Members duties to the Church

What are our duties to the church as it relate to the covenant?

First, we see that members are to walk together in Christian love, for God is love and we are to emulate Christ.

Second we are to strive for the advancement of the church by promoting its prosperity and spirituality (see Philippians 1:27; 2 Timothy 2:15; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 3:11). How do we advance the church’s prosperity? The most familiar is giving of our time, talent and tithes. God requires one tenth according to Malachi 3:10, which speaks to the blessings in store for believers. The question is often asked, “Will a man rob God” (V8)? Who wants to given all He has done for humanity and everything belongs to Him. In reverencing to God we give back the first of what He has already given us. How do we advance the church spiritually? According to 2 Corinthians 7:1 we are to cleanse ourselves of all unholiness and resist sinful desires of the body (paraphrased). Then if we are committed to Christ and have accepted Him as our personal savior, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, as He cannot resides in a filthy place; subsequently it behooves every believer to lead and live sanctified lives daily. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit to aid believers in advancing the church spiritually; the true church is the believer. Let’s discuss briefly advancing the church with our time and talents; time is contributing to a ministry of the church or our community as God has blessed each believer with a gift (talent) and each is to edify the body of Christ. Consider your body; each member (part) of the body serves in its designed function contributing to the entire body. The same principle applies to the church (body of Christ); each gift is given to work together in harmony for the church’s advancement.

Third, we are to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines (Hebrews, 10:25; Matthews 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Jude 3). Let’s pose a series of questions, what is worship? What are the church ordinances? What is discipline? And finally, what is doctrine? Worship is “reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary P 1065). A series of questions come to mind; when do we worship? Where do we worship? How do we worship? Is it in sincerity or superficially? How often do we worship? Take a self-analysis of your answers. An ordinance is “an authoritative decree or direction” (MwD p. 624). In religious settings and especially the Baptist faith ordinances are recognized as the Baptist Hiscox Guide and or the Articles of Faith. A discipline is defined “as self-control” (MWD p.252). Other denominations have authoritative decrees as a guide for their believers. Speaking on a spiritual note, how believers maintain self-discipline is with the aid of the Holy Spirit. The last question’s answer what is doctrine? Doctrine is teachings. Merriam- Webster (p.262) defines it as “strictly implies authoritative teaching accepted by a body of believers or adherents of a philosophy or school.” The secular and biblical definitions are parallel in their meanings.
From here we will segway to the fourth duty of the believer to the church, which is to give it pre-eminence in our lives (Matthew 6:33). What this means is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first and allow Him to take care of our needs.

The fifth duty as a member to the church is to contribute cheerfully and regularly (1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 8: 6-7). We as believers should make giving a part of our worship being a blessing to others as God has blessed us. Why? Because our true blessings come from God and it is His desire that we follow Christ’s example set before us. He stated that “the poor we would have with us always.” Additionally, our giving should be in proportion to our income, meaning that believers should set aside God’s tenth first each pay as we do our mortgage and experience God’s continuous blessings. Furthermore, we must make a conscious decision to serve God with our time, not just our money (Matthews 6:24). Finally, giving increases our dedication to God (Matthews 6:21) and activate the work of God in our financial affairs (Luke 6:38). More importantly, our primary focus should be God’s righteousness and His kingdom instead of our material wealth. He promised to supply all our needs; He is the good shepherd.

The sixth and final duty as a member of his or her local church is, upon leaving one’s current church, then promptly join another church so the believer will remain active in church work wherever the person may live (see Acts 11:19-21; 18:24-28).

This concludes our discussion on members and church duties; our next topical discussion will be on personal Christian living as it relates to believers and the covenant.