A member or a part of a body

I always had a bad feeling around
the question about becoming a paper
member in any Church I attend. It
often seem to be a very important
question, and forms need to be
filled in.

I did become a member in the very
first Church I attended when I got
saved in 1983. It was then very
difficult to leave that Church - as I
could not tell them any new Church
that I was going to be member of !

Even today, over 30 years later, I get
information now and then from that
Church. Sometimes I think that they
may have kept me in the ledger
because they get contributions from
authorities for each member or de-
pending on number of members.

The Church in China is often estim-
ated to be as many as 150 million
believers. That may be around 12%
of the population. The Church grew
in dept and members the most during
and after the greatest persecution.

During the time of persecution the
Chinese leadership wanted to have
control, so they did allow a state-
controlled Church, where messages
were also controlled. But many, many
Christians refused to register as
members in a state controlled Church.

If you ask government officials in
China today, they may estimate the
Christians to be only 50% in number
of what is the real figure. They are out
of control of the Church!

King David was tempted by Satan to
count God´s people; the Lord got very
angry on David and punished him
(1 Chronicles Ch. 21).

Can it be that it is actually a worldly
system to keep track on "members" as
registered members? The Church is
called "the Body of Christ" in the Bible,
it is not an association.

The Church is also said to be the Bride
of Christ. The two descriptions lead my
thoughts to something that is owned
and "controlled" by Christ himself.

The Church leadership, "the Kings",
are called to be spiritual eunuchs, who
do not take place in-between the bride
and the bridegroom and do not misuse
the bride - but are called to prepare the
bride for the wedding.

So whether you practice "paper-
membership" or not in your Church, the
above is a very important rule.

I think you prove you are a member of
the body amongst those Christians you
relate to naturally. It may be an official
Church, sometimes a large one with a
lot of resources and power, but it can
also be a smaller group like a House
Church, with closeness to neighbors
and everyday relations.