How Formal Membership Makes the Church a Family
“Communes are just people who happen to live near one another, but a family is a web of organic relationships that develop within defined commitments and roles. If you want the church to be a family, commit to formal church membership.” - 9 Marks
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I find this a helpful treatment of a sometimes difficult subject.
G. N. Barkman
I tend to agree, but…. you have to allow a person to gracefully leave. A lot of church membership opinion comes from people who have attended First Church since they were born. Everyone loves them. They love “everyone.” But, what if you aren’t that accepted by the church? This has happened to me twice in my 28 years as a believer. The people left me in one church. In the other, everyone acted like the church was a big happy family, and I thought so too for about 4 years. Then things changed rapidly. After I while I realized how poorly my wife was treated by other women for no reason. I mean that. No reason. Then a small doctrinal debate I’ve mentioned at SI before.
A person should be able to leave when they have no desire to connect to that body anymore.
I left a church one time that I should not have… but they let me graciously leave.
*I moved a lot for a lot of my Christian early years. I am not a church hopper.
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