Joining a Church vs. Joining the Body of Christ
 
One of my old professors, James Loder, used to say: “People cannot be socialized into the Gospel; a transformation is required.” It’s bad news for most churches, because we tend to believe that if one of our neighbors shows up for a pancake breakfast he might be mysteriously compelled to belief. While that may happen from time to time (and praise God when it does), it is the clear exception, the long shot. Coming to authentic faith is like being pulled through a knothole in an unwieldy board. No easy trip. Coming to Christ cannot be anything like signing up for the Book of the Month Club or joining the local Rotary. It can’t be like these things because it is not something that can be done lightly, or even by our own volition. Those who come to faith do so firstly because they are called and drawn, not because it was deemed a wise choice. There is a vast difference between joining a church and joining the Church. The former can be like joining a gym; the latter must be like joining the Marines. During wartime. What Professor Loder tells us is that the Gospel is something utterly unlike a community organization, chiefly because it requires total commitment and a heart-wrenching, soul-enveloping change, after which everything else in our lives takes on a new and diminutive status. Going from “normal” life to a life of faith is like heart surgery and brain surgery combined. Perhaps the knothole image is a bit light. Remember, Jesus spoke of a needle’s eye, and that was for a camel! Transformation is more than a personal decision; it requires something above and beyond the self acting upon the self to change it forever. This is why we don’t speak easily of our making “decisions for Christ.” Strictly speaking, we don’t choose--we are chosen. We don’t find God; God has found us, and though our response to being found may look like coming forward at the end of a service to say a sinner’s prayer, we are nonetheless responding to God’s call more than we are initiating faith. Transformation means that we are remade and reborn, our hearts of stone removed and replaced by hearts of flesh. We are “new creatures”, as Paul says, which cannot happen without a radical abandonment of our former ways. Any kind of church membership that implies you can become a Christian and still have all the old things. . .lies. You can keep your old life if you just join a church, same as joining the PTA or the YMCA, but if you want to be part of The Church--the Body of Christ--it will cost you everything you have, everything you are, and everything you ever hoped to become. That is the needle’s eye, and it is why most camels don’t so much as stop for a second look at needles.Here at First Pres, we are--and must always remain--more concerned with the transformation into new faith than merely in church membership. Our evangelical task is not “getting new church members,” but assisting in the transforming, life-changing work of Christ. Our neighbors need us on both sides of that knothole, and our greatest joy is helping them through, even if we get ourselves resqueezed a few times over the years. Let’s leave mere socializing to the social clubs. We’re in this for the long haul and there are lots of camels out there hoping for rescue. Let’s be sure to play for keeps.
Monday, September 18, 2006