Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 2001

Joining the Parish

Robert Putnam has documented a recent trend in his book, Bowling Alone . In that book Putnam states that bowling is today the most popular competitive sport in America; more popular than jogging, golf, baseball or even soccer. Everybody likes to bowl: men and women, couples and singles, young and old. Americans are bowling more than ever. However, there is an important change. During the 1960s and 70s league bowling dominated the sport. Presently, people are bowling alone, or with informal groups.

The leagues have nearly disappeared in the last 25 years -- something that alarms bowling lane owners. Why is this so? League bowlers consume three times as much beer and pizza as do solo bowlers, and the money in bowling is in the beer and pizza, not the balls and shoes. Though such a detail is insignificant, Putnam's book goes beyond bowling. He makes plain the tendency of Americans toward individualism. People are increasingly more isolated and disconnected from each other. They shun cohesive groups.

This radical individualism has many consequences. For our purposes, the most harmful effect is the deterioration of the Church. A growing number of Christians are buying into this atomistic worldview, and "churching alone," or pursuing their spirituality apart from church membership. Nearly the same percentage of people attend church on any given Sunday as they did before, but they are not joining. They prefer a privatized religion, bouncing around from congregation to congregation, or attending megachurches, where by dint of size, they can avoid personal face to face engagement with other believers. There is hence a significant decline in formal church membership. This is the problem we will wrestle with today. Does the Bible have anything to say about joining the church? Is Church membership mentioned at all in Scripture?

We can begin with 1 Timothy 3:1. There St. Paul tells Timothy, "This is a faithful saying: if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work." A bishop is a man of authority in the Church, he is an overseer. There is no explicit statement here about Church membership, but there is an implicit one. What or whom does a bishop oversee? How can he provide spiritual oversight if he doesn't know exactly those for whom he is responsible? A distinguishable, mutually understood membership is required for him to fulfill his bounden duty.

In the same passage the apostle Paul says, "for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Tim. 3:5). The local church is compared to a family. Here is a requirement for ministers in the Church. If they can't run their own families, then they are not qualified to run the household of God. We can't get around the family nature of the parish. The point is this: the Church is a family. Is anyone a casual member of a family? No. You're either in or out. Membership in a family is a very definite thing.

Likewise, Paul instructed the presbyters of the church of Ephesus, "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." Again the need for joining a local parish is implied. Shepherds know which sheep belong to them and which don't. They shepherd their own flock. In like manner, how can we as presbyters fulfill our responsibility as undershepherds to "all the flock" unless we know who is part of the flock and who is not? There has to be some form of identification. A simple membership list is the logical solution.

The idea of spiritual authority is declared in Hebrews 13:17. There it says, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."

The ministers of the parish are to watch over you by providing spiritual protection for you and caring about your growth in Christ. You place yourself outside that spiritual watch and care unless you join a local church. [I am indebted to Donald S. Whitney's book, Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church for many of these insights. Highly recommended!]

The next pertinent text is Acts five. A few of you may be familiar with this episode in the early Church. The first believers in the Church of Jerusalem were selling their possessions and giving the proceeds to the parish. A married couple named Ananias and Sapphira put on a big show as if they were giving their last penny, when in fact they were withholding part for themselves. They thought they could fool the members and get away with it. They got caught. What happened to Ananias and Sapphira after they lied to the Holy Spirit? They were slain. God Himself did it. They died. Acts 5:12-13 explains the reaction of the others to their demise. "None of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly." The unbelievers had great respect for the Christians, but for a while after this incident none who claimed to be believers, but were merely superficial believers, wanted to join the Church. What kind of joining are we talking about here?

In Greek, the word "join" literally means "to glue or cement together, to unite, to join firmly." It doesn't refer to an informal, merely assumed, sort of relationship, but one where you choose to "glue" or "join" yourself firmly to the others. Again, that kind of language only makes sense in the context of membership.

Let us examine a few other biblical texts that advocate joining a parish. The combination of Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 build a compelling case. In Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus gave us instructions on how the church should respond when someone within the parish persists in living like an unbeliever. In order to recover a wandering sheep the Lord insisted that a careful procedure must be followed. If we go painstakingly through each step and stage and the person persists in his or her sin, then the last step is excommunication. A decree is made before the congregation the unrepentant sinner is barred from the table of the Lord, and removed from membership.

We read of a specific case of this kind of church discipline in 1 Corinthians 5 when the apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, instructed the Church of Corinth how to handle a member practicing incest and fornication. In verses 11-13 Saint Paul says, "But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner -- not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person" (1 Cor. 5:11-13).

There was a sexually immoral man in this local church. Was Paul simply telling them not to let this man go to church with them because he was acting like an unbeliever instead of a Christian? No, he couldn't have meant that, for we know from other places in this letter that unbelievers were welcome to attend church meetings. Even when they obeyed Paul's instructions to "put away from yourselves the evil person" and consider the man an unbeliever, they would have allowed (even welcomed) him to come and sit under the preaching of God's Word like any other person in town, though he would be denied the Eucharist. So in what sense would they have "put away" this man?

The best way of explaining how they would have put away this man is to understand that they removed him from the membership of the church and generally stopped associating with him outside the worship services of the parish.

Notice that Paul refers to those who are "inside" and to those who are "outside." Outside what? As we've noted, anyone could attend their meetings. This kind of language can only refer to a definite church membership of converted people. An outsider becomes an insider when he is put on the membership list. And an insider becomes an outsider when his name is taken off the parish register.

Granted, making yourself accountable to church authority does not sound all that attractive in our culture. But we have to get over this autonomous, anti-authoritarian attitude. It is not healthy. Hierarchy is not a necessary evil, it is a blessing.

Besides that, joining a local parish puts flesh on the Body of Christ. The primary metaphors for the Church are the Body of Christ, the flock of sheep, the temple, and the family of God. Now are these merely invisible realities? Is the Body of Christ a gnostic, spiritual figure without any material, physical existence? Of course not! A body has tangible flesh and bones; a flock has wooly, bleating sheep; a temple has hard, square stones; and a family has laughing, crying children. Now if a body is supposed to be physical and visible, how can it be seen? You make it visible when you join the body of Christ. Committed, involved membership gives a living demonstration of the spiritual reality of the body of Christ. You show that even though you are an individual, you are a part of the body and you are joined together with others. You take the body of Christ out of the realm of the theoretical and give it a meaning that people can see.

Isn't a local, visible church the Bible's primary concern? Such an entity is called a parish. A parish includes the people and territory around a local church. This is the traditional understanding of a parish, and the parish model has well served the Church down through the ages. As traditional Anglicans, we have a high view of the Church. She is central to society. We prize her sacraments. We are confident that by God's grace, the Church Militant will one day conquer the world. She is the eternal, indestructible, indefectible, enchanting Bride of Christ. We love her, and if we truly love her we will want to join her, and commit ourselves to her mission. Scripture does not smile on a detached, lone ranger approach to the faith.

Believers along for the ride, or merely interested in surfing from congregation to congregation do not display a high view of the Church. Consider a hitchhiker. He wants a free ride. He assumes no responsibility for the money needed to buy the car, the gas to run it, or the cost of maintenance. He expects a comfortable ride and adequate safety. He assumes the driver has insurance covering him in case of an accident. He thinks little of asking the driver to take him to a certain place even though it may involve extra miles or inconvenience.

Think about the spiritual hitchhiker who has decided where he wants to attend church, and gets on board. He wants all the benefits and privileges of that parish's ministry without taking any responsibility for it. His attitude is all take and no give. He wants no accountability, just a free ride. The world recommends spiritual hitchhiking because it believes that the center of modern life is the individual: unattached, unencumbered, and self-defined. The world accepts the myth of the sovereign self. Our society promotes the pursuit of an individual happiness. And what is the fruit of seeking individual satisfaction? Loneliness, depression, sickness, and suicide. Putnam's Bowling Alone documents this fact. Individualism is empty. Egotistical detachment is not the view of Christianity.

Moreover, since disconnected believers don't have contact with other Christians, they often gravitate toward peripheral, oddball positions. Dedicated members become well rounded and balanced in their walk with Christ. Many Christians are not content because their connection with and commitment to the Body of Christ is so tenuous. Cut off from face to face fellowship with other Christians they miss a crucial means of grace. The Bible teaches the blessing of belonging to others. If we profess to be Christians, our lives are intertwined, and we have a duty to strive for the good of others. Therefore, we will not doubt the advantage of becoming a member of a local parish.

Of course the decision to join a parish should not be made quickly. A wise person evaluates a church carefully before joining its membership. Some of you here today are in the evaluation stage. You attend, but you're not yet ready to become a member. But then, how much time should a Christian take before committing himself to a local church? Perhaps the courtship analogy helps here.

Suppose a man loves a woman and sees no one else but her for ten years. Every time they are together he tells her that he loves her, but he never proposes to her. Finally, after a decade she has enough nerve to ask him, "Honey, why haven't you wanted to marry me?" "Why haven't you proposed?"

If he says, "I'm just trying to make sure I found the right woman," how do you think she will feel? Of course, she's glad he says he loves her, and she's thankful for all he does for her, and she's pleased that he doesn't see anyone else, but in spite of all that, she's going to be somewhat discouraged because he doesn't love her enough to decisively commit himself to her. Maybe the search for a marriage partner and the search for a parish have similar time frames. Some people take longer to decide than others. A few of us were very sure who we wanted to marry soon after we began dating. We wasted little time setting a wedding date. Others took longer. But it should not take more than a year and half to decide if the person you are dating is the right one. The same timetable can apply to the local church.

There is a sense in which your attendance and involvement can actually discourage the church, if after a reasonable time you do not join it. On the other hand, the parish is greatly encouraged when, by joining, you indicate that you love the life of the Church and think it is a biblically faithful ministry worthy of your commitment.

The current climate of opinion in America is radically individualistic. Thick clouds of distrust swirl around the ideas of group commitment and hierarchy. It is simply uncool to become involved and committed to a community. As Christians, let us resist this temptation to detachment. Disconnectedness is not good. It weakens the Church. If you love the Word of God preached and taught, and you delight in the grace of the sacraments, and you yearn to be a part of the Church Triumphant in glory, then you will not avoid membership in the Church Militant on earth.

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