Membership Has Its Privileges

In John 15, Jesus reminds His disciples, including each of us who have accepted Him, that He has chosen us and has called us by a new name:15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.   A sense of belonging - that is what we gain when we lose ourselves and surrender our lives to Jesus.  We have been admitted to membership in the greatest entity on heaven and earth - the body of Christ, the church of the living God.   And, no one is excluded - we meet the conditions for membership not by our human effort - our works - or our human identity, but because of who Christ is and what He did for us on the cross and by rising up from the dead.   So, He calls us now to be adopted into His family and become part of His kingdom, a kingdom marked by love, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.


1st Corinthians chapter 6 reminds us that we are members of the body of Christ - we've been accepted into His family:
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.   We have a new Lord and a new nature in Christ:  19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.


USA Today reports that for the first time in over three quarters of a century, women will be allowed to become members of the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club, site of the annual Masters tournament.   When the club re-opens this fall, former Secretary of State and Alabaman native Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina business executive Darla Moore will be the first female members of the club.

Chairman Billy Payne made the announcement, ending years of debate about admitting women to become members.   He said that, "This is a significant and positive time in our Club's history and, on behalf of our membership, I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome them and all of our new members into the Augusta National family."    

This decision comes almost 10 years after a dust-up with the head of a woman's organization calling for female members, and the chairman at the time said that the club would not change its policies by force.

The announcement has been largely well-received, and can have some great meaning for us about concepts of "belonging" and "voice".   As Christians, we have been invited to join an entity - not an exclusive club, but the church of the living God.   And, the invitation has gone out to "whosoever will".   The barriers to membership in the body of Christ are not physical, but are spiritual in nature - our sin, human pride, dependence on self, resistance to God - these are what keep us out of fellowship with God.   But, once we accept Christ, we're in - we belong to Him.

And, we recognize really the inclusive nature of Christ - He gives a voice, a purpose to all who will receive Him - the only conditions are that we believe in His death and resurrection and confess Him as Lord, which has some enormous implications for our lives.  He doesn't require for us to conquer all sin before we come in, but once we're in, He does call us to submit to His Lordship and allow Him to change us from the inside.   

Today, on The Meeting House, we will be discussing our roles in the body of Christ - members of His church.   Patrick Morley will address how men are to submit to God, which will be expressed in our behavior and the way we lead.  And, Rosalie de Rosset will view a woman's role and her voice, in light of errant cultural messages that suggest to women that they become unduly submissive or overly domineering.   And, Sissy Goff will highlight our roles as Christian parents in raising godly children.

We belong to Christ, and as we are taken in to become members of His family, He brings value to our lives and puts us in a valuable place.