Time to Remove ALL Church Members
I've been thinking today and I've come to a conclusion. It's time to remove every church member from my church!
Hold on! Don't go calling the pastor and getting me fired. You need to understand my thought process on this one.
We've all been members of something. In high school I was a member of the National Honors Society and the choir. In college, I was a member of the track team. I've even been a member of the YMCA. Throughout my life I've been a member of a church.
You see, when you enter into a membership type of relationship, you are typically saying you are willingly putting yourself under subjection of the rules, regulations and leadership of that organization. That's not a bad thing; however, this type of relationship can breed within the organization a perception of unempowered members. When a member realizes this situation, they often shut down and freeze up. That's bad for a ministry.
Instead, we should have ministry partners replace our church members. Yes, they are the same people and we are NOT removing any person from the church. Think about it! When you partner with someone or something, you usually have a feeling of empowerment. You know you are valuable to the organization. When people realize they are valuable, they respond appropriately.
Take Luke 5 for example. Jesus gets done speaking and tells Simon to go to the deep water and cast his nets. You know Simon is thinking, "Jesus, I'm tired. I've been out here all night and there's nothing there. But, whatever!" But, when Simon began retrieving the net it broke under the strain of the haul. It was then that he called for his "partners" in the other boat. When they got together, both boats were filled with fish to the point of nearly sinking.
Creating a paradigm shift from members to partners won't be easy, but when people understand they are important and valuable to the work and ministry of the church they will respond appropriately. So, are you a member or a partner?
