Thinking about a body, and the various parts and organs of a body, helps us to answer two very vital questions about the church: What does it mean to be a member of a church? and Why is being a member of a church different from being a member of any other institution or organization in the world? Well you will understand why membership matters and every member matters if you will begin to see the church as a body, and the members as the vital organs. In fact, that is what we are told in Rom. 12:5,"In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (NIV)

When you talk to people today about membership, people think about paying dues, secret rituals, or having your name on some invisible roll that nobody ever sees. Paul had a very different picture of member…