“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

We are frequently required by any number of organizations to present evidence of our membership so that we may gain entrance. We can’t get in to the gym without our membership number, the bank wants our account number before we can get to our money and our jobs require an ID badge to enter. This, of course, is not the way the church works. There is no one standing at the building entrance to verify whether you are a member before you can worship with the church. In fact, we are delighted to see you if you are not a member and we welcome you as an honored guest. One wonders, however, what would occur if those who were members were required to give proof. It is not a practice that we encourage but one that sparks thought for the purpose of this article.

Could we show by our attendance that we are members of this church? It can be quite astonishing to find how very rare some folks come together with the saints and still consider themselves members. We, of course, find that there are those who—though they wish to assemble—are simply not capable. It should go without saying that we are not addressing these, but rather those who have decided to make worship an occasional affair in their lives. Would we be able to present the same attendance records at our jobs as we have with the church and still be considered full time employees? For some we predict that this is wholly unlikely. How can we hope to stir up love and good works in others, and receive the same in turn, if we are perpetually absent from God’s people? “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

What of our involvement? Would proof of our membership be found in the degree that we involve ourselves with the church? Let us keep in mind that the church is the people—not the building. When we consider our involvement do we only consider three hours on Sunday and one on Wednesday? Are we familiar with the other members? Our association is likened to that of the human body. While this illustration provides us with a number of applications, let us consider the intimacy involved. Two members of the same body could hardly be estranged—not in a normal body. The same is true in the illustration of a family. While we could probably think of family members from whom we are alienated, this is not the desirable arrangement. “That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:25). Our relationships with other members of the local church are to be close ones that are established on stronger and more stable foundations than any other association on earth.

We need to examine ourselves to consider whether we are contributing members of the local church or if we simply have our name “on a roll.” If we simply have our name on the roll then we cannot enjoy what God has to offer us in this organization which He authorized. We have frequent opportunity to consider the crucial sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:7). We have consistent occasion to study God’s word with those of like faith (Psalm 1). We receive a family that considers not only our physical well being, but more importantly our eternal destination (Matthew 12:48-50). When we are truly members we receive edification that no other organization can offer (Ephesians 4:16).