Membership: Why Join a Church?

Today in Sunday school we discussed the importance of being plugged into a a local church community. In my preparation I came across this quote. 

"God has given us four pictures of the church, not one. This is not just to emphasize and prove the point by repetition, but also to say four different things about what it means to be a member of a church. To be a stone in his temple means to belong to a worshipping community. To be part of a body means to belong to a living, functioning, serving, witnessing community. To be a sheep in the flock means belonging to a community dependent on him for food, protection, and direction. To be a member of a family is to belong to a community bound by a common fatherhood. Put together you have the main functions of an individual Christian. Evidently we are meant to fulfill these not on our own but together in the church. Now can you see the answer to the question why you should join a church?"--G. Eric Lane, I Want to Be A Church Member (Bryntirion, Wales: Evangelical Press of Wales, 1992), p. 21.

I often hear people say, "I don't need to be part of a particular church because I'm part of the universal church." While it is true that those who are in Christ are apart of His universal church, I believe the best way to demonstrate our commitment to Christ's church is to give ourselves in service of a local community of believers. If everyone faithfully invested themselves in their local church I believe the needs and mission of the global church would be met. All this to say their are many blessings and benefits to be had from becoming a member of a church. But one of the greatest things about being a member of a local church isn't what you get, but the opportunity to be used by God to be a blessing.