I once knew a pastor for about two years. I had shared dozens of conversations with the pastor
about the pain in my neck, and my afflictions. He fully knew about my medical
condition. In all the time I attended his church, a few times a month, he
never asked me if I would like to join the church. It is proper for a pastor
to approach a longtime visitor, and invite the person to “join.” It is not
customary for a person to ask to “become a member” of a church, anymore than
it would be proper to ask a restaurant manager if you can order food. Yet, in
their sinful pride, pastors place the burden upon guests to request to become
a member of their little clique.
Well, as a born-again Christian I have never desired to “become a member” of a snobby group of “us four and no more.” I have never been voted into a church, have never been asked to become a member, and I never will request to become a member of a local church. I am a part of the Body of Christ! As far as I am concerned, AND GOD, I AM A MEMBER of the local church! BUT, I WOULD very likely become a member if someone simply asked me. I am the guest. The pastor has the burden of extending membership to born-again guests, not the other way around. Also, there is nothing mentioned in the New Testament about being “voted” into a local church. At Pentecost, there were 3,000 souls “added” to the church. Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Amen!
I am writing this article to share a horrible thing with you, that the Baptist pastor did, as to help teach others so you never treat any body so poorly as he did me. I'm guessing that I attended church services about 40 times over a year and a half. My neck injury prevents me from going to church as much as I'd like. During those visits, as a regular guest, I tithed, I sang the hymns, I took notes and listened attentively to the pastor's sermons, I freely gave away Alexander Scourby Bibles and “Jesus” hats to people at church, and came to church events on holidays. I got involved, as a “non-member.” Sunday after Sunday I sat and listened to the pastor spend 15-20 minutes in prayer at the opening of the service. He mentioned everyone in the church who had a health problem, EXCEPT ME. He asked the congregation to pray for anyone and everyone there who had a health problem, EXCEPT ME. That's is how some pastors mistreat people who are NOT A CARD-CARRYING MEMBER of their little church group. It is a sin. The Bible calls it being “a respecter of persons.” Our text verse from James 2:1, “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.”
When
you refuse to acknowledge the needs and suffering of people, who are present
in church week after week, simply because THEY AREN'T A MEMBER, you are not
right with God!!! The pastor could have kindly said to the congregation, “Brother Stewart is not a
member, but we care about him, and he has a health burden, so let's pray for
him too.” If he would have said something like that, I would have had to
struggle to hold back the tears. Not once did the pastor ever mention my
burden, my neck pain. Now please don't misunderstand my article. I am not
bitter at the pastor. I am not upset with him. I love and pray for him. I am
not complaining about him. I am simply disturbed at the lack of compassion in
so many churches today, which steams from the wrong attitude that only voted
in members count.
To Schism Or Not to Schism, That is the Question
When
the apostle Paul warned about “schisms” in the Body of Christ, he 1st
Corinthians 12:25-27, “That there should be no schism
in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member
be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ,
and members in particular.” A “schism” is an unnecessary division in the
Body of Christ. I won't quote the surrounding text here, but if you read 1st
Corinthians 12, you'll see that ALL of the verses leading up to verses 25-27
teach a very basic truth, which is that there is ONE BODY, BUT MANY MEMBERS,
ALL BEING EQUAL IN IMPORTANCE! That is what Paul is saying.
The aforementioned pastor had heard me contend for the faith on a few occasions, as I shared with others what was wrong with the modern Bible perversions. On one occasion he became upset, rebuking me for telling the truth. He accused me of causing a schism in the church, saying that I was bringing “controversy” into his church. To be ethical, I never went back again. It is his ministry, not mine, so out of respect I didn't return. But I wasn't causing a schism in the sense of what the Word of God forbids. In fact, it was the pastor who was causing the division, that is, schism, in Body of Christ,
