3 Things Every Church Member Needs to Do

Adriel Sanchez:
If you're a Christian, you need to be a part of a church. More and more, it seems like in our day people want to sever the tie between following Jesus and being a member of a local church. I get it—just because you go to church doesn't mean you really have a relationship with Jesus. But everyone who is united to Jesus by faith is also connected to the rest of the body of Christ, and we live out this reality in the context of local churches. Now, no church is perfect, but Jesus is the head of the church, and he shepherds her through what should be called and qualified pastors. Paul talks about the qualifications for pastors in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus chapter 1. If you're curious about what those are, it's incumbent upon us as followers of Jesus to join and support true churches that preach the Word.

If you need help finding a good church, I'll link a video below that I did titled “How Do I Choose a Good Church?” In this video, I want to share three things you need to do as a member of a church. So the first thing you ought to do—and I know it might sound a little selfish coming from me—is pray for your pastor. I'm a pastor of a local church. Recently I was thinking about all the times Paul asked for prayer in his letters. Listen to some of his prayer requests. "I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company." That's from Romans chapter 15. Or 2 Corinthians 1, Ephesians chapter 6, Philippians chapter 1, Colossians 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And finally, "Brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith."

Adriel Sanchez:
That's 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. So, look, if Paul—the Apostle Paul—needed the prayers of the people he ministered to, then your pastor most definitely needs your prayers. One of Paul's frequent requests was that the word he preached would be effective in the hearts of those who heard him. What's cool about this is that when you pray for your pastor, you're also praying for yourself. You're asking God to work mightily in your heart through the words of the minister—for your sake, and for the sake of others as well. There's a great story that's told about the famous Baptist preacher, along these lines. His name is Charles Spurgeon.

Apparently, when people would ask him about the success of his preaching ministry, he'd take them to a special room in the church he preached at, the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. He called the room the "boiler room" of his church. A boiler room in a ship generates the steam necessary for the ship to have power. In essence, Spurgeon was saying, power in ministry comes from the prayers of the people. So, pray for your pastor. Here's another way you can be a blessing to the church—something you need to do as a member: receive God's Word with humility, even though it comes from a mortal human being. John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, talked about how God could have used angels to preach the word to us, but instead he chooses weak men, who are often no better than we are, in order to teach us humility. Here's what he said again.

This is the best and most useful exercise in humility: when he accustoms us to obey his Word, even though it be preached through men like us, and sometimes even by those of lower worth than we. If he spoke from heaven, it would not be surprising if his sacred oracles were to be reverently received without delay by the ears and minds of all. For who would not dread the presence of his power? Who would not be stricken down at the sight of such great majesty? Who would not be confounded at such boundless splendor? But when a puny man, risen from the dust, speaks in God's name—at this point we best evidence our piety and obedience toward God if we show ourselves teachable toward his minister, although he excels us in nothing. I love that. Right? Like Calvin basically says, your pastor is not anything special. He might not be smarter than you, or taller than you, but you demonstrate your reverence for God's word by readily receiving it from God's ministers.

By the way, Paul sometimes had trouble with this. Some in Corinth said, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account." In other words, they dismissed his ministry because he wasn't wowing them with his eloquence. But that's not the pastor's job. Pastors preach the word of God, and our job is to receive that word as such. But Paul told the Galatians, "You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus." Or consider what he said elsewhere: "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers."

So, look, you need to pray for your pastor as a member of the church, and be willing to receive the Word from him as he preaches the word week by week. Here's another thing you need to do as a healthy member of the church: be Berean. Listen to what Luke said in Acts, chapter 17, verses 10 through 12: "The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men." I love how the Bereans are commended here as being more noble for examining the Scriptures day by day to make sure that the stuff that Paul was saying was legit—that it was true.

This is helpful to keep in mind on the heels of the previous encouragement. Yes, we want to receive the Word with all humility from our pastors, but that doesn't mean setting aside discernment. As a pastor, I love it when people in my church come to me and ask me questions about the sermon or they want to dig deeper into the text of the Bible. Do you know, actually, that there were even points throughout church history where the laity—that is, the people in the pew, not the ordained clergy—had to keep the church leaders on track doctrinally? There were points during the Arian controversy of the 4th century where bishops had adopted heretical views about Jesus, and it was the faithful men and women within the church who were Berean and upheld the orthodox view. Being Berean isn't just a blessing to pastors—it's a safeguard for the whole church. And look, these are ways you can encourage your pastor, but ultimately it's not about that.

It's about loving the church well and living the Christian life faithfully. We should be praying for one another, committed to receiving the Word with humility and discernment. And if you commit to that as a member of the church, and if the church is committed to those things, everyone is encouraged.