04 August 2008 Devotion for Today “Church Membership” Acts 2:38-41

There’s a true story of a young minister in Oklahoma who went to this little, though long-standing, church in hopes of really reviving the ministry of it. He had stars in his eyes and great hopes for the future. He thought he could turn it around. And he gave it his best effort and his best shot week after week, to no avail. Finally, he had one last idea, and it seemed to work. He announced in the local newspaper on Saturday that the church had died, and on Sunday afternoon there would be a funeral service at the church building itself, and all who wished could attend. For the first time in his years there the place was packed. In fact, people were standing outside on tiptoes looking through the window to see this most unusual funeral service for a church. To their shock, because most of them got there twenty or thirty minutes early to get a seat, there was a casket down front. And it was smothered with flowers. The minister told the people as soon as the eulogy was finished they could pass by and view the remains of the dearly beloved that they were putting to rest that day. They could hardly wait until he finished the eulogy. He slowly opened the casket, pushed the flowers aside, and people walked by, filed by, one by one, to look in and leave sheepishly, feeling guilty as they walked out the door, because inside the casket the pastor had placed a large mirror. As they walked by, they saw the church that had died.
I’ve seen that in the life-cycle of many a church. It happens all too often. But that won’t happen when we understand what does it mean to be a church member- a member of the body of Christ. To help us understand this, we must go back to the very inception of the church in the second chapter of Acts when the Holy Spirit came upon the church and gave it life. This is the fulfillment of the comforter that Jesus promised His disciples as He prepared to ascend to His Father. And as Peter finished preaching in the Temple that day they asked him, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter challenged them in verse 38 “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Then in verse 41 “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Can you imagine what would happen if suddenly three thousand people came forward to be saved and then added to the roles of this church? It would be tremendous. But the most tremendous part about it is the fact that a church member is one who is saved. Notice it says, they gladly received his word- the original language means to accept gladly, to receive happily, you might go as far as to say enthusiastically. Now there is a difference between receiving or accepting something and accepting something gladly. In fact I don’t even like that word accept, because it give the idea “Well, I didn’t have any choice but to believe it- I don’t really like it- but oh well.” You’d be surprised at the people who come to Christ that way. They do it because mama is dying and want to please her, or because they want to get their spouse off their backs and so forth. If you’ll forgive this illustration- I don’t want to sound crude, but its as accurate as anything I can think of. There are some who have the attitude that they accept Christ like they would accept a colonoscopy: a necessary evil that you put it off as long as possible and hope you never have to think about it again! “Glad that’s over with, praise God.” It’s a response that some make after years of loved ones “cramming it down their throats” maybe if I swallow it, they won’t bother me any more about it.”
No, it says they gladly received the Word. There was no more need to convince these people of what they needed to do. The Holy Spirit created a willingness not just to accept what they were saying, but inwardly desired it. It brought them tremendous joy. I mean it was as though they couldn’t wait to get it. Have you gladly received the word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? If you have, try to live today as though it means something to you.

Have a blessed day!