to be or not to be... a number

tonight someone mentioned church memership. this person wanted to play in the worship band at a church and was told they had to become a member first.

church membership in general does not sit well with me. i don't agree with church membership. i don't think it is neccesary, nor do i think it is biblically founded. therefore, i don't think churches should have it. i don't see any benefits of having it.

a couple years ago i was regularly attented a local church in my area. i had be going for a couple years and was even a youth leader. this church pushed memebership quite frequently. when my husband and i were in the process of wedding planning and setting up our date they urged me to become a member. i thought my commitment to the church was obvious and did not feel the need to join. the process of becoming a member requires a lot of steps at that particular church. first you had to get baptized by submerssion if you had not been already. after that you had to take a new member orientation class. all to become a member. number one, i don't think being baptized should be associated with joining a church. that should be a personal decision and action out of you desire to follow God. number two, you should not have to go through all those steps to just be considered a member. what is a "member" anyway? is it just so the church has a number... like we have this many members look how big and christian we are? did we forget that the church is not a building? did we forget it is not about how many, it is about the relationship? so should we really encourage membership or should we encourage a relationship?

i really think there needs to be a major shift in the mindsets of many churches and their leaders. if you accept Jesus into your heart we are all members of the body of Christ. we don't need to focus on numbers, who is more christian or all the other silly things we get wrapped up in. these are things that keep us from having an intimate and wonderful relationship with God. and that is what it is all about.