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?