Coming up with a list of what makes a good church member seems like an easy enough thing to do—until you try it. At the top of that list, of course, is “believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.” What comes next? What sort of actions, characteristics, and attitudes would you list second and third and fourth?
The potential danger with such a list is that the things further down the line will perhaps seem less necessary, provided we think we have what’s most important. But the real danger is that a list of what makes a good church member may easily turn into a performance checklist—something by which we weigh our successes or failures in the balance of boxes ticked. With that said, there is a text that I put at the top of the list and that likely sums up most of whatever else we might include. That text is Philippians 2:1–4:
If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish
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