Membership: Eastern, Western … and Trinitarian!
[ Note: some heavy Trinitarian theology up ahead... ]
1. Eastern membership
The Eastern way of understanding membership is: when you become a member of our church, you come and commit yourself to our vision, our direcion, our culture. You become one of us.
And if you don’t want to follow what we’re on about, well, maybe it’s better for you to not become a member of our church! And so some churches work hard to maintain the oneness of the group. They demand and reward loyalty to the group.
Unfortunately, this pursuit of oneness is sometimes to the detriment of faithfulness… It can mean that issues aren’t discussed openly. Decisions are made for the group without consultation. Things are swept under the carpet in order to preserve the image of unity. And so it’s a model that can actually leave a lot of hurting individuals in its wake.
2. Western membership
By contrast the Western understanding of membership focusses not on the group, but on individuals. And so the church is thought of primarily as a collection of individuals, each with their own motivations and desires, each of which has decided that this church meets their needs at this point in time.
It’s a lot like your local RSL club. You join up as a member, and then you use the restaurant and facilities when it pleases you. But you’re the one in control.
This approach leads to a very consumer attitude to church. We are only there because we can get something for ourselves (whether it be a good sermon, or a platform on which to perform, or friends to hang around with). And maybe we might complain if someone gets in the way of us getting our thing.
3. Trinitarian membership
But there is another way of understanding membership. One based on Bible’s doctrine of the Trinity. You see, the Godhead is not a simple unity, nor is it a crowd of individuals. Yes, within the Trinity there is unity of being and purpose. But there is also diversity of persons and roles.
And so we can expect that true membership – Trinitarian membership – is not going to be membership that erases all distinctions (such as Eastern membership). Instead, there will be diversity of persons and roles! Nor will it be a membership that is full of self-focussed individuals (such as Western membership). Instead, at the same time there will also be a unity of being and purpose!
It is persons in relationship - in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are eternally in relationship. The focus will not be on the anonymous whole, nor on the individual – but on people in relationships.
What will this look like? While there will be real diversity in the church in how people express their love for the Lord Jesus Christ and go about proclaiming the gospel, there will also be a unity in their purpose. It’ll be OK that different groups do their discipleship and evangelism and ministry training in dfferent ways. We will let people sing in ways that are most appropriate for them… unity in diveristy.
There will also be different roles that members play at church. In relationships, there will be an ordering. There is equality, yet some will be accountable to others. But even then, these relationships will be characterised by mutual love – not selfishness, nor a desire to dominate.
In the end, it’s not a choice of either Eastern membership (with its abusive pursuit of uniformity) or Western membership (with its selfish individualism) – but about unity in diversity, and relating to one another in love.
[ PS: let me also direct your attention to a talk at our church earlier this year on membership (also the PowerPoint and Real Audio) ]
Categories: Chinese culture
