5 Ways To Be A Faithful, Healthy Church Member

I’ve been thinking a lot about the brokenness and beauty of the local church.

The local church is the bride of Christ. And He loves His bride in all of her brokenness and in all of her beauty…which raises the question:

How can you and I claim to love Christ if we neglect and fail to love his treasured bride, the church?

Going all in and committing to a local church is both a privilege and responsibility for every biblical Christian. Through good times and hard times, God desires for us to be connected to a local church family. It is one of the Lord's greatest blessings to us in this life.

So, what does it look like to be a healthy and faithful member of a local church? While not exhaustive by any means, I believe these 5 things are essential:

1. Attend Regularly - Weekly worship (in particular) with your church family should never be viewed as optional for a Christian. This is not only for your sake, but for the sake of your brothers and sisters as well. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

2. Engage Deeply - You can attend a church regularly and never engage deeply. This isn’t what God desires. He wants us to go all in. To really give ourselves to a church body. I promise you, the deeper you engage, the more blessed you will be by your church. (1 John 1:7)

3. Preserve Unity - Believers are called to preserve peace and unity in the church...which means being quick to forgive others and assuming the best, not the worst, of our brothers and sisters. Be a unifier, not a divider. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

4. Serve Faithfully - Each of us has been given gifts and abilities to serve the Lord in some capacity. Put yourself out there and use your gifts for the building up of the body. (Ephesians 4:1-16)

5. Extend Grace Continually - There is no perfect church. It doesn’t exist. Every local church is imperfect because it is made up of imperfect people like you and me. This is why your church family, including your pastors and leaders, need your continual grace. It’s easy to throw rocks...but throwing rocks never helps anything. Mature believers seek to trust the Lord and extend grace to their congregation, just as the Lord has shown us grace upon grace. (Ephesians 4:29)

The church is broken, but it is also SO beautiful.

Will you commit to a local church? Will you commit to these 5 things?

I pray that you will.

You need it. Your family needs it. And the church needs it.