Since we’re talking about clarity…

…I’d like to propose something. I’m not sure how many churches do this already. I hope there are churches that do. I hope this is not a novel or new idea actually. I hope it’s an unnecessary idea.

Churches and denominations have constitutions that spell out lots of things. And for good reason. You’re dealing with lot’s of legal issues and it’s important to spell those things out in advance when it comes to property and money, etc. All those things that could end up in court.

And membership ends up in there somewhere too. Membership is usually defined by some kind of metric of attendance and giving. Those are the easiest ways to set membership specifications when it comes to legalities. And I get why you need to spell that out too — membership is spelled out because it is membership that legally determines legal matters.

All that is well and good. And the church has twisted this and morphed this to equate membership into some form of discipleship (if you squint hard enough and turn your head sideways while hopping on one foot). Of course the word discipleship isn’t used. Nope. Membership. Why have churches avoided the term discipleship? I think there’s probably plenty of reasons from innocent ones to purposeful ones and the list could be long.

Then again, some churches have corrected this — To them I give a standing ovation (if that’s possible on a blog).

I think it’s important to define what it means to be a disciple and to make disciples. Isn’t that…