The Vows: Faithful Membership

The evangelist Billy Sunday is quoted as saying, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.”

Last week I finished with the challenge that there is no such thing as a Sunday-only Christian. This week we continue looking at the vows of the United Methodist Church. Our final vow is this: As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayer, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness? This should serve as a reminder that the members of the congregation are, by definition, the church. The church isn’t a building or an institution. In today’s culture, we talk of “going to church” as if church is a destination or a place. But that isn’t accurate. The church is the people of God, called out by God for a purpose. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10). English translations sometimes don’t have exactly the right words, or are sometimes unclear. In the original Greek, the word “you” is plural in this passage. And we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. These verses aren’t speaking to individual Christians but to all of us. 

What this means is that every Christian has a duty. This is why the Holy Spirit gives every Christian gifts — to edify or uplift the entire church. There is a tendency to think of church as an event or an institution — we say “I go to church” when the reality is “I am part of the church.” And as part of the church, our promise is to faithfully participate in its ministries.

Before I get to the specifics, I want to draw your attention to the word “faithfully.” There are church members who attend maybe once every month. I remember a couple who complained to me that they hadn’t been to church in two months and that nobody had contacted them. The reality was, they only showed up every four to five weeks, so the fact that they missed two months was no real reason for concern. In fact, nobody really missed them! Last week we read the scripture from Hebrews 10:24-25: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Faithful participation is regular participation. It is habitual and consistent. Not just every once in a while. Not just “if someone begs me.” So the participation in ministry that we vow to — it’s something that becomes our usual practice. People can count on us. The purpose of church isn’t just for us to “get something out of it” but for us to “put something into it!” 

You can think of it this way: a balloon is at first nothing special, but when it is filled with air, it becomes a balloon. But if it is overfilled, it will burst. Another example is a sea. Water flows into a sea, and water flows out. The exception is the Dead Sea in Israel. It is the lowest point on the whole globe. Water flows into it, but no water flows out. So it is unfit for habitation; no animal can live in it! Likewise with us: God fills us, not just so we can become full like a balloon, but so we can share Him! 

So what are we promising to do, ministry-wise? We are promising to faithfully participate in ministry in five ways.

First, fittingly, we faithfully participate in ministry through prayer. Some people only pray if they can’t do anything else.  They say, “If nothing else works, then I guess I will pray.” But prayer must be the first resort of the Christian! Famed devotional author Oswald Chambers writes: “We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.” How do we pray? Start with the Lord’s prayer. But in this context, we pray to faithfully participate in the ministry of the church. Pray for our church. Pray for one another. Pray that we are able to effectively share Jesus Christ with our neighbors around us. Pray that God mobilizes us for ministry. 

Secondly, we faithfully participate in ministry with our presence. I already read Hebrews 10:24-25 to you, where it says that we do not give up meeting together. The main gathering of Methodists in its early days was the small group, the band meeting. In a small group, in a small Bible study, we can get to know one another better, so we can encourage one another more effectively. It is a safe place of accountability. The New Testament has more than 50 verses that contain the words “one another” which tell us how the church is to live with one another. Encourage one another daily. Carry each other’s burdens. Serve one another in love. Be kind and compassionate to one another… 

We cannot effectively do any of that if we only show up every once in a while. And we cannot effectively do that just in Sunday worship.

Third, we faithfully participate in ministry with our gifts. This vow at its heart is about our financial giving. We have talked extensively here about tithing and giving to the church. The idea is that God has provided each of us with the means to support the church. There are churches with one or two wealthy members or who have received grants or bequests by wealthy donors. It seems like a great thing, but the problem is that it cane be easy to think, “Well, the wealthy member can pay for this.” This type of thinking has led to nothing but trouble. It leads to dependence, including on foreign aid, or it leads to someone getting a big head and giving the “I own this church” attitude. The biblical example is that everyone does his or her own part. This doesn’t mean we all give the same amount; each gives according to his ability, as part of the church.

Fourth, we faithfully participate in ministry with our service. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes to the church about gifts and service. He says: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Did you notice that Paul says there are different kinds of service, but the same Lord, different kinds of working, but through all of them, it is God at work? Also notice that nowhere does it list “just sitting there” as one of the gifts or services? In fact, Paul goes even farther in saying (in 2 Thessalonians 3:10) For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” In other words, God has given everyone gifts, but we all have the responsibility to use those gifts! And as Methodists, we vow to serve God through the church. 

Finally, we faithfully participate in ministry by our witness. Our Conference theme verse this year is Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We recognize this scripture as being the principle of evangelism. But being a witness means that we never leave our Christianity inside the church. We are always reaching out with the love of Christ and with his Good News. A witness is someone who sees or experiences an event take place. Now we didn’t physically see Jesus rise from the dead, so how can we be witnesses? That was a trick question. We should all have stories, testimony if you will, of how Jesus has changed your life. The most effective witness is your own changed life. Who can argue with “I was blind, but now I see?” 

When we live out these vows, we live as true Christians in a world that is looking for something different, something better. And we can share it with them, then truly, they will know we are Christians by our love.