DISCIPLESHIP
Why You Need a Church Family
By
Pastor Rick Warren
Saddleback Church
CBN.com
- The difference between being a church attender and a church member
is commitment. Attenders are spectators from the sidelines; members get involved
in the ministry. Attenders are consumers; members are contributors. Attenders
want the benefits of a church without sharing the responsibility. They are
like couples who want to live together without committing to a marriage.
Yet one of the biggest hurdles you face as a church leader is convincing
attenders they need to commit themselves to the church family and become members.
Today’s culture of independent individualism has created many spiritual
orphans -- “bunny believers,” who hop around from one church to
another without any identity, accountability or commitment.
Many believe it is possible to be a “good Christian” without
joining a local church. How can you convince them otherwise?
God is not silent on the issue. The Bible offers many compelling reasons
why every believer needs to be committed and active in a local fellowship.
A Church Family Identifies You as a Genuine Believer
I can’t claim to be following Christ if I’m not committed to
any specific group of disciples. Jesus said, “Your love for one another
will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35, NLT).
When we come together in love as a church family from different backgrounds,
race and social status, it is a witness to the world. No one believer can
be the Body of Christ on his own. We need others in order to fully express
the shape God has given us. It is when we are together, not when we're separated,
that we are his Body.
A Church Family Moves You Out of Self-centered Isolation
The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in God’s
family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love. As a participating
member you learn to care about others and share the experiences of others:
“If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it.
Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor”
(1 Corinthians 12:26, NCV). Only in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect
believers can we learn real fellowship and experience the New Testament truth
of being connected and dependent on each other.
Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus
Christ. God expects us to give our lives for each other. Many Christians who
know John 3:16 are unaware of 1 John 3:16 (NIV): “Jesus Christ laid
down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
This is the kind of sacrificial love God expects you to show other believers
-- a willingness to love them in the same way Jesus loves you.
A Church Family Helps You Develop Spiritual Muscle
No one will ever grow to maturity just by attending worship services and
being a passive spectator. Only participation in the full life of a local
church builds spiritual muscle. The Bible says, “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” (Ephesians 4:16, NLT).
Over fifty times in the New Testament the phrases “one another”
or “each other” are used. We are commanded to love each other,
pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each
other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other,
bear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other,
be devoted to each other and many other mutual tasks. This is biblical membership!
These are the “family responsibilities” that God expects every
believer to fulfill through a local fellowship. We need to ask those who attend
our services, “Who are you doing these with?”
The Body of Christ Needs You
God has a unique role for every believer to play in his family. This is called
your “ministry,” and God has gifted you for this assignment: “A
spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church”
(1 Corinthians 12:7, NLT).
The local fellowship is the place God designed for his children to discover,
develop and use their gifts. Even those with a wider ministry need to understand
that their first responsibility is to the local Body. Jesus has not promised
to build anyone’s ministry; he has promised to build his Church.
You Will Share in Christ’s Mission in the World
When Jesus walked the earth, God worked through the physical body of Christ;
today he uses his spiritual body. The church is God’s instrument on
earth. We are not just to model God’s love by loving each other; we
are to carry it together to the rest of the world. This is an incredible privilege
we have been given together. As members of Christ’s body, we are his
hands, his feet, his eyes and his heart. He works through us in the world.
We each have a contribution to make. Paul tells us, “He creates each
of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has
gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing” (Ephesians 2:10,
Msg).
A Church Family Will Help Keep You From Backsliding
None of us are immune to temptation. Given the right situation, you and I
are capable of any sin. God knows this, so he has assigned us as individuals
the responsibility of keeping each other on track. The Bible says, “Encourage
one another daily ... so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness”
(Hebrews 3:13, NIV).
“Mind your own business” is not a Christian phrase. We are called
and commanded to be involved in each other’s lives. If you know someone
who is wavering spiritually right now, it is your responsibility to go after
them and bring them back into the fellowship. James tells us, “If you
know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write
them off. Go after them. Get them back” (James 5:19, Msg).
A related benefit of a local church is that it also provides the spiritual
protection of godly leaders. God gives shepherd leaders the responsibility
to guard, protect, defend and care for the spiritual welfare of his flock.
We are told, “Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know
they are accountable to God” (Hebrews 13:17, NLT).
Satan loves detached believers -- unplugged from the life of the Body, isolated
from God’s family and unaccountable to spiritual leaders -- because
he knows they are defenseless and powerless against his tactics.
The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ; it includes a
commitment to other Christians. The Christians in Macedonia understood this.
Paul said, “First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God’s
will, they gave themselves to us as well” (2 Corinthians 8:5, TEV).
We must remind those who fill our buildings each Sunday that joining the
membership of a local church is the natural next step once they become a child
of God. You become a Christian by committing yourself to Christ, but you become
a church member by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The
first decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship.
More Discipleship Resources on
the Spiritual Life Channel
Article by Rick Warren, Saddleback Church. Rick Warren is the founding pastor
of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA., a congregation that now averages
16,000 in attendance each weekend. Rick is also author of The
Purpose Driven Life and The
Purpose Driven Church, and founder of Pastors.com,
a global Internet community for those in ministry. From Rick Warren's Ministry
Toolbox, a free weekly e-newsletter for those in ministry. Copyright (c) 2003
Pastors.com,
Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
The Ministry ToolBox is for ANYONE serving Jesus Christ. For a free subscription,
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