Membership and Mission

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

I have a simple question. Is a marriage a relationship or a contract? Yes. I have signed my fair share of marriage licenses – that special document which codifies the marriage in the eyes of the state. Many of us cement that contract with those ol’ fashion words: “I do promise and covenant; before God and these witnesses; to be Your loving and faithful husband; In plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.” I do not think on those often, but they shape every action of my day.” Those contractual words set the perimeters in which the relationship flourishes. This legally binding commitment establishes the channel in which love flows with more depth, length, and power than any other relationship among men.

But how could someone know that you love your significant other? Yes, we could look up your marriage license. But if you are like me, I haven’t seen mine in 14 years. So, what if we cobbled together an informal jury, how would they know of the love you share? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? The time you spend together, the multiple ways they factor into your conversations, the high honor you give to them, the defense you rally for them, and the sacrifices you make for them. Love is a language the blind can read and the deaf can hear and the dumb can understand.

Alongside the marriage vows which bind me to my dear wife, I have only taken vows one other time – to my dear church. We live in a day and age where church membership is non-binding at best and optional at worst. This is sin. The world will know Jesus is real by how we love one another – a mission which implies that we are members of a particular body. Church membership is likened unto marriage, for it is that binding commitment which establishes the channel in which our love for Christ and for one another flows with increasing depth, length, and power. To disobey Christ in this point is to rob the Christian’s life of power and to hinder the Christian’s mission of success. If you are not a member of a local church, I would encourage you to find one. To borrow a line from Charles Spurgeon, I would ask you: Can you be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord’s commands as by being obedient?”

If you are a member of a church, I ask the same question I did early. How would the world know that you love your church? Or let me say it like this – if you only spent one hour a week with your wife, never spoke of her, and lived contrary to her, would the jury declare you in love? Christian, further the mission of Christ by loving your church well.