"UNITED WE STAND", by Dr. Peter Lumpkins published in THE CHRISTIAN INDEX June 21, 2007, is a Bible lesson which punctuates exactly what my Sovereign Lord is doing in my life--the unity of God's people.
UNITY~~ What picture does that conjure up for you? For me it is a unity of spirit. The spirit by which we show our love for another ultimately shows our love for the One Who unites us by His grace and sacrificial blood.
I've told you, my readers, how my husband had a heart attack on May 13th which resulted in open-heart surgery. We were faced with multiple problems at that time--many of which were financial. But finances were back-burner problems to the issues of life or death. And I knew my God would be faithful to provide if He was allowing this difficulty to befall us.
One day of blessing, I tithed a love offering of one-hundred dollars given to me for food. The Lord provided the tithe when I found a 10-dollar bill in the parking lot. So in reality, I only was out one dollar for 110.00. But there is so much more.
Our hospital bill has reached a total of 106,000 dollars. We must still see other doctors and medicine costs are mounting as I speak. My 1994 van has no air, needs an exhaust system, brakes and shocks. At present, we do not see my husband going back to work in construction anytime soon, if ever. We have filed for early social security, (something we didn't want to do for two more years). That check will not even cover our rent and immediate needs. Let me be clear, I am not complaining.
I tell you all this to say one thing: God is good. He is the Sovereign Provider. And He works through His people. He has done this with us. Our church members' generosity has surpassed any I have seen in my husband's 22 years-plus ministry as a pastor. We have not gone without. We are simply members of this church--we hold no staff position. We are just members; joined three and one-half years ago, when we moved from Kentucky. And to top it all off, friends and members of former churches are also giving to help us. God is great; He is awesome!
Recently, Les Puryear, a Southern Baptist minister, posted a blog question "Does A Church Need To Have "Members"?" Another question posed in his attempt to flesh out thoughts running through his heart was: "Why do we have "members" of the church like a club?"
I think Peter Lumpkins' article on the unity of that membership of Christ's Bride--the Church, answers a portion of Puryear's question in a significant way. Peter Lumpkins speaks exacty to the way we, as a church body, should act as a church body. United we stand, divided we fall. Furthermore, unified we portray the heart of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. And they will know we have love of Him by the love we show one another--when we fellowship together, when we pray together, when we share our blessings.
That's why we need members in a church, in my humble, unlearned opinion. That's why we need each other and should lift each other up, care for one another, shoulder burdens and never think ourselves more highly than our brothers. In doing so, we show the world there is a reason for our church membership--to show the love of Christ to a world without Him.
[ANOTHER OF LUMPKINS' articles can be found HERE.]
[NOTE: The Southern Baptist Convention also acts as that body through their giving to the Cooperative program which helps fund our Baptist Colleges, seminaries, church-starts, administration and more, much more. Our Annie Armstrong offerings collectively fund missionaries in North America. Our Lottie Moon offerings collectively fund missionaries on foreign soil. Without the membership in the local churches, we'd have less strength for the mission of the larger body--The Church--Christ's Bride.]
