thing as being a vital organ of a living body. Until we understand that we will never understand the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building. It is an organism, not an organization.
In order for organs of the body to fulfill their purpose they must be connected to the body. For the body to be healthy all of the organs must be connected and they must be functioning. Any vital organ that is detached from the body will not only fail to fulfill its purpose, but it will die.
The same thing is true for Christians who refuse to become a member of a church. If what we read here in the Bible is true and the church is a body, and every member is a part of that body, then there is a viatl connection between that part and the body as a whole that must be maintained and nourished.
Could it perhaps be true that the reason the church is plateaued and declining is because that vital, intimate necessary connection is ignored and neglected?
One of the greatest problems we face in the church today is "meaningless membership." According to the Barna Research Group, 1 in 7 people will look for a new church this year, and 1 in 6 attends two or more churches on a rotating basis. Now some call these people "church hoppers." I call them "bunny believers." They hop from one church to another.
Now because we have some who’ve joined from other churches recently, I want to be quick to say there are some legitimate reasons for that to happen. And I am so thankful that those who’ve joined assured me they’ve sought God’s will and have already demonstrated they want to be vitally connected to the life and ministry of the church.
But I will also quickly add the reason many hop from church to church is because they are saying in their own way, "my membership doesn’t matter.” Their idea is the church exists to minister to them and if you don’t do what they want or like, they’ll hop down the road and find another.
It’s never about what they can contribute or what service they can do or how they can minister. It’s generally the church wasn’t meeting their needs or they weren’t being fed. If that describes you, you need to be reminded it’s a two-way street.
Your church matters to you as a member and has a responsibility to minister and serve you. But you also matter to that church and God has gifted you and placed you there, not to sit and soak, but to serve and model Christ and pour yourself into the life of your church.
In that regard, “every member matters." You matter to the church and it matters how you do what you’re supposed to do.
Now, just to underline the importance of church membership and your place in it, I want to consider
three questions that both members and non-members have a right to ask, and have a right to have answered.
1. Why Should I Be A Member Of The Church?
Almost every time the word church is used in the Bible, it refers to a local, visible, single congregation. The New Testament always assumes membership in a local church. The Bible says a Christian who is not a member of a church is like an organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, a child without a family. The Bible says "You belong in God's household with every other Christian." (Eph. 2:19 LB)
Now God designed the church and organized it in the way He did because He knew that there are some tremendous benefits that come to His people when they join a church and participate as He designed it to work. Let me mention three.
First, there are some physical benefits.
Did you know, according to a study from Indiana's Perdue University, published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, people who join a church, attend regularly, and get involved, get sick much less often than those who don't?
In fact, the study showed that that non-church members who never attended church or participated, were more than twice as likely to report health problems as those who were members. Isn’t that amazing? Now really! God knew what He was doing when He said, "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together."
I recently cut this out of the newspaper. I don't know how scientific it is, but it makes sense to me.
Do not ride in automobiles--they cause 20% of all fatal accidents...do not stay home--17% of all accidents occur in the home...do not walk on the streets or on the sidewalks--14% of all accidents occur to pedestrians...do not travel by air, rail, or water...16% of all accidents happen only by these types of transportation...but only .001% of all deaths reported occur in the worship services of a church, and these are related to previous physical disorders...therefore the safest place for you to be at any time is in church. Come to church--it could save your life!
Physical benefits!
There are also emotional benefits to joining a church and getting actively involved.
You will not only be healthier, you will be happier. The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company compared people in America who had joined a church, were actively involved, prayed, read their Bibles, and had surrendered their life to Christ to those people who did not attend church, or were not religious.
They discovered:
* Church members are twice as likely to say their home is happy.
* Church members are almost twice as likely to believe that their work contributes to society.
* Church members are more than twice as likely to reconcile marital problems rather than divorce.
* Church members are six times more likely to do community volunteer work.
But perhaps most important are the spiritual benefits that come from being an active member in the church. Let me just enumerate them to you quickly:
Identity -- Just as a uniform identifies you as a soldier, and a badge identifies you as an officer, church membership identifies you as a believer.
Maturity -- We grow best as we grow together, and the church provides you a place where you can mature your faith and grow it. "...as each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Eph. 4:16)
Ministry -- The church gives you a place to discover your spiritual gifts and an avenue to put them to work. "A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church." (1 Cor. 12:7 NLT)
Authority -- Every church member needs to be under the authority of a pastor. "Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls." (Heb. 13:17 NLT)
Accountability -- "But encourage one another daily as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Heb. 3:13 NIV)
Mind your own business is not a Christian phrase. We must be accountable to one another, and that is something that only the church can provide.
I challenge you to think about the people you know who contribute in a positive way to their communities and the world around you and see if they are not people who faithfully make church and living for the Lord an active and habitual part of their life.
Second question:
2. What Should I Become As A Member Of A Church?
Every year, Southern Baptist church compile what is known as an Annual Church Profile. It is a report to our associations, stand national conventions regarding our membership and ministry.
It’s always a distressing time for me because every year I deal with the alarming number of church members who are in no way involved or even connected with the church outside of having their name on the roll.
Did you know we have a total membership of over 1,000? In fact, the exact number, as of August 30 was 1,037. Of that, 766 are classified as resident members and 271 non-resident members.
That means 271 have moved out of a reasonable geographical distance of the church and are still members. They cared enough to move the dog and boat and the furniture, but not their church membership.
My personal conviction is if you move, we ought to send your membership credentials with you. We can put it in a little Ziploc bag. Then if you want to be backslid on God for years and years and finally get around to joining a church so someone can feed your family at your funeral, then you can take your little yellowed, disintegrated card to the church of your choice and say, “Here’s my membership if you’ll have me!”
But perhaps even more distressing than having 271 non-resident members is having 766 resident members and on any given Sunday having 160 of them in church. And that’s just talking about attendance. It doesn’t even begin to address the real essence of what it means to be a church member.
Lots of people are merely attenders. But there’s a difference between being an attender and being a member and the difference is commitment. Attenders are nothing more than spectators. Most don’t even pay an entrance fee. They are consumers and users.
But members get involved. They contribute. They can be counted on. They give and pray and share and encourage and bless. They are committed to Christ, but even more they are committed to other Christians.
You become a Christian by committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member by committing yourself to the church and to other members of the church.
Heb. 10:24-25 tells us basically what we all should be and be doing as church members.
By the way, it’s interesting to note that all the emphasis is on what a church member gives to the church, not what the church member can get from the church.
We are told here of one ministry that every member of a church has, that ever member of a church needs, and that every member of a church should be continuously doing, and that is the ministry of encouragement. You don't need a college degree, a seminary education, money, or even be a certain age to be an encouragement.
James Merritt is the senior pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Georgia. He served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention back in 2000-2002. He tells about a note of encouragement he received that read like this:
Dear Dr. Merritt:
I must tell you about my day last Friday. While shopping with our Ukrainian daughter, now four years old, she came across a stuffed rabbit that she really wanted. I asked her what made this one different from the others she has. She said, "He's cuddly and floppy and I love him." I asked what she would name it if she did take it home. She said, "Pastor Merritt!" I had to repeat that back to her to make sure I heard her clearly.
Needless to say, we brought it home. She carried it all day and loved playing with it. Later she said, "I just can't wait to sleep with Pastor Merritt tonight!" She had no idea why I was laughing so hard. Have a great week!”
Every church member needs to give encouragement, and every church member needs to receive encouragement. We are to encourage each other, and specifically encourage love and good works. You see when we get together and I see you loving Jesus, it makes me want to love Jesus. When I see you serving Jesus it makes me want to serve Jesus. When I see you worship Jesus it makes me want to worship Jesus.
Now how do we do this? What is the best way in a church that you can encourage each other? What is the best way we can be encouraging and be encouraged?
I think the best way for that to happen is in Sunday School. Think about the picture we find in our original text. The church is described as a body and the body of Christ is in many ways just like your own physical body.
What is a physical body? It is a collection of many small cells. That's why every member of Trinity Baptist Church needs to be involved in a Sunday School class. Some churches call them "Cell Groups". A Sunday School class is nothing more than the church organized to do the work God has given it to do. The Bible is taught, we fellowship and care for one another. We reach out to the lost and unchurched. We gather the resources to minister.
And these small groups joined together are what allow the church to function and be the body of Christ. And I am convinced you will never be the church member God desires you to be until and unless you get involved in the Sunday School.
One final question
3. Where Should I Belong as a Member of a Church?
Let me quickly share four things you should look for when deciding to become a member of a church and expect from your church as a member. I’ll start them all with a “W” to help you remember them. The first one is
* Word -- I mean by that, above all things you should find a church where the Word of God is taught and preached every week. No matter what else a church does, or how well a church does it, you will spiritually starve to death apart from the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. The second one is
* Worship -- Find a church where the worship is uplifting, inspiring, motivating, based on the Word of God, centered on the Son of God and offered in praise of God. Seek the kind of worship that, regardless of style, has substance that feeds your soul.
* Witness -- Find a church that understands and believes that the church's primary mission is the Great Commission. It is a church that is unashamed of the Gospel, and is doing everything it can to bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
* Work -- Find a church where you could enthusiastically get involved, putting your spiritual gifts to work in the service of that body because you believe in what that church is trying to do and join it expecting to go to work.
When you find that kind of church that meets those four characteristics, then you will find this as well. When you come to that house of God and fellowship with the people of God and sing the songs of God, and hear the Word of God, and experience the glory of God, you cannot help but be drawn closer to God.
If you ever doubt whether or not every member matters, just remember this. I heard about a story of four people in the church. Their names were Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. The church needed help meeting its financial obligations, and Everybody was asked to participate. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but you know who did it? Nobody. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
When the church grounds needed some work, Somebody was asked to help, but Somebody resented being called upon because Anybody could have done it just as well. After all it was really Everybody's job. In the end the work was given to Nobody and Nobody got it done.
The process went on and on. Whatever the task that needed to be done, Nobody could be counted on to do it. Nobody visited the sick, Nobody gave liberally, Nobody shared his faith. In short, Nobody was a very faithful member.
Finally, the day came when Somebody left the church and took Anybody and Everybody with him. Who was left? Nobody! The truth is everybody needs somebody, and nobody doesn't need anybody. Every member does matter. You need membership in the church, and the church needs your membership.
Let me give you a little homework assignment for this week. Maybe you’re one of those people is tends to be negative and critical, or perhaps you are just unhappy with something or someone at the church. This week when the devil gives you the opportunity to express that, let me ask you instead to pray about it. Ask the Lord to show you what you can do to be a part of the solution to the problem and make your church more like Jesus through you.
Second, intentionally say something positive to someone, member or not, about your church. IT might be to brag on your Sunday School teacher or the music or something that was said in a sermon that helped you. Just find an opportunity to intentionally be positive.
Third, if you are in the company of someone who is griping and being negative about church, whether it’s this one or another, offer to pray with them about it and ask God to bless and be honored.
Now, before you become a member of the visible church, you had better make sure you are a member of the invisible church. Being a member of the visible church will get you on a church roll, but only being a member of the invisible church will get you into Heaven.
Let’s pray.
