The progressivism of a modern culture produces people, thinking or unthinking, who stand not upon weighty words expressed in covenant but ever progressing ideas and morals that aim at change. This progressivism is married to an individualism in the church today that erodes the foundations of meaning she is built and lives upon. Individualism puts man and his needs at the center of existence, and all reality orbits around the individual to bring him happiness and fulfillment. If individual happiness and fulfillment is not being found then the progressive reality must be altered at whatever the cost for the glory of the individual. As a church looks back at God’s faithfulness to a particular church for five years and ahead to his promises to that church made in his Word, what will keep that church from giving way to this same progressivism and individualism?
The answer is tied to a foundation of and commitment to covenant church membership. Membership carries with it the idea of binding. The church is God’s gathering of his redeemed into a particular people. Those people become the “body” or “living stones” or “a holy nation”. Yet in all these metaphors for his church there must be something that binds them. That which binds his church together is the common confession of the one true God in his triune nature as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therefore all who have been born again by the Spirit of God for faith in Jesus Christ for salvation have the right to be called the children of God. And a people who gather together in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit calling upon the Father in Brunswick with a same people from another county, state or nation can say they are the church and members of one another. However, there is a bond in that situation that is missing. There is the bond of particular membership or covenant vows.
The bond that is necessary in the church for her to continue in faithfulness toward the future is the bond of covenant membership vows. While our nation continues not fully overthrown by progressivism two people shacking up together cannot call them selves “married”. They have not been joined together through the exchange of vows, they have only said, “I like you”. Therefore they are not bound. And the same is true in the church. A person who confesses faith in Jesus Christ as Lord through the Spirit claiming to be a child of God cannot shack up with his church. He must submit himself to the Lordship and government of his Savior by binding himself together with a particular body of other believers through the taking of vows. This idea is out of vogue and has been and the insistence on this seems antiquated. C.S.Lewis said in The Weight of Glory, “The very word membership is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all meaning. … I am afraid that when we describe a man as ‘a member of the Church’ we usually mean nothing Pauline; we mean only that he is a unit—that he is one more specimen of some kind of things as X and Y and Z.” Therefore because “membership” has lost its meaning we have no place for it in our progressive minds and lives. But membership is the declaration to the world that we belong to Christ and to a particular church that we are members of one another (Rom.12:5). A groom gathered at the alter to be married would be foolish to stand by making vows to his wife while making googly eyes with someone in the congregation, or at the reception to spend the whole time dancing with another woman. He has just declared to others and to his wife in the vows and the exchanging of rings that he belongs to her and no one else.
When the church considers covenant membership vows she must consider her covenant God. God has revealed himself as the Creating and Redeeming God. And in his creating and redeeming he carries this out in covenant. In relationship to himself he decrees, speaks and acts in perfect accord with the relationship he has to himself in his unchanging eternal nature. When he creates and redeems man he does so by way of a covenant relationship. He binds himself to the creature making promises and keeping them in love. We enter into relationship with him through his covenant of grace where he binds himself to us and us to himself. Therefore our covenant membership vows are a reflection of and are carried out in obedience to his glory. As he keeps covenant with his church so his church keeps covenant with him in living in his church in an accountable manner through member vows. To deny covenant membership vows is to deny the very nature of God and his work in creation and redemption.
Taking and living by vows in his church is necessary for all those professing faith in Jesus Christ. Progressivism tells us to abandon this antiquated way of living by words and “traditions” that are not relevant and necessary today. It says change is needed in the church and we see where these ideas have landed us today. Those words cannot be trusted. They must be changed to fit our changing culture. Individualism tells us that if a person or a group of people are not meeting your needs then leave them and go where you can offer something of yourself and get something from others for the bettering of self. Taking, renewing through repentance and faith, and continuing to live by covenant membership vows is neither progressive nor individualistic. It is faithful covenant keeping proclaiming to the world that you belong to God in Christ because of the work he has done toward you and in you. And it is professing to one another in the church that you belong to one another in love and truth.
Showing posts with label church membership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church membership. Show all posts
Friday, January 7, 2011
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Vow Church
"Go where you are sent, stay where you're put, and do what you're asked." Major Ian Thomas
I stood facing my wife 21 years ago with her hands in my hands promising “to love and to cherish her till death do us part.” I was taking a vow to love my wife as Christ loved the church (Eph.5:25), and that vow before God and man was to be expressed in a daily life of the activity of love to Noelle. Now I have the privilege of standing before God and man to lead them through the taking of vows into meaningful loving relationships in the covenant of marriage. But I also have the same privilege in leading those professing faith in Christ through vows into the covenant of church membership.
As those who have professed faith in Christ come before the congregation of saints in the particular church at Redeemer Presbyterian they are charged to assent to the following vows acknowledging that they are making declarations and promises in a solemn covenant before God and his church:
1. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
4. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
5. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
God by his providence has placed each person and family in this particular congregation of saints, and through these vows is calling them to live in the daily activity of love. It is as though God is saying, “Do you promise to love and cherish my church in the daily activity of your life as I have placed you here by my sovereign will and pleasure?” In the taking of these vows the church member is not merely promising to show up each week to be entertained or soothed by familiar relationships, but to live in the activity of love toward God’s church.
Living as a vow keeping church is our privilege. God has gifted each of his children with money, natural and spiritual gifts, relationships, time, possessions and prayer. It is through all of these that we can actively plan to love his church in the keeping of vows. Jesus teaches us to give. He says, “When you give” (Mt.6:2) not “If you give.” He has ascended into heaven and given gifts to men that the church through the loving use of those gifts we may become mature in Christ (Eph.4:10-16). He has given us one another that we may live in a “one anothering” manner in love. This love may be expressed in encouragement, exhortation, example, correction, rebuke, restoration and confrontation. We are to love in wisdom making the best use of the time (Eph.5:16). We can love with what he has given us through hospitality even when our homes are a mess or our children are young. And we are to love through praying for one another and the church and her ministries. The church is not a mall where there is something for everyone. It is not a theater with 10 different movies showing where we seek our own particular choice of entertainment. The church is the visible body of Christ and his treasured possession expressing love in the keeping of vows. Therefore the church is a visible picture of the cross of Christ. It is at the cross that God demonstrates his love to us while we were sinners justly deserving his wrath and displeasure. It is at the cross that we see God’s covenant keeping love secured and exercised toward all those for whom Christ died. Therefore the church takes her vows before God in the shadow of the cross where they promise to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters in love in the avenues of worship and work for the glory of God in his church.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay in paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.” (Eccl.5:4) The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, and the fool says in his heart there is no God (Pr.1:7; Ps.14:1). Therefore those who take vows must do so before God, with the right knowledge of God and the vow they take lest they be fools in whom God takes no pleasure. A vow keeping church goes where she is sent in his providence, stays where she is put to keep those vows and does what she is asked in a life of love to God and his church.
I stood facing my wife 21 years ago with her hands in my hands promising “to love and to cherish her till death do us part.” I was taking a vow to love my wife as Christ loved the church (Eph.5:25), and that vow before God and man was to be expressed in a daily life of the activity of love to Noelle. Now I have the privilege of standing before God and man to lead them through the taking of vows into meaningful loving relationships in the covenant of marriage. But I also have the same privilege in leading those professing faith in Christ through vows into the covenant of church membership.
As those who have professed faith in Christ come before the congregation of saints in the particular church at Redeemer Presbyterian they are charged to assent to the following vows acknowledging that they are making declarations and promises in a solemn covenant before God and his church:
1. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
4. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
5. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
God by his providence has placed each person and family in this particular congregation of saints, and through these vows is calling them to live in the daily activity of love. It is as though God is saying, “Do you promise to love and cherish my church in the daily activity of your life as I have placed you here by my sovereign will and pleasure?” In the taking of these vows the church member is not merely promising to show up each week to be entertained or soothed by familiar relationships, but to live in the activity of love toward God’s church.
Living as a vow keeping church is our privilege. God has gifted each of his children with money, natural and spiritual gifts, relationships, time, possessions and prayer. It is through all of these that we can actively plan to love his church in the keeping of vows. Jesus teaches us to give. He says, “When you give” (Mt.6:2) not “If you give.” He has ascended into heaven and given gifts to men that the church through the loving use of those gifts we may become mature in Christ (Eph.4:10-16). He has given us one another that we may live in a “one anothering” manner in love. This love may be expressed in encouragement, exhortation, example, correction, rebuke, restoration and confrontation. We are to love in wisdom making the best use of the time (Eph.5:16). We can love with what he has given us through hospitality even when our homes are a mess or our children are young. And we are to love through praying for one another and the church and her ministries. The church is not a mall where there is something for everyone. It is not a theater with 10 different movies showing where we seek our own particular choice of entertainment. The church is the visible body of Christ and his treasured possession expressing love in the keeping of vows. Therefore the church is a visible picture of the cross of Christ. It is at the cross that God demonstrates his love to us while we were sinners justly deserving his wrath and displeasure. It is at the cross that we see God’s covenant keeping love secured and exercised toward all those for whom Christ died. Therefore the church takes her vows before God in the shadow of the cross where they promise to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters in love in the avenues of worship and work for the glory of God in his church.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay in paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.” (Eccl.5:4) The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, and the fool says in his heart there is no God (Pr.1:7; Ps.14:1). Therefore those who take vows must do so before God, with the right knowledge of God and the vow they take lest they be fools in whom God takes no pleasure. A vow keeping church goes where she is sent in his providence, stays where she is put to keep those vows and does what she is asked in a life of love to God and his church.
Word Church
"Go where you are sent, stay where you're put, and do what you're asked." Major Ian Thomas
We often do not stay where we are put and do what we are asked because of the trials we face where we are sent. We tend to think that we are meant for more glory in the present than the trials allow and we must go searching until we find that glory or escape the trials that are keeping us from a realized glory in the present. Like Israel we groan to be free from slavery in Egypt and after we are set free into trials we groan for the glory of leeks and melons that were found back in bondage. And yet there is nothing wrong with a yearning for glory. It is the reality of being an image bearer of the all glorious God who is himself the essence of glory. But as broken image bearers we are confused how that glory we long for is actually fulfilled to us.
In Deuteronomy 8:3 we are taught that man does not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And in 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul tells us that the Word of God is his breathed out word. Therefore that which we are meant to live upon is the Scriptures. But what we often miss in the Deuteronomy passage is what God tells his people precedes finding out that the Word of God is the true food. He tells us there that he humbled them bringing trials upon them so that they would know that we do not live on bread alone. It is the trials that lead God’s people to his Word where they find that in the midst of unattained glory in trial God is the all satisfying and sufficient God who reveals himself to his people as the true food. Therefore trials bring us to God’s means of giving himself to us in all his glory through his word. The glory we long for as the image bearers of God is really the glory of our Creator and Redeemer and he reveals himself to us in his Word in the midst of trials. Therefore if where we are sent and put brings us into trials it is so that we may learn to do what is asked, holding fast to the Word of God and finding the all glorious God feeding us through the means of his Word. But in these days of modernity where relativism and experiencing God through self fulfilled means rules the day we need to be reminded of why we can stay put on the Scriptures.
Steven Lawson addressed this issue at this years Ligonier Conference in Orlando by giving ten reason why he as an evangelical Christian is persuaded the Bible is the Word of God. Here the following ten reasons: The Bible’s Direct Claims, Perfect Unity, Reliable Transmission, Historical Accuracy, Scientific Accuracy, Fulfilled Prophecies, Jesus Christ’s Testimony to the Bible, Amazing Indestructibility, Ethical Superiority, and the Bibles Supernatural Power. You can listen to his excellent message online at ligonier.org.
The Bible is God’s sole source of authority in the life of the church. Christ rules over us through his Word and by the Spirit. Therefore we must hold fast to the Scriptures alone in the midst of the trials of this life as he brings us through a life of redemption until we are glorified with him. Learn to read, study and memorize God’s Word. Prayerfully hear it preached and taught as you draw near to God by faith as he speaks to you in His Word. This is our foundation for going where we are sent, staying where we are put and doing what we are asked. I pray we will be a church of the Word.
We often do not stay where we are put and do what we are asked because of the trials we face where we are sent. We tend to think that we are meant for more glory in the present than the trials allow and we must go searching until we find that glory or escape the trials that are keeping us from a realized glory in the present. Like Israel we groan to be free from slavery in Egypt and after we are set free into trials we groan for the glory of leeks and melons that were found back in bondage. And yet there is nothing wrong with a yearning for glory. It is the reality of being an image bearer of the all glorious God who is himself the essence of glory. But as broken image bearers we are confused how that glory we long for is actually fulfilled to us.
In Deuteronomy 8:3 we are taught that man does not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And in 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul tells us that the Word of God is his breathed out word. Therefore that which we are meant to live upon is the Scriptures. But what we often miss in the Deuteronomy passage is what God tells his people precedes finding out that the Word of God is the true food. He tells us there that he humbled them bringing trials upon them so that they would know that we do not live on bread alone. It is the trials that lead God’s people to his Word where they find that in the midst of unattained glory in trial God is the all satisfying and sufficient God who reveals himself to his people as the true food. Therefore trials bring us to God’s means of giving himself to us in all his glory through his word. The glory we long for as the image bearers of God is really the glory of our Creator and Redeemer and he reveals himself to us in his Word in the midst of trials. Therefore if where we are sent and put brings us into trials it is so that we may learn to do what is asked, holding fast to the Word of God and finding the all glorious God feeding us through the means of his Word. But in these days of modernity where relativism and experiencing God through self fulfilled means rules the day we need to be reminded of why we can stay put on the Scriptures.
Steven Lawson addressed this issue at this years Ligonier Conference in Orlando by giving ten reason why he as an evangelical Christian is persuaded the Bible is the Word of God. Here the following ten reasons: The Bible’s Direct Claims, Perfect Unity, Reliable Transmission, Historical Accuracy, Scientific Accuracy, Fulfilled Prophecies, Jesus Christ’s Testimony to the Bible, Amazing Indestructibility, Ethical Superiority, and the Bibles Supernatural Power. You can listen to his excellent message online at ligonier.org.
The Bible is God’s sole source of authority in the life of the church. Christ rules over us through his Word and by the Spirit. Therefore we must hold fast to the Scriptures alone in the midst of the trials of this life as he brings us through a life of redemption until we are glorified with him. Learn to read, study and memorize God’s Word. Prayerfully hear it preached and taught as you draw near to God by faith as he speaks to you in His Word. This is our foundation for going where we are sent, staying where we are put and doing what we are asked. I pray we will be a church of the Word.
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