I am a member of...

Hi, my name is Bruce, and I am a sinner.


Last month (wow, did that go by fast), I was pondering the meaning of church membership. I remember once asking some people in a church I served what they thought it meant to be a member, and the general consensus seemed to be, “not much.” I remember thinking, “How sad!”, but somehow I didn’t pursue it after that. But today, finally, I want to respond.

If we think that belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean much, we simply have not been paying attention. Almighty God, creator and sustainer of the universe, chose to become one of the very human beings he had created, and who had turned their backs on him. He did this not to punish us; he did this because he loves us so passionately that he can’t stand the thought of losing us to our own folly. In Jesus of Nazareth, born into time some 2000 years ago, God came to undo the terrible damage we had done in our disobedience. In our fallen humanity we had not only condemned ourselves, but we had placed an unbearable burden on the rest of the physical universe, as well. We had thrown everything out of balance, and we had no way to restore that balance. Only God could do that, and because he loves us more than we can imagine, God chose to do whatever it took. What it took was a perfect human life, which only Jesus the Son of God could live, offered as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin. The justice which God had built into the fabric of creation could only be restored when the debt was paid, and only a sinless life could pay that debt.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NLT) We hear this verse so often we sometimes forget to think about what it means; kind of like our church membership. God did this for us, and chooses to adopt us who were lost and without hope. Through the death and resurrection of his Son, God makes it possible for us to be brought back into his own family.

When we join a church, when we declare ourselves to be Christians, we are saying that we get it; that we understand, at least a little, our own need and the terrible price God was willing to pay on our behalf. When we join a church we declare that we were lost but have been found; orphaned but now adopted; dead but now brought into new LIFE. Joining this church, or any Christian church, is all about the grace of God, and our need to receive it. It is much more like joining AA than some exclusive social club. We are here not because we deserve any such favor, but because we are desperate for the only eternal hope there is, which is God’s mercy and grace.

Hi, my name is Bruce, and I am a sinner, saved by grace. I have been in recovery for 41 years now, and by God’s grace I live every day striving to grow up into the likeness of Christ.