We Are Thinking About Becoming Members and Here Is Why by Aaron and Laura Womack
We Are Thinking About Becoming Members and Here Is Why
There I sat at a conference last summer, listening to one of the pastors who came teach on the authority of God’s word. I remember him say that “sadly, sometimes Christians have to drive great distances to be a part of a good, healthy church.” He went on to say that “it is, however, better to drive a longer distance to a church that is sound, healthy, and led well, than to settle for the sake of convenience.” He mentioned that he personally knew believers that drove more than two hours (one way) to church because they couldn’t find a good church closer than that.
Before long that preacher’s words would be ringing in my head. Why? Because soon we would be moving to West Virginia, which was almost two hours (one way) from our church. We made the trek though. It was difficult, because we had been searching for a good church for several years and had finally found this wonderful church in Harrisonburg and had been attending for a year and a half. However, it was now nearly impossible for us to be involved, and it was taking its toll. Then, a buddy of mine from the Winchester area told me about this little church plant in Winchester, so I went to their website and checked them out. It was only about 40 minutes away from our new home, so we visited a couple of times in October and November. Then in December we decided it was time to make the move; with the blessing of our pastor.
Here’s the thing though, we aren’t members yet. We’ve taken our time to determine whether or not to join this local body, because finding a church home can be difficult. You’re entering into a long-term committed relationship with imperfect people, and it’s an important decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We want to see whether they preach the Gospel and whether they teach sound doctrine. Laura and I want to be taught the word of God; to be challenged to dig deep; to learn about God; to know Him. We are not interested in being entertained. We want to worship God in spirit and in truth, with others who want to do the same.
We want to be a part of a church that is led by biblically qualified men of God; men of prayer, who fear the Lord, who love His word and the flock God has entrusted to their care; men more concerned about the spiritual health of the body than the size of the church; men who are not afraid to prayerfully exercise church discipline when necessary; men who walk humbly before their God.
We want to be a part of a church where the body is regenerate; a body of believers who genuinely loves one another; who actually cares about one another and wants to be a part of each other’s lives. We want to be a part of a church that walks by faith and not by sight; a church that seeks to walk in the obedience of the faith.
And finally, we want to be a part of a church that cares about the fate of the lost and wants to reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both at home and abroad. We want to be a part of a church that will seek to fulfill the great commission in a way that honors God, and depends on Him to do what He has said He will do through His glorious Gospel.
Why are we thinking about becoming members? Because we think we’ve found these things in Winchester Baptist Church.
Aaron and Laura