The Bible has considerable influence on language.

Many words and idioms have been taken from the Bible.

This also has a flip side. And that is that words become weaker in their daily usage. They can even obtain different content over time, which has very little to do anymore with the Bible. People will find this normal after a while, and they subsequently do not understand the Bible anymore.

Words Become Weak⤒🔗

A typical example is the word “sin”. Nowadays people say when they spill a cup of coffee on the carpet: “oh what sin!” But that is not the case at all, at best it is too bad. After all, sin is what goes against God’s will, and that is a lot worse than a damaged carpet. But who looks up nowadays when they hear the word “sin”? It has become a byword, there is a solution for it (to buy another carpet).

And “blessed” is nowadays something when people see their ultimate desires satisfied. While Jesus calls people blessed when they had learned to believe in him. Blessedness is to be absolved of (the punishment of) sin, to be filled with the Spirit, and to regard heaven as your homeland. Even when you are persecuted because of it, you are still blessed. Peter was crucified, but it did not minimize what Jesus had said: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!” (Matt. 16:17).

And so, we can name more examples. Words like “head” and “help” have become quite irritable because many people do not understand the Biblical value of them anymore. In the Bible both words go back to Jesus Christ, whose image we may bear as man and woman. In similar fashion I recently came across the word “‘membership”. What has happened to that word?

Becoming a Member in Your Easy Chair?←⤒🔗

Nowadays you can become a “member” of just about anything. For example, you can become a member of your country’s Automobile Association. When you have arranged your automatic withdrawal of membership fees, you receive proof of membership. This includes that you receive a monthly AA magazine and that you may enjoy some of their special offers. Your membership also may include towing privileges; if you get stuck on the road, you call and they will tow you to the nearest garage (or: when you have paid higher membership fees, to the garage of your choice). You do not have to do anything, as you paid up front for this service. And yet, it is called “‘membership”.

You can also become a member of Nature Reserves. You do not have to do anything but pay the membership fee. Someone will then spend your money in the countryside, and you will get the privilege of being allowed to stroll through some protected properties.

And so on. Membership in many instances does not require any personal input, just your money. In exchange for this, you may claim certain rights, as you have paid for these. In this manner a member can became a demanding type of person, someone who from his easy chair monitors service, speed, and quality.

To Be a Member of Christ←⤒🔗

In the abovementioned scenarios every association to the Biblical meaning of this word has been lost.

A “member” is the indication of “a part of a body”. In this surprising way it is being used for those who accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and in everything want to be united with him. They become a part of his body.

In the Baptism form we confess that God the Holy Spirit assures us by this sacrament that He will dwell in us and make us “living members of Christ” (Book of Praise, page 597 ff). For this reason, we were buried by baptism into Christ’s death, to rise with him to a new life.

In the Lord’s Supper form we confess that “as often as we eat this bread and drink from this cup, we are reminded and assured of his hearty love and faithfulness toward us. For by his death he has removed the cause of our eternal hunger and misery, which is sin, and obtained for us the life-giving Spirit. By this Spirit, who dwells in Christ as the Head and in us as his members, we have true communion with him and share in all his riches, life eternal, righteousness, and glory.” (Book of Praise, page 605).

Someone who becomes a “‘member of Christ”, ceases to exist independently. He becomes a part of him who is greater. Yes, he becomes a living part of him, in the conviction that other life does not exist. That is the deep, very personal meaning of becoming a member: you indicate that you no longer exist on your own, your life is communal from now on. And with that it has also become dependent, a member is being fed by the body and cannot exist on its own. Subsequently you are now also focused on the body: a member contributes and functions in a larger body, in mutual interdependence.

And in this manner, the Holy Spirit completes a deep unity between Jesus Christ and each person who gives his/her life to him. He consolidates a deep, real, and mutual unity: Jesus will not exist without his “members” and those “members” will not live without him. A glorious reality!

That is what we call “‘the communion of saints”: “that believers, all and everyone, as members of Christ have communion with him” (Book of Praise, Heidelberg Catechism, Q/A 55).

It is clear that membership has nothing to do with an easy chair from where you can direct how you want things done because you have paid your fees. It is quite the opposite; it has been paid for you with the idea that finally you will start moving. You were dead and now you are a member. A member who lives and moves and is connected to the Head with many muscles and nerves.

To Be a Member of Christ’s Congregation←⤒🔗

This terminology is subsequently also being used for belonging to a congregation, which metaphorically is called the body of Christ. Members of Christ show a mutual cohesion, and that is why the congregation thrives. That is why unity is real in the congregation. It is not a unity that we have to search for or force in external things, but a unity that goes much deeper: one Lord, one Spirit, one Father, one faith, one hope, and this shows itself in living together in a mutual calling (Eph. 4:1-6). Members of Christ are of the same mind, without selfishness (Php. 2:1-5). This is reflected in e.g. looking out for other people’s interests, in the spirit of Christ.

In this way, the “communion of saints” also becomes something unified. We confess that believers, all and everyone, as members of Christ, have communion with him (Book of Praise, Heidelberg Catechism, Q/A 55).

The connection is clear: when you are a member of Christ, then you are also a member of his church. When you are not a member of Christ, then you cannot be a member of his church. The nature of being a member permeates all relationships: you may live in Christ, adopted in his large existence, being dependent on him and being involved with him, this is how you are one with the other members in the body which is called a congregation.

Easy chairs are not found here, Jesus did not have those either. Directing people to fulfil your wishes also does not happen here, Jesus never asked for something for himself.

A limited vision also breaks up the relationships; Jesus always looked around to the harvest which (despite everything) would be big. And so on. Life in one Spirit with Jesus (and so also with one another) is an existence under a wide horizon, in a clear direction, with dedication which comes from the heart.

Lovingly Attaching Yourself As Member←⤒🔗

Loose members therefore, do not exist. They are a “contradictio in terminis”. It is good to realize this. Also, relationships are at an end when members want to be served at their beck and call. As if they could place their order with the servants who are walking around here. It can also show a spirit of consumerism when people are quickly irritated, when they perceive there is a lack of service, or something like that.

Like I heard a while ago, that people became angry when after their move to a new congregation they fairly quickly received a request to submit their church contributions. That this was not consumer friendly. What nonsense. When someone brings in their attestation because he wants to become a member (!), does this not indicate that he wants to contribute to the congregation with heart and soul and with everything that he has?! So then, do that without complaining.

Another problem is that members can position themselves rather loosely because of a variety of other churches and worship services that they attend. “‘Jesus is there as well” they then say. Without disagreeing with that statement, it needs to be said that membership is something very specific. You are a member where God gives you a place in the body. He is in other places, for sure, but if that is why you can attach yourself everywhere, you are not attached anywhere. Recently I read a nice comparison: as a human being you are a member of the great human race, and yet, you are born in one specific family. There lie the bonds which matter for the rest of your life, and from there you are a citizen of the world. Likewise, you are, as member, being incorporated into the body of Christ, in a local congregation, to be connected from there to all the other members around the world.

Christ Lives in His Members←⤒🔗

Being a member of Christ also has another side. Once I heard someone say that he did not ask the Lord anymore to have mercy on refugees or that the Lord would give bread to the hungry or that he would spread his Word till the ends of the earth. No, he said, for you can easily ask for all of that, but then you forget that we are his hands and his feet and his voice on earth. That is why I pray: Give to all who know you, your Spirit so that they will speak about you. Fill their hearts with mercy so that in your Name they will help the poor and the refugees and give them your words in their mouths to talk about you.

That is a beautiful prayer, is it not? And you are immediately included in this picture, as a living member. There are no cheap prayers anymore; in everything there is right away the question as to what you yourself would like to contribute as member, as hand, as foot, or as the voice of the Lord.