{"id":3361,"date":"2021-06-23T11:54:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T09:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/join-the-club"},"modified":"2024-02-20T13:13:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T11:13:28","slug":"join-the-club","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/articles\/join-the-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Join the Club"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A few years ago, a Christian comedian uploaded two videos spoofing reality shows where contestants try to find the perfect house. In his videos, an entitled millennial couple is trying to find the perfect church to join. The host walks them through the different selling points of each church. \u201cThere\u2019s a bunch of side exits<\/em>,\u201d the host points out to the husband in one foyer, \u201cso if you need to leave early and catch the game, you can do that<\/em>.\u201d The wife, trying to describe what kind of preaching she\u2019s looking for, muses, \u201cWe\u2019re looking for a more inspirational-type sermon<\/em>.\u201d Her husband quickly interrupts, \u201c\u2026 like a TedTalk with Bible verses!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, it was all a joke, but the reason it resonated (the first video has two million views and counting) is that, like all good comedy, it rings true at some level. Satire works when it simply amplifies reality, and the depiction of judgmental, self-seeking people bending the church to their desires is scarily realistic. \u201cFunny, but sadly accurate<\/em>,\u201d one commenter wrote below the clip. \u201cI laughed. I cried<\/em>,\u201d someone else posted. \u201cGod help us<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Compromise of the 21st Century Church<\/h2>\n

Judgement begins with the family of God, states 1 Peter 4:17. And what we\u2019re witnessing across the western church is God\u2019s cleansing judgement on His household for the dereliction of its duty to make sure that people join it on God\u2019s terms, not their own. The global pandemic has decimated meeting attendance<\/a> around the world but also exposed what was already in people\u2019s hearts and minds. It\u2019s revealed what many really thought about joining churches and being members. For all the legitimacy of wanting to keep each other safe and be good citizens during the pandemic, there are now many who could gather together but simply refuse to \u2013 often because they were originally welcomed in at their convenience. If the church was already so desperate to welcome anyone on their own terms back then \u2013 in a world before the virus, thousands of years ago \u2013 just think of the dynamic today. Just think of how badly church leaders<\/a> want people to join them and of where it will head to next.<\/p>\n

Judgement begins with the family of God<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And so we must revisit the beginning \u2013 the point of entry itself \u2013 because the way people join a church informs the way they conduct themselves among the people of God and even why they think they\u2019re there. But, unfortunately, as with the errant shepherds in the days of Ezekiel, God often reserves His harshest words for those who have been put in authority in His house.<\/p>\n

Joining a Church Crafted for Comfort<\/h3>\n

\u2018It takes two to tango\u2019, as the old saying goes, and as rampant consumer culture has overtaken the western church at large, church leadership has created its own problem by joining in the moves on the dance floor. Just think of today\u2019s most aspirational churches. Visiting families are greeted in the parking lot by beaming cheerleaders wielding “Welcome Home!<\/em>” or “We’re So Glad You Could Make It!<\/em>” signs. First-timers are regularly told that the most important thing is feeling at home, while worship leaders often begin the first song by asking how everyone is feeling. Sermons are always relatable, always inspirational, never awkward or difficult to hear. Services are short, sharp and coordinated to give you the best possible time. In fact, it\u2019s become popular to now refer to services as \u2018worship experiences<\/a>\u2019, just in case anyone wasn\u2019t yet convinced that their own experience was the main priority. The only barrier to joining the church seems to be one’s own desire or lack thereof, and everything seems to be built around feeding that desire.<\/p>\n

It should go without saying, but let\u2019s say it anyway: the church should be warm, welcoming, friendly, excited, enthusiastic, accommodating, full of love for outsiders, and always ready with a high-five or gentle fist bump. These are all wonderful qualities to show to outsiders; in fact, the Bible instructs us to make the teachings of God attractive (Titus 2:10). But if we\u2019re honest, the western church has gone too far. We\u2019re meant to make things attractive by<\/em> our love, <\/em>but today the church tries to entice outsiders with something that they\u2019ll love<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re meant to make things attractive by our love, but today the church tries to entice outsiders with something that they\u2019ll love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Masterstroke of Compromise<\/h3>\n

I remember hearing the story of the humble beginnings of an American megachurch. It turns out they decided on a neighbourhood to begin meeting in, canvassed the area door-by-door, and asked residents what they would like to hear a church preaching about. They tallied the topics, and when they began their Sunday meetings, they preached on the most popular ones. Over time the church grew into many thousands, and the approach was hailed as a masterstroke. But giving people exactly what they wanted in order to get them in the door wasn\u2019t a masterstroke. It was a recipe for disaster. Decades after their first strategy, that particular church is in real trouble \u2013 not in their attendance, but in the worldliness that is rampant among them.<\/p>\n

The church in the twenty-first century is profoundly compromised. New ideas are not going to help us. We must go back, back, back to the first century, to the first church. Because the way we think about people joining churches should not be shaped by man\u2019s opinions \u2013 it should be shaped by the Word of God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How Was The First Church Built?<\/h2>\n

The Lord Added to Them<\/h3>\n

\u201cAnd the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved<\/em>.\u201d (Acts 2:47, NIV). So straight off the bat, we have a framework for how people joined the first church: the Lord added them. Why did Luke, the author of Acts, say it like this? Because that was how the disciples would have described it to him. When the disciples looked at those joining their ranks, it was evident that Jesus Himself had done something profound in their hearts, minds and lives. After all, those people joining had to do it on the terms of Jesus and the first disciples, not their own, and then they had to join their lives to them completely.<\/p>\n

When someone joins a church, they should submit to the authority of the leaders<\/a>, fully join hearts with that local family of God, and make it their mission to live out their faith with those people, through good times and bad. Only Jesus can do that in someone\u2019s heart and truly add them to a church in a way seen in the New Testament. And people who want to join a local church should ask Him whether He\u2019s adding them. This is not just preferable; it\u2019s proper. It is not just a good way to join a church; it\u2019s God\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

Many join churches asking, \u201cAm I happy with the way things are?\u201d<\/em> But an equally important question is, \u201cIs the church happy with the way I am?<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They Only Did What God Called Them To Do<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re also told, shortly after God\u2019s swift judgement of Ananias and Sapphira, that \u201cno one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people<\/em>.\u201d (Acts 5:13, NIV). There seemed to be a sense that these people were serious; that there was an untamed power at work among them. Today, the way many join a church is to step back and assess, arms crossed, whether they\u2019re happy with the worship, the preaching, the kid\u2019s church, the doctrinal stances, the associations with other churches<\/a>. An objective assessment is important: any believer needs to examine the life and doctrine of their leaders or those who would be their leaders. But, again, we\u2019ve gone too far. Today the church is the performer on the stage, desperate for applause, a laugh, a good review.<\/p>\n

In the church in Acts, you didn\u2019t just evaluate the believers, they also scrutinised you in return. Many join churches asking, \u201cAm I happy with the way things are?\u201d<\/em> But an equally important question is, \u201cIs the church happy with the way I am?<\/em>\u201d The first church didn\u2019t have to frantically jump through hoops to prove their credentials \u2013 they got on with what God was calling them to do. They surely reached out in every way possible, but not from an insecure need to be liked. You get the feeling that making people happy didn\u2019t matter to them in the slightest. What mattered was people being born again, dying to themselves, joining the others who had done the same, and then living new lives for Jesus and His family. That\u2019s what it looked like to join.<\/p>\n

…sadly, people who join churches on their own terms will often leave the same way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They Were Family<\/h3>\n

When someone joins a church, they don\u2019t join a meeting, a movement, an event or a club. They join a family. Families deal with things. Families stick together. Families work things out. Families exist because God has put them together, not because they have common interests or enjoy gathering on the same day and during the same time slot. In the early church of Acts, there was one church in a city; you couldn\u2019t just leave it and go somewhere else. Like Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4:2, you had to work it out. Like the man in 1 Corinthians 5, if you were disciplined out of the church, you had nowhere else to go. You had to come to your senses, repent and be restored to your family.<\/p>\n

And so, we must find ways to live like the early church in the way we view our local congregations. Today, you can find multiple churches in a single suburb. There may be many options available to someone if they don\u2019t like the church they\u2019re part of, but we can still learn to honour the family God has put us in. Yes, God can move us on, and no, it\u2019s not necessarily sinful to leave a church. But it\u2019s become too easy. And, sadly, people who join churches on their own terms will often leave the same way.<\/p>\n

…we can take the precious Word of God and the uncompromising call of Jesus and do this His way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Joining a Church God’s Way<\/h3>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. The modern church may lose its bearings, but we don\u2019t have to. Like Josiah, the child-king who rediscovered God\u2019s ways in 1 Kings 22, we can wake from our slumber and do things the way they’re meant to be done. If we do this God\u2019s way, He will bless it. Many in our generation will continue in their delusion, like the entitled couple in the YouTube video, but we can take the precious Word of God<\/a> and the uncompromising call of Jesus and do this His way.<\/p>\n

If we call people into a local church body the way He did \u2013 counting the cost of discipleship, the privilege of family and the glory of serving Jesus together \u2013 He\u2019ll do the adding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How not to become a member of a church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5563,"template":"","meta":{"_jf_save_progress":"","footnotes":""},"worship-options":[],"women-ministry-category":[],"featured-options":[],"current-issues":[],"series":[],"series-categories":[],"global-categories":[559,1712],"topics":[293,647,603,439,605,470,621,478,489],"author_speaker":[425],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/3361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/3361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"worship-options","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/worship-options?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"women-ministry-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/women-ministry-category?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"featured-options","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-options?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"current-issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-issues?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"series-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series-categories?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"global-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/global-categories?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"author_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/four12global.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author_speaker?post=3361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}