Although we at Shiloh do not have an official membership, I want to take this opportunity to speak about the importance of the principles of membership. Membership in the body of Messiah is two-fold and must be addressed from this perspective.
First, the Bible teaches that every believer and every congregation are members of God's household or family (Eph 2:19). In light of this, we understand the need to cooperate, participate with one another, and strengthen each other, that the body of Messiah might be strong in every aspect and on every front. We are all one, (echad), in the Lord. This is what we would call the "universal" church and all believers are members of this "universal" church from the moment of salvation. You did not choose to be a member, God chose you and placed you where He wanted you (1 Cor 12:18).
The second perspective is much closer to home, in that we play a decisive role. We choose the individual congregation that we want to be a member of, we decide how involved we'll be, we decide where we're going to be involved, and in a word, how much we want to contribute to the well-being of that congregation.
Let me interject a thought here. There are two kinds of people in every congregation – those that are consumers, and those that are contributors. Consumers are those who consume. They take from the other members of the congregation and give very little, if anything, back. They seldom give financially, and they do very little to help carry the load and the burden of the congregation.
Contributors are those who contribute. They give what ever and when ever they can from their time, energy, and resource. They are active in the life of the body and always are seeking for the well-being of the other members (1Cor12:25). Consumers take, and contributors give.
At Shiloh, membership is not determined by scholastic endeavor, but by the love and concern for other members, that is demonstrated by the giving of your time, energy, and resource. Don't be a spiritual consumer - Be a spiritual contributor (Gal 6:10).
Shalom,
Pastor Bruce
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