The present statistics are compelling. The church is shrinking, not growing. Point the finger in any direction: secular culture, godless politics, hypocritical members, uncaring pastors. In the end, though, each church member must take responsibility.
I am a church member. I bet you are, too. But are we the kind of members who will turn the tide of these dismal statistics? I’ve been dissatisfied with a church. I bet you have, too. Dissatisfaction is as old as Eden. It starts with making my desires and my preferences primary. This attitude, of course, presents itself in many ways. We think and say things like: “I just don’t connect to the message.” “The music is too ______.” “No one says ‘Hi!’ to me.” “Our small group feels contrived.” “There are so many hypocrites.”
Do these examples sound judgmental? I hope not. I’m simply admitting what I’ve said.
Put simply, each of us either thinks biblically about church membership or we don’t. We either serve or we are self-serving. We’re either functional members or dysfunctional complainers.
I Am a Church Member prods us by asking, “Which kind of member am I?” Through this book we undergo a robust church membership assessment in which Thom Rainer, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, invites us to carefully and prayerfully take six pledges. During this assessment, Scripture shapes Rainer’s wisdom, all the while fixing the reader’s gaze on Christ, the head of the church. And with each pledge, he pushes us toward self-examination, discerning the difference between dissatisfied and functional membership in the church. Read more
I Am a Church Member is a good book for small groups to read and study together.
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