Member of ???

I have been thinking recently about what it means to be a member of a church. Why would someone want to have their name on the list of Professing Members of a United Methodist Church, or of Faith United Methodist Church in particular? What expectations are there, if any, because one’s name is on that list?


I guess what got me started on this tangent was working on the State of the Communion address I presented a week ago, as well as beginning the season of Lent. Lent has been part of the Church calendar for a very long time, as a season of reflection and self-examination. It grew out of the practice of the early church to require a period of learning about and living out what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic catechism is an example of how this is played out even today. During the early years of the Church, due in part to the persecution they were going through, Church leaders required people to show they really meant it when they professed turning their lives over to Christ. Within just a generation or two after the events we read of in scripture, persons who professed belief had to go through a time of teaching and testing before they could even be baptized.

I sometimes wonder what our responses would be if we suddenly had to pass a test before we could become members of our churches today. How would we fare if we had to show by the way we lived, by the way we served, by the way we witnessed to others our faith in Christ, that we could justify being called Christians?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t forgotten GRACE. The more you get to know me, the more you will know that I am all about grace. But grace poured out on us so richly and freely demands a response. Not that we could pay for it or earn it in any way, but a response.

When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, he spent ¾ of the letter describing all the amazing things God had done and was doing. He went on and on about God’s grace in sending his Son to die for us “while we were yet sinners.” Then, after such a song of praise, he writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [or reasonable] worship” (Romans 12:1 NRSV). Paul understood, and wanted believers to understand, that after considering all God had done and continues to do for us, there is only one reasonable response, and that is total sell-out, total surrender. Anything else spits in the face of the One who moves heaven and earth to restore the relationship we broke. Anything else shows that we don’t really get it, that we don’t have a clue about our own need or about the salvation God has made possible through his Son.

So, back to my original musing. What does it mean to be a member of a Church? If we are being honest and wish to consider our lives in the Church with integrity, it must mean being a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ; it must mean constantly yearning and striving for more of God’s Spirit in me so that I can be made holy, as my Father in heaven is holy. That is what we are about this Lent season. In worship and on Wednesday evenings we are walking through some of the ways God has given us to accomplish that goal. I hope you will come and let us learn together, and that you will begin at least one new practice during this season and beyond, so that God has one more open door into your heart to do his amazing work of sanctifying grace.

What, Me Worry?

The great American philosopher Alfred E. Newman* once said, “What, me worry?”  I have been contemplating lately the uncomfortable fact that I am not in control of my world. As I write this, I am finishing preparations for a special Ash Wednesday worship service, scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Also as I write this, I look out my window and see some incredibly beautiful snowflakes falling down as part of what is supposed to be 1-3 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. So naturally I worry about the weather forcing us to cancel plans for this service and other activities here at the church where I serve as pastor.


Now, there is nothing I can do about the weather; I have absolutely no say in whether the snow continues for the next 48 hours or stops in the next 45 seconds. And yet I spend mental, emotional and spiritual energy on worrying about whether we will be able to have this service, or have other scheduled events. I worry that someone will get hurt on their way to or from one of these events if we don’t cancel them. I worry about whether people will begin to wonder what they are paying me for if we keep canceling events. I worry about the church being able to pay our bills if we keep having such weather experiences. I worry...

A very wise man (much wiser than Newman!) once said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34). Jesus’ words offer people like me grace in the face of our tendency to worry. It is as if he is telling me, “If you can’t make yourself stop worrying (a much better frame of mind, by the way), at least try to limit yourself to one day at a time. There is enough to focus on in this one day, this one moment. You are liable to explode if you try to take on too much worry at one time.” I think he is right, too. I have felt like I was right on the verge of my head blowing up at times. Or maybe that is just my allergies to cats?

So, what to do? Should I worry about worrying too much? Can I handle that one more thing to worry about? Or could I perhaps choose a saner approach and pause to thank God that I am not in charge of tomorrow, or even of very much of today. I am pretty sure most of us would not like the results very much if I was. There was way too much truth in the movie “Bruce Almighty” for my comfort.

A saner approach would be, as I said, to celebrate the one who really is in charge. To work every day at giving away one piece of my desire to control and to confess my lack of trust. To echo a father many years ago who cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

And then to sit back a moment and really pay attention to those beautiful snowflakes while they last. But wait, they have stopped! I wonder if I should be worried about that?

*Alfred E Newman.  Oh come on, you know, from MAD Magazine.  You know you used to love it!