I Am a Church Member Quotes

“If outside forces and culture were the reasons behind declining and non-influential churches, we would likely have no churches today. The greatest periods of growth, particularly the first-century growth, took place in adversarial cultures. We are not hindered by external forces; we are hindered by our own lack of commitment and selflessness.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“You are to love your fellow church members unconditionally. And while that doesn’t mean you agree with everyone all the time, it does mean you are willing to sacrifice your own preferences to keep unity in your church.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“I Am a Church Member I am a church member. I like the metaphor of membership. It’s not membership as in a civic organization or a country club. It’s the kind of membership given to us in 1 Corinthians 12: “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27). Because I am a member of the body of Christ, I must be a functioning member, whether I am an “eye,” an “ear,” or a “hand.” As a functioning member, I will give. I will serve. I will minister. I will evangelize. I will study. I will seek to be a blessing to others. I will remember that “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). I am a church member. I will seek to be a source of unity in the church. I know there are no perfect pastors, staff, or other church members. But neither am I. I will not be a source of gossip or dissension. One of the greatest contributions I can make is to do all I can in God’s power to help keep the church in unity for the sake of the gospel. I am a church member. I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires. That is self-serving. I am in this church to serve others and to serve Christ. My Savior went to a cross for me. I can deal with any inconveniences and matters that are just not my preference or style. I am a church member. I will pray for my pastor every day. His work is never-ending. His days are filled with constant demands for his time—with the need to prepare sermons, with those who are rejoicing in births, with those who are traveling through the valley of the shadow of death, with critics, with the hurts and hopes of others, and with the need to be a husband and a father. My pastor cannot serve our church in his own power. I will pray for God’s strength for him and his family every day. I am a church member. I will lead my family to be good members of this church as well. We will pray together for our church. We will worship together in our church. We will serve together in our church. And we will ask Christ to help us fall deeper in love with this church, because He gave His life for her. I am a church member. This membership is a gift. When I received the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, I became a part of the body of Christ. I soon thereafter identified with a local body and was baptized. And now I am humbled and honored to serve and to love others in our church. I pray that I will never take my membership for granted, but see it as a gift and an opportunity to serve others and to be a part of something so much greater than any one person or member. I am a church member. And I thank God that I am.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“The concept of an inactive church member is an oxymoron. Biblically, no such church member really exists.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“With a country club membership you pay others to do the work for you. With church membership, everyone has a role or function. That is why some are hands, feet, ears, or eyes. We are all different, but we are necessary parts of the whole.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“I am suggesting that congregations across America are weak because many of us church members have lost the biblical understanding of what it means to be a part of the body of Christ.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“Unity in the church will not happen if members have unforgiving hearts.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“The world will know if we are Christians or not by the way we who are believers act toward one another.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“Healthy church membership means you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“you are there to meet the needs of others. You are there to serve others. You are there to give. You are there to sacrifice.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“As a church member, I am responsible for encouraging and leading my entire family to worship together in the church.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“few things can destroy the unity of a church like gossip. A unified church is powerful. Gossip tears apart that unity and renders a church powerless.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“He placed us in churches to serve, to care for others, to pray for leaders, to learn, to teach, to give, and, in some cases, to die for the sake of the gospel. Many churches are weak because we have members who have turned the meaning of membership upside down. It’s time to get it right. It’s time to become a church member as God intended. It’s time to give instead of being entitled.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“Praying Together as a Family for the Church One of the many lessons I learned from Bob was to bring my family together to pray for my church. Following Bob’s leadership, I would learn to pray for the leadership of the church in a number of ways: For spiritual protection. For protection from moral failure. For the preaching of the Word. For their families. For encouragement. For physical strength. For courage. For discernment. For wisdom in their leadership.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“Jesus said we must be last of all and servant of all. That doesn’t sound like all the church members we may know. Many church members demand their preferences, their desires, and the way they’ve always done it. But Jesus said we are to serve. Paul said it as well. After he became a Christian, the apostle declared, “I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power” (Eph. 3:7). We will never find joy in church membership when we are constantly seeking things our way. But paradoxically, we will find the greatest joy when we choose to be last. That’s what Jesus meant when He said the last will be first. True joy means giving up our rights and preferences and serving everyone else.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

“So if we approach church membership from the perspective of entitlement, we have it upside down. You always ask first what you can do for your church.”
― Thom S. Rainer, I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference