As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
If you had to pick the single defining element which makes a Christian community, you would have to pick faith. It is the shared belief in Jesus which brings us together. By that same token, it is the belief in Jesus that separates the organisation known as a 'church' from any other. Churches thus have distinctive elements in their practice and as Paul notes here in Ephesians, the manner in which a believer engages in them is informed by that driving common belief. The common belief in fact, makes us one. And it is in the context of this oneness that Paul is teaching the principles upon which corporate life or Christian community should be undertaken. He urges believers to live worthy of God's calling and as such calls on us to be completely humble, gentle and lovingly patient. On top of that we are to strive or work so that unity and peace would be quintessential to our identity. Basically we are to be unified because we are unified by what God has done for us.
It's our job then to consider the following question. What does it look like for me to strive for unity within my community? This of course is one of those questions that bears no simple answer. Indeed it covers a wide variety of things and is often affected by the person asking the question. Even so we can reliably say in general that a Christian commitment to a local community serves its unity. To strive for unity is to strive together for the kingdom. Essentially then unity is promoted when we engage with our community with love and care so that it is grown to the glory of God.
The question then is, in terms of membership at least, does membership seek to promote this? If membership is understood correctly (Article 1) and applied helpfully (Article 2), then the answer should be a resounding yes! In fact the attitudes and functions of a healthy membership are actually no different to the attitudes and functions of healthy Christians. It really is just a matter of serving your community by being involved and engaged in its existence as an organisation.
A quick count of active duty members in our congregation makes it actually pretty clear that the significant majority has not committed to serving the community in this way. So I want to know why. What's stopping you from serving in this capacity? If you understanding what 'official' membership is, are committed to your local community and are already doing the things that are expected, then it's not very a big next step to take. It's actually quite a small one - one which is helpful for the life and future of the Church and one which helps to serve and to build up our unity in both faith and action.
The commitment to Church Membership in the formal sense is an important part of life in our community. It's a sign of support but it's also a decision to be concerned for the things that it both stands for and does. It doesn't always work out perfectly. That's the fault of our human sinful natures, but its future is much less secure and much more difficult when those in a position to contribute to it now, do not. We need to run hard for the sake of our community while trusting that God will work in and through us. And all because in Jesus we are joined.