It seems like every year only about half (or less) who attend on Sundays become Core members. There are many reasons for this:
Not a Christian yet
Still church shopping and undecided about Ren
Painful past experience of membership with a church that was controlling or even abusive
Don’t feel good enough to be a member
Don’t believe membership in a church is important or even necessary for the Christian life
Afraid of the unknown
There are probably other reasons not mentioned, but these are the ones that come to mind. Let me try to briefly speak to some of these barriers to church membership.
If you aren’t a Christian yet, then it doesn’t make sense to be a member yet. It means you are still processing the gospel message and counting the cost of what it means to follow Jesus. If this is where you’re at, there’s no pressure at all to be a member. I would, however, encourage you to not drag your feet in committing yourself to Christ. You don’t have to clean yourself up first, and you don’t need to figure everything out first. Just take the first step. Put your life into God’s hands. The turning point from spiritual death to spiritual life happens when we, in essence, confess that we need a Savior. We admit we are sinful creatures. We trust that Christ’s sacrificial death washes away our sin and gives us new life. My prayer for you is that you’d take that step. Why wait? The Lord God is waiting for you to come. His arms are wide open ready to receive you. That said, once you put your trust in Christ, let us know, and we’ll invite you into membership.
Now, if you are a Christian, but still church shopping and undecided if you should be part of Ren, it is understandable to be hesitant to become a Core member. Take your time. There is a teaching series you will find on our website in the sermon section called Ren 101 that can help you make an intelligent decision to know if Ren is a good fit for you. There’s also quite a bit of written content on our website. For example, I wrote a daily devotional for a hundred days (100 Days of Pursuit) that gives an in-depth account of how we think as a community and especially how I think as the lead pastor. If you have specific questions about anything related to the church you can also feel free to reach out to me. Here’s my email address:
If you’ve had a painful membership experience in the past I want to express that I’m deeply sorry to hear that. I understand how you’d want to keep on the fringes of a church after such experiences. If you want to talk to me or one of the other pastors about what you’ve gone through, we are available. Sometimes what is needed is a season of healing. Please don’t feel any pressure from us to become a member. Take your time. You’ll know when you’re ready. I do want to encourage you that we’ve been a church for 20 years and have worked very hard to keep the culture free from toxicity. We practice grace and patience. We don’t put heavy demands on members that go beyond what the Bible teaches. The whole point of membership is to simply pull together those who are committed into a tight family. The point is to give you as much support as possible.
Some people don’t feel good enough or worthy enough to be a Core member. You might be a Christian, but for whatever reason, feel you aren’t measuring up. You might be carrying shame or may have some very real sin struggles. It’s easy to think that you have to get all this cleaned up prior to becoming a member. But the opposite is true. It’s always best to “clean up” in a community. That’s what the church is about. It’s been likened to a spiritual hospital. None of us are perfectly whole. We are a fellowship of broken sinners in process of becoming like Jesus. So I invite you to come as you are with all your imperfections and struggles and take a seat with us at the table of spiritual misfits. If you are flawed, you’ll fit right in.
Now, on the other hand, if you identify as a Christian but have made a decision to willfully, habitually, and shamelessly disregard the commands of God, then—it’s best not to become a member. I’m talking about professing Christians who live lifestyles of sin like sexual sin, substance abuse, lying, stealing, hating, and so on. Unless you are willing to call sin a sin in your life and fight against it, you shouldn’t be a member of any church. My encouragement to you is this: fear God. You are treading on a dangerous path. Humble yourself before the Lord. Tell God you don’t want to grieve Him anymore. Then, join a church.
I’ve come across some folks over the years that say they don’t believe in church membership. They say the Bible doesn’t teach membership. I understand the arguments of these dear people, but I disagree strongly. As Christians, we are members of the Body of Christ. There’s no such thing as a disconnected Christian. When we were saved by Jesus, we were placed into the Church as a member of God’s family. And we are called to be part of a local assembly. The Scriptures make it plain that people are part of a local church or, in some cases, put out of a local church. The Lord doesn’t want us to bounce around from church to church but never commit to one. It’s his plan for us to be part of a local assembly and to play a vital part. It certainly doesn’t need to be Ren Church. There are lots of wonderful churches in greater Providence.
Last on my list of barriers to becoming a member is fear. Some are just afraid. What exactly happens when one becomes a member? Maybe I’ll have to do something crazy? Maybe I’ll be exposed in some way? Maybe I’ll be asked personal questions I’m not ready to answer? Fear is real. All I can say here is that there’s no reason to be afraid. We are nothing to be afraid of. We are just ordinary people trying to follow Jesus and trying to support each other.
The Core members get together throughout the year on a Sunday afternoon (quarterly) to talk about vision and important Ren Church matters. I send special communications to the Core usually via email about things on my heart and mind. Core members are the ones we utilize to serve in leadership or other capacities in the church. Core members are essentially those who have made a decision to journey with us in our pursuit of becoming more like Jesus.
I hope this email has been helpful to those of you who are hesitating on church membership. Again, let me know if you have questions about the church or about membership.
— Scott A