There seems to be no end to memberships that people can join. There is no point in listing them, because there are millions upon millions of memberships that people can join. Instead, let us consider being a member of some church and some Denomination.
My understanding is that each Denomination has it’s own rules, regulations, laws. doctrines for it’s members. These memberships differ from Denomination to Denomination, from church to church and there are many non Denominational churches that differ the same way.
Here is a question that we could ask. How is being a member of this church or that church different than what’s in God’s Word?
We just opened a bag of worms, so to speak. The answer is, of course, interpretation of God’s Word. Who is right and who is wrong? If a preacher holds up himself, his church, his Denomination, more than holding up Jesus Christ, go find another church.
To separate the real “born again” Christian preacher from the “Hired Hands”, you have to know what God says in His instruction book, the Bible. For example, Jesus Christ Himself, told us about the “Hired Hands”.
A “Hired Hand” does not care about the Sheep but the Good Shepherd does. For those of you who don’t know, “Sheep” represents Christians. The “Hired Hand” is not a good shepherd, and couldn’t care less about the sheep. I can see an atheist asking a Christian, “which God do you worship?”
Since there are over 200 Denominations in the United States, and they all say that they worship God, can you understand the atheist’s confusion? I can! Here is how I would explain Christianity to the atheist. Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with Jesus Christ. I would explain why Jesus Christ was sent to earth by the Father (God).
We were all sinner’s and did not live up to God’s standards. God sent Jesus Christ to earth to pay for our sin debt and if we repented of our sins and accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we had the opportunity for our soul to go to heaven.
There are cold, lukewarm, and hot Christians. Jesus Christ clearly told us that He would prefer that we would be cold or hot, but not lukewarm, because He spews lukewarm Christians out of His mouth, i.e., they make Him vomit.
Now, let us get back to our subject of memberships. I don’t care what church or Denomination or non-Denominational you are a member of. But, I want you all to be aware of the most important membership on earth. That membership is being a member of the body of Christ.
Jesus Christ is the head of this body. Since God wants us to be on fire for Christ, you should be “born again”. A little common sense would say that cold and lukewarm Christians are not “on fire” for Christ, and that their soul will probably not make it to Heaven. You can pick and choose the Scriptures that you agree with and the one’s that you don’t agree with. When you do that, you are playing that you are God. Scriptures are not for your multiple choice.
All of the churches that you see are not His Church. They are buildings. God’s church does not have a P.O. Box or an address in some town or State. The “church” is you and me, not some building. Christendom is nothing but chaos with all of the Denominations.
Jesus Christ said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus never said that your preacher, priest, and or rabbi is the way. The Disciples were really concerned when Jesus told them that he had to leave them to go and sit on the right hand of God. He told them that He would not leave them as orphans and would send them a Helper.
He did after He went up to Heaven. That Helper was sent not just for the Disciples, He was sent for us too. Jesus said that He was our Helper, Counselor, Tutor, Guide, and Comforter. He did not say that your preacher, priest, or rabbi was. He said that was the job of the Holy Spirit.
I want you to think about being a member of the body of Christ. That is the membership that will get your soul to Heaven.
