When Jesus left this earth and ascended to heaven, he delegated to his disciples the responsibility for continuing his mission, by recruiting followers who would oppose the kingdom of darkness through sharing the Gospel, and establishing the community of his church. He promised them the empowering of the Holy Spirit, who would continue be his presence amongst them. So when the Holy Spirit came in power, on the feast of Pentecost, Peter, speaking for the apostles, put the plan in operation. He urged people to repent and be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. About three thousand joined the church that day.

How important is it to sign up to follow Jesus and to belong to the Christian community? In the early centuries, if you responded to the gospel of Jesus with faith and commitment to follow the Savior, you joined the church through baptism. Membership of the church was synonymous with being a Christian. No longer is this so. There are many more people who would call themselves Christians, who do not belong to an organized church. There are also many people who do belong to a church, who consider themselves members, but who rarely participate in its worship or other activities. There is a disconnect between personal faith and formal membership.

My two daughters were raised in the church but neither have joined a church since leaving home for various legitimate reasons. Both would consider themselves Christians. One of them works on the staff of a church in Texas that is seeker-driven and does not emphasize membership. Its website acknowledges the problems unchurched people have with churches.

Most churches desperately underestimate the size of the chasm that exists between them and the people in their surrounding communities. People of faith recognize that the events and pursuits of a church are an important priority to their lives. However, people with little or no spiritual interests rarely even think about church apart from weddings, funerals, Easter and Christmas. Add all of the perceptions and experiences they have had with church or church people on top of that and you begin to appreciate the Grand Canyon-sized gap that exists between a church and its community. The perspective of un-churched people about God and church is informed by stereotypes, negative religious experiences, hypocritical Christians they have known or their own disappointment at God over painful episodes in their life. (www.cibolocreek.com)

Notwithstanding this gap between perception and reality Jesus still calls us to share the gospel and recruit disciples, baptizing them into membership of his Body, and teaching them to follow in his steps. He promises to be with us, to empower us, as we do so. He wants to build his church through us, flawed sinners though we may be. We are not commending ourselves, but Christ. (2 Cor.5:11-15) We are not building a personal empire but calling people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and his family on earth, called the church.

What does it mean to be a member of the church? It means believing in the historic faith of the church, as expressed in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. It means professing our personal faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. It means confessing our sins, repenting of them, and putting our trust in the love and mercy of God as revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It means committing ourselves to lead a consistent Christian life, honoring Christ in all our relationships through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. It means promising faithfulness in prayer, Bible study, regular attendance at worship, unselfish Christian service, and stewardship of my life and possessions.

Church membership matters. It is not to be taken lightly. A church should have far more attendees than members, if for no other reason than the members would normally be in attendance along with invited friends, interested guests and visitors. But in reality the number in attendance is usually less than the number on the membership list. A recent survey indicated that a typical church might have 233 members but only 70 in average attendance, i.e. 30%. Our congregation has 432 members and an average attendance last year of 277, i.e. 64%. Better than average but still less than our membership. The average number of members of a Protestant church in the USA is 124.

To avoid the appearance of exclusivity by requiring too much of people, I want to make belonging to and joining the church as simple and easy as possible so that there are not too many hoops for prospects to have to jump through. I want to make the church hospitable and welcoming for everyone who is seeking, and is on a quest for salvation and wholeness. I want to provide a bridge for people to cross over the gap between being an outsider and becoming an insider. Yet, while I don't expect all members to dot every 'i' or cross every 't' of all doctrinal statements, there has to be a good faith effort to commit to grow in the faith, hope and love of Christ; to support the church's purpose, mission, vision and covenant. All members should be willing to fully participate in the community, when they sign the membership covenant. We are called to fulfill the Great Commandment as well as the Great Commission: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34,35) We become part of a loving family, with all that that entails.

If we take seriously our mission to follow Christ and do what he commanded and commissioned us to do, we will make it our business to recruit disciples in our community, and build his church in the power of the Holy Spirit. The battle is the Lord's. We are either fighting for the kingdom of heaven or not. Therefore, we invite our friends and neighbors to join us on the Lord's side. We encourage our guests and visitors, who are regular attenders to sign up and serve with us. "Who is on the Lord's side? Who will serve the King? Who will be his helpers, Other lives to bring?" (Frances Ridley Havergal)

Sign up for Ted's blog at www.ameliachapel.com/blog. Ted's latest book, REAL HOPE is available from tschroder@ameliachapel.com or www.amazon.com.