What Is A Healthy Church Member?
While some do not, most churches have a concept of church membership. Why do they have those they consider “in” and others they consider “out” and what should be expected of those who are “in”? While churches will vary on the answer to this question, there should be some basic qualifications about which we agree to be in line with the New Testament.
First, the word “church” is an English translation of the Greek word, “ekklesia”. Literally, this word means, “the called-out ones”. What are they called out from? Their lives of sin and self-rule and into a life of repentance and submission to God’s right to reign and rule over their lives. To be a healthy church member, one must first and foremost be a follower of Jesus. They must have had a moment in their lives when they turned away from their sins in response to God’s conviction and placed their faith in Jesus Christ and the perfect life He lived to be counted as their righteousness and His vicarious, atoning death on their behalf. They must be born again (John 3:3).
Having established that they have been converted, this new relationship with Christ should be made public and lived out in obedience. The first step for this, from the Bible, is to be baptized. Having been made spiritually alive, they submit to baptism as a public confession of their new faith. Baptism is a transliterated word from the Greek language, “baptizo” and means to fully whelm or to immerse completely. It is from the textile industry and was used most often outside of the church to refer to dying a cloth completely in a new color. That baptism is an important step to belonging to the others in the church who have also placed their faith in Jesus as Lord and submitted to the same baptism (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Some churches may have a class explaining what being a church member entails. It will usually include what is expected of a member and what the member should expect of the rest of the church and its leadership. While there is no direct command to have this class, and many do not, the Great Commission tell us to teach them to obey all things that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). This class is an introductory or continuing education part of that commission.
While we may have distinctives about what constitutes faithful church membership, the following seems to be indicated from scripture:
1. Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. (Matthew 22:37-40)
2. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40
These two commandments insinuate and command relationship. We must cultivate a growing relationship with Jesus and with others. The most basic way to grow our relationship with Jesus is to live our lives striving for holiness and righteousness in all areas of our lives. This will develop relationship with Jesus because we will quickly find out we cannot do it without Him. The lowest common denominator is at least to have relationship with your brothers and sisters in your own church but should expand to others in other churches as well that claim the name of Jesus alone for salvation. This relationship is the only way for us to carry out the “one another’s” of the New Testament in the church. Here is another way to gauge how you are doing with the “one another’s”:
1. I help them avoid what is evil. (Ephesians 4:20-30)
2. I help them pursue what is good and right. (Galatians 5:13)
3. I am devoted to them. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
4. I give preference to them in honor. (Romans 12:10)
5. I serve the Lord by serving them. (Galatians 5:13)
6. I rejoice with them in hope. (1 Corinthians 12:26)
7. I persevere with them in their tribulations. (Romans 5:3)
8. I am devoted to prayer for and with them. (James 5:16)
9. I contribute to their needs. (Romans 12:13)
10. I practice hospitality with them. (Romans 12:13)
11. I rejoice with them over their victories. (Romans 12:15)
12. I weep with them over their failures and tragedies. (Romans 12:15)
13. I am of the same mind with them. (Romans 12:16)
14. I associate with them when I am away from church. (Romans 12:9-13)
15. I live with them in peace. (Mark 9:50)
How healthy are you? Obviously, we all have room for improvement, and we need each other to help us grow. When we are able to return to church, let’s make it a priority, so we can be not only physically healthy, but spiritually as well.