If Costco cares about membership, then so should Christians.
By Matt Giesman
Costco takes membership pretty seriously. Do Christians in local churches do the same?
Why ask that question? Am I trying to imply that Christians don’t? Not necessarily, and that’s certainly not how I got started down this road. True story: A few months ago, the pastoral staff at our church were discussing something (probably our upcoming new members class), and our minds shifted to logistics and food and things like that. I’m pretty sure Costco came up. Then we mentioned membership vows (a series of lessons we teach during the new members class). And I was trying to say that membership vows were important without sounding too heavy-handed. And then it dawned on me – Even Costco has standards and expectations for its members. If they’re not ashamed of their membership standards, then we shouldn’t be, either.[1]
Does that mean I previously was ashamed of my church’s membership vows? I don’t think so. But for the past four years or more, I’ve been wondering if we don’t emphasize them enough. Perhaps I’ve been thinking this because of how much the world has changed in the past few years, or perhaps it’s because I’ve spent the past eight years and counting in a freedom-loving state known as Colorado. A loaded thought that I’ll have to unpack another day: I think there’s a distinctly right-wing version of freedom in Colorado, and there’s a left-wing version, too, but the common factor is that Coloradans love their freedom.
But true freedom is not freedom from all constraints. That’s simply not feasible, and some constraints are good things. As a case in point, I was reading a football column earlier this week from an author whose analysis I admire but whose political and social views differ significantly from my own. I filter out the latter and enjoy the football parts. But even he was making the point just this week that widespread legalized gambling (freedom!) will likely have negative effects on our society in coming years. Freedom from all constraints isn’t what’s best for us. Rather, we need the freedom to be what we were always intended to be.
Taking membership vows is a way that we affirm our intention to be what God created us to be. It also affirms our desire to have others hold us accountable to those standards, both because we declare these vows in public and because the 5th vow explicitly mentions accountability or submission to the government and discipline of the church.
With that as in introduction, let me briefly mention the vows (the same ones that any PCA Church uses, according to Book of Church Order [BCO] 57-5), in the hopes that I can say more about the individual vows in the coming weeks.
Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save [except] in His sovereign mercy?
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
Do you promise to support the church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
If I can paraphrase our BCO, affirmative answers to these questions are our public profession of faith, and by affirmatively answering them we enter into a “solemn covenant with God and His Church.” Is that as moving as a profession of faith that tells a rollicking story involving drugs and jail time and eventual salvation?[2] Maybe not on the surface. But affirming publicly 1) that you know your depravity, 2) that you know that Christ is your only hope of salvation, 3) that you promise to live like a Christian with the Spirit’s help, 4) that you promise to support the church in its work of gospel proclamation and its worship of the triune God, and 5) that you promise to submit to the church’s leaders and pursue its purity and peace?
Personally, I think that’s quite profound and slightly more counter cultural than joining Costco.[3]
[1] Dear Pastors Stephen and Josh, you have my permission to clarify how this discussion went, but I’m fairly certain Costco and church membership were mentioned, and that you gave at least some courtesy laughter after I said it.
[2] I have a friend who has one of those testimonies. He would tell you: 1) I wish I had a “boring testimony,” of never remembering a time when I didn’t know Jesus as my savior, and 2) I hope my kids have a boring testimony. I stole line #2 and wrote on that several years ago. And to clarify, “boring” testimonies aren’t boring; they’re wonderful.
[3] It’s true that joining a church won’t cost you $60 a year like Costco, but if I have a chance to explore the vows in more depth later on, maybe we’ll tackle this question: Should a Christian’s tithe exceed their Costco membership dues?
(Update given before worship on October 8, 2023)
After every joint session-diaconate meeting, I’m asked to give a report to the congregation. A few things to make you aware of:
Finances got off to a strong start this year, due to some extraordinary giving. What’s extraordinary giving? If someone tells our treasurer that they’re giving a one-time gift, or an annual gift, the treasurer makes a notation, so that we don’t plan to receive that same amount regularly. And due to strong extraordinary giving, we’re 8% above budget right now. Thank you for that, but please don’t stop being generous, especially as end-of-the-year giving approaches. In addition to our annual budget, we believe God is leading us to building expansion at some point as well as future church planting. In years past, when we have received more money than we need for the budget, we’ve allocated money for larger projects into special funds.
The Session has a retreat coming up on October 23. We have three topics we want to discuss, in this order: Better Shepherding, Building Expansion, and Church Planting. We would appreciate your prayers as we prepare for that retreat. Any communication about that retreat shouldn’t be expected until after the Session has another meeting. Presbyterians are deliberative, by our nature. Another way to say that – Nothing happens quickly in a Presbyterian church, for better or for worse. I think it’s usually for the better. But, again, please pray for us as that approaches.
We also discussed several other topics with the deacons at our meeting. They’re doing a great job, showing wonderful initiative and care for the congregation. Please pray for them.
And just so you know that we haven’t forgotten, solar panels, to help defer the cost of our utility bills – Those are still coming; we’re still waiting patiently for the install date. (Update, 10-24-23 – Panels have been installed; we’re awaiting some follow up from the electric company.)
Lastly, thanks for your patience while the pastoral staff was away at Presbytery. Keep praying for Pastor Matt since he’ll be serving as Moderator of the Presbytery Meetings next year.
-Pastor Matt, 10-08-23
2023 General Assembly Report
By Matt Giesman
I had a wonderful week in Memphis, TN, and I’m grateful that our church sent me (along with Pastor Stephen) to the PCA’s 50th General Assembly. Others are more equipped to track the minutiae, so instead I want to offer several themes I observed this past week.
- Lament – Between the shooting in Nashville that claimed six lives and the recent deaths of PCA stalwarts Harry Reeder and Tim Keller, the celebration of the PCA’s 50th birthday was a bit somber. Randy Thompson (preaching at the request of retiring moderator John Bice) responded with an appropriate passage at the week’s opening worship service, focusing on the Lord’s great faithfulness from Lamentations 3. It struck the chord of lament while focusing on the week’s theme – “Great is thy faithfulness.” Ligon Duncan (whose father attended the PCA’s first General Assembly in 1973) touched on similar themes in his message from Ephesians 1 on Wednesday night. And one of my favorite moments of the week was attending the 50th Anniversary concert by Indelible Grace with my family. We sang our hearts out; we cried happy tears; we stayed up too late, and we didn’t regret it for a moment. (For a recording of the concert as well as all of the sessions of General Assembly, see these links: https://vimeo.com/833437403 and https://vimeo.com/pcaga.)
o On that note, this story from Christianity Today (by Megan Fowler, a journalist who also writes for the PCA’s By Faith website) summarized the tone leading up to the Assembly: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/june/pcas-50th-anniversary-comes-during-season-of-grief.html.
- Steadfast Love – God’s provision for 50 years was never far from the discussion this past week. And while some of these stories may seem far away and distant, here’s one from the Mission to the World (MTW) website about an original missionary family. If you look closely (at the family reunion picture, which is from 2022, not 2020), you’ll see a picture of some of our members: https://www.mtw.org/stories/details/an-original-mtw-missionary-family-serves-50-years-in-europe.
- Accountability – This may not be a splashy theme, but it came up over and over. Two presbyteries were cited to appear before the General Assembly because of major concerns raised in the review of their records. Reformed University Fellowship had to delay the finalizing of some affiliation agreements because they weren’t properly approved by the Assembly. (Affiliation agreements spell out the differing roles that RUF National, the presbytery and its RUF Committee, and the Campus Minister play. Personally, I found no issue with the agreement itself; the main concern of the Assembly seemed to be whether the agreements could be changed without some prior oversight and approval.) One of the PCA’s themes at its founding was that it was a grass roots denomination, built from the ground up, not controlled from the top down. That theme was alive and well this week, including the passage of Overture 7.
- Strength for today – The PCA is planting a church every two weeks. Other statistical indicators (membership, baptisms of adults and children, total giving) are on the rise in our denomination, despite setbacks during COVID that other denominations have faced, as well. To quote a previously mentioned hymn, we have “strength for today,” which was the title of Dr. Duncan’s Wednesday night sermon.
- Follow Through – The PCA has been discussing sexuality for several years. Two overtures (requests for the General Assembly to act on an issue) from last year received final approval with a 99% vote, specifying the need for elders and deacons (and candidates to become officers) to affirm the Bible’s teaching on indwelling sin and sanctification. Another overture (#23) with similar themes passed with 88% approval and requires two more steps (passage by 2/3rds of the presbyteries and a simple majority at next year’s Assembly) for final approval. These steps, along with an excellent report on human sexuality from 2020 (https://pcaga.org/aicreport/), will hopefully bring unity and clarity on this issue. Another study report last year focused on domestic abuse. Several requested changes to our Book of Church Order arose out of that study to help ensure to help prevent abuse. One such proposal was not approved, in what I believe was the closest vote of the Assembly. (Read more about it here: https://twitter.com/MattGiesman/status/1670092024031379458.) Even though that Overture (#13) was not approved, we did give final approval to Item 8, a series of changes to BCO 35 that would allow, for example, an alleged victim to not have to face their alleged abuser while testifying. While this topic is obviously sobering, and while some feel more could be done to prevent abuse, important steps were taken following last year’s report, for which we should be grateful.
- Bright Hope for Tomorrow – When you start with lament, there are obviously hard themes that were discussed this week. And yet, “bright hope for tomorrow” was not absent from this Assembly. Attendance remained high (2290 commissioners, nearly reaching last year’s record registration), the spirit of debate was civil and mostly positive, and the votes were mostly unanimous in most cases. All three preachers (Les Newsome preached a wonderful sermon on Thursday night from Isaiah) reminded us of God’s faithfulness that has carried us for 50 years. Wednesday’s mornings Assembly-wide seminar from several PCA Founding Fathers was a treat (https://vimeo.com/836026842), and we also heard several other videos like this delightful one from Susan Hunt at the beginning of our business sessions (https://vimeo.com/813691185).
- Busy but Blessed – I served on the Overtures Committee and the Nominating Committee this year. And even if I hadn’t, there was enough business to keep me quite busy. But there were also friends to see, songs to sing, encouragement to be shared. I love General Assembly. I love the PCA, and I think I love them both more now than I did the first time I attended. (I rarely speak at Overtures Committee, usually deferring to others. But I did offer a short amendment to one that received unanimous approval. I’ll stop bragging now.)
- Unity – I would not claim to speak for everyone, but I thought there was a noticeable sense of unity before, during, and after this year’s Assembly. Perhaps it’s because of the lamentable challenges and bitter providences God has allowed us to face. Perhaps I say this because of how many votes received 80% or 90% approval or more. And perhaps I say it because it seems that we pursued truth and found unity in the process. The PCA’s motto has long been Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission. While our denomination isn’t perfect, it is still pursing those noble goals and trusting in God’s great faithfulness.
Pastor Matt, June 17, 2023