He was a member of the church. He said so when questioned about his religion.

He was a member of the church but he could not be counted on to attend the services. He worked six days a week, and he had to visit sometimes, when could he go except on Sunday. He worked hard and needed some recreation, and Sunday was the only time he had for recreation.

He was a member of the church, but he just could not get to Bible study on Sunday morning. He needed the extra hour or two of sleep more than he needed to study the Bible. He attended the worship most of the time, and he felt that was enough.

He was a member of the church, but he did not come on Sunday night. He had to rest to be ready to go to work on Monday. He had already attended one time and that was enough except for the preacher and a few over zealous people. He had eaten the Lord’s Supper, and that was the only thing that was really important anyway.

He was a member of the church, but he never came to mid-week Bible study. He could not find where the Bible said anything about mid-week Bible classes. He said he was tired on Wednesday night and needed the rest and requested people not to bother him by calling on him to invite him.

He was a member of the church, but gave very little of his money to the cause of the Lord. The church supported the preaching of the gospel, but not with his money. The church helped orphans and widows, but not with his money. After all, he owned a home, a new car, a television, and took a vacation each year and it took all of his money to live on.

He was a member of the church, but he never invited anyone. He said that he thought that was what the preacher was paid to do. If he was sick and no one visited him, it hurt his feelings. He complained of the church not visiting people.

He was a member of the church, but he never tried to teach anyone else. In fact, he did not know where to find the Great Commission. If someone asked him a question about the Bible he had to call the preacher to find the answer. The truth is he just did not like to talk with other people about the Bible.

He was a member of the church, but he died. I conducted the funeral. I said, “He was a member but he was careless in his attendance. He was a member of the church, but he did not think Bible study was important, and so he never came. He was a member of the church, but he never gave as he prospered. His funeral is being conducted in a building paid for by others. He was a member of the church, but he never visited the sick. He was a member of the church, but no one gathered here today has he taught the truth. He has now gone to judgment to meet his God, and all he can say to God is: ‘I was a member of the church.’ All that I can say about him is that he was a member of the church.”

While these are not the words that I used, it is the substance of what was said. The service was over, and as I stood at the door waiting for the men to take the casket and place it in the ambulance, I heard someone say, “He preached him straight into hell.” But I deny that I did so. All I did was to tell the truth about his life. All that he claimed while he lived was that he was a member of the church. Why should I insult his family and his friends and his body by saying he was more? I could not claim for a dead man what he refused to claim for himself while he lived.

This is not fiction—it happened.

• Franklin Camp (Deceased) submitted by Jerry Sturgill

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build His church.  Peter had just confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16).  Upon this bedrock foundational fact, Jesus made His promise.  There can be no other foundation for the church than Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11); therefore, any church that is founded on someone else has a faulty foundation and is headed for ultimate demise (Matthew 7:24-27; 15:13).

The promise Jesus made was, “I will build my church,” (Matthew 16:18). The singular form of the word church ought to be glaring to a religious world that hosts thousands of different churches.  Ephesians 1:22-23 and Colossians 1:18 clearly show that the church is Christ’s body.  Coupled with the plain statement of Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body,” it is clear that Jesus built only one church which is to be united in teaching and practice.  Later in the same epistle, Jesus is called the “head of the church” and “the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). Christ is the one head over His one body, the church. No mention of different worldwide churches can be found in the pages of the New Testament.  When a man is saved, God adds him to Christ’s one church (Acts 2:47).

However, one may be curious about the mention of “churches of Christ” in Romans 16:16.  Does this indicate a multiplicity of churches?  It must be understood that in the New Testament though there was only one worldwide church which was built by Christ, all of the members of this universal organization could not regularly meet in the same geographical location.  Therefore, the word church in the New Testament many times refers to local congregations of which Christians in a given locale were a part.  The church at Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi are examples of this.  The seven churches in Asia Minor, to whom the book of Revelation is addressed (Revelation 1:4) are also examples of local congregations.  Each of these local congregations had elders, also known as bishops, (Acts 14:23; Philippians 1:1) who would watch for the souls of those members of the local congregation. Each member is to follow the example of the elders of the congregation as they shepherd the flock among them (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:3).

The meeting of the local congregation on a regular basis was an important part of the church in the New Testament and is just as important today (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24-25; James 2:2).  Thus, sometimes the word church is used in the sense of the assembly (1 Corinthians 14:34-35). The phrase “come together” appears six times in this one section of scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:17-14:40. The inspired instructions and corrections given here to the first-century congregation at Corinth provide insight into what is to occur when the whole church comes together into one place (1 Corinthians 14:23).  The Lord’s supper was to be observed (1 Corinthians 11:17-29), prayers were offered (1 Corinthians 14:15), psalms were sung and public teaching occurred (1 Corinthians 14:26). All this was to be done in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40).  This assembly occurred on the first day of the week when Christians would also give of their means to support the work of the church (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

The church is so important to Christ that He purchased it with His blood (Acts 20:28).  Those that would please Christ would be added to His one church by obeying the Gospel (Acts 2:37-47), place membership at a local congregation where faithful elders can watch for their souls (Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4), and faithfully attend the assemblies of the church for their own spiritual edification (1 Corinthians 14:4-5).

-Mark Day