When to Stay-When to Leave

People often ask me, "why should I join the Church? Is membership really that important" I think membership with a local body of believers is vital to the Christian walk, commanded by God, and beyond just attending group worship.

I stumbled across an article by Dr. Glenn Parkinson entitled Churches: When to Join-When to Leave the other day, and thought you all might be interested in it. Parkinson writes,

"...Christ’s church is both an organism and an
organization. As an organism, it consists of all people, around the
world and through all ages (including those now in heaven) who have
been saved by the Lord Jesus. This is the body of Christ. It is a living
Temple made up of people.
But Christ’s church is also an organization that supports these
people. It is identified and known by its organizational structure.
It makes decisions binding on its membership. It is entrusted with
the gospel message – to proclaim it and preserve it for the next
generation."

A good, simple analogy of the dynamic between the visible/invisble church, or if you like, the spiritual/political.
You can read more of the document here. It may download as a PDF in some browsers.