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Pastor's Page |
JOHN ROTHFUSZ, PASTOR - Phone 779-901-0803; email:
Dear Friends in Christ,
I once heard a very provocative question. Do we see ourselves as members of a church, volunteers for church projects, or disciples of Jesus? The answer that we give says a great deal about our relationship to our church, and our relationship to our Lord.
Many people would say that they see themselves as members, people identified with a particular church congregation. As members, we are on the official roll books, and we probably have an accustomed spot in a chair that has conformed to our backside over many years. People will say with great pride that they have been members of Salem Lutheran for 15, 30, or 45 years.
Membership assumes that people generally believe what the church does, and take part to some degree in our activities. Formally, our active members are those who commune or make a contribution with their name on it in this year or last year. A church needs to have members and standards of membership, but these really mean very little to God. The Bible says nothing about the importance of being members of a church. Despite what many people think, membership in a church does not serve as “Hell-fire insurance.”
Some people see themselves as volunteers, working for projects at the church, just as they would volunteer to work in the community otherwise. They take part when they choose, and also back out when they want to. This sometimes leads to statements like, “You can’t expect us to do so much, because we are all volunteers.” There is some truth in that. The church is a voluntary gathering of people of faith, gathered to be a community in Christ, share in Word and Sacraments in worship, and bear witness to Jesus in word and deed to the world. If we are truly volunteers, then we only do as much of those things as we feel like.
But being members and being volunteers are completely inadequate descriptions of our role in the church. Jesus calls us all to be disciples, followers, people who are called by name in baptism, equipped, sent, and commissioned to do God’s work in the world. More than making an impression of our bottom on the chair, God calls us to make an impression on the world with our lives, by bearing the living presence of Christ in us in all that we do.
As disciples, Jesus has a claim on all of our lives. We belong to him, and he will direct our lives. Jesus doesn’t try to convince us to volunteer or be active in the church. He simply invites: come, follow me, and then go forth as witnesses and servants into all the world. A saving faith in Jesus Christ will demand that we do more than just sit in worship each week. Faith drives us to live as disciples, shaping all of our lives by Jesus’ example.
As we baptize each new disciple in the church, we make the following promises:
to live with them among God's faithful people,
bring them to the word of God and the holy supper,
teach them the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments,
place in their hands the holy scriptures,
and nurture them in faith and prayer,
so that they may learn to trust God, proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.
These are the commitments we make for ourselves, and for those we raise up in faith among us. They are the marks of discipleship among us, showing that we intend to follow Jesus together. We affirm them at baptism, at confirmation, and when people join the church.
How do you live this out in your life? God challenges each one of us to move beyond membership or volunteerism to true discipleship. If you truly believe in Jesus, your faith will move you to develop and deepen these practices of discipleship. Let us each move beyond membership, and truly give our lives to Jesus as his disciples, so that we can find the joy and growth that God wants for our lives and for our church.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor John
