Why Church Membership Mattersනියැදිය

Servants and Disciple-Makers

God, through His Spirit, gives each church member a gift, but these gifts are only valuable as they serve the church's good. The Spirit empowers each member to serve other members. The effectiveness of a member’s gift is measured by its impact on others, not the attention it draws to them.

If the church is going to fulfill its mission, every member matters. That’s why every member needs to understand their role as a servant. Members using their gifts to serve the body allow the entire body to grow healthy and strong.

Evangelical Christianity is plagued by an epidemic of selfishness. Too often, Christians are devoted to their own plans and committed to accomplishing their own goals. We have become consumers, evaluating the church based on what it can do for us. The same consumer mindset can even influence how we think about using the gifts and abilities God has given us. We can view church as a means to self-fulfillment. “What church will allow me to use my gifts in the way I want to?” Can you hear the apostle Paul sigh in frustration and then say to us, “Get over yourself. It’s not about you. God didn’t equip you to make a name for yourself. He didn’t give you gifts to make you feel better. God equips people to serve others. It’s not about you!”

God has called all Christians to serve others with the spiritual gifts he has given us.

He has also called all Christians to be disciple-makers.

Jesus’ disciples were his students of life, his apprentices in day-to-day living. You might be thinking, “Well, that was Jesus.” Remember that Jesus instructed his disciples to “go and make disciples.” His command reminds us of the importance of discipleship. Maybe changing our terminology would remind us that part of the job of every disciple is to make new disciples. Church membership is about more than committing to attend the same church each Sunday.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul told him to be an example to the believers by commanding Timothy to train new disciples, the apostle Paul knows the church members will follow his example. They’ll see Timothy and imitate him. This passage teaches “trickle-down discipleship.” If the people at the top start training new disciples, it will trickle down from top to bottom, and those below them will do the same. If pastors disciple their members, the members will disciple other members. Pastors are examples of discipleship, but the call to disciple others is not exclusive to pastors. Every disciple is a disciple-maker.