I am considering becoming an official, signed member of my church (http://ecov NULL.org/). I tend to be kind of against formal church membership; followers of Jesus are automatically members of his Church; membership in a church should not presume to be more exclusive than the Messiah himself. I like the membership perspective of the Church of God (Anderson):

No one person decides that another will or will not be admitted to membership in a local group. Neither congregations nor congregational leaders vote on who shall be received as members. The Church of God believes that when one accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, God places that person in the church… One maintains membership by participating in the worship services and fellowship of the congregation.
What We Believe (http://www NULL.chog NULL.org/TheChurchofGod/OurBeliefs/tabid/307/Default NULL.aspx) — Church of God (Anderson)

That’s a fantastic perspective. The church I go to has the “traditional” lists and membership perspective, with voting and Robert’s Rules of Order (http://www NULL.robertsrules NULL.com/history NULL.html) and all the rest of it. But I’ve been participating there for more than eight years, and I have no theological complaints, and… it just seems like time.

Despite relenting to becoming a member of a local church, I still completely believe that being a part of the Church is infinitely more important than being a part of a church. But, as C.S. Lewis said (comparing “mere” or “basic” Christianity with that of denominations,

It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in.
Mere Christianity (http://www NULL.lib NULL.ru/LEWISCL/mere_engl NULL.txt), C. S. Lewis

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with denominations or distinctives or differences. The Reformation (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation) was an essential improvement. The Azusa Street revival (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Azusa_Street_Revival) was important. Different movements that tried to figure out how to work out their salvation (see Philippians 2:12-13 NIV (http://biblegateway NULL.com/bible?version=31&passage=Philippians+2%3A12-13)) were important.

But the labels we try to paste on ourselves to differentiate the Us from the Them within Christianity aren’t necessarily always helpful. You see, the labels don’t exclude others the way we sometimes try to make them do.

• We are Catholic (“universal”), in that we believe regenerate disciples of Jesus are part of his Universal Church.
• We are Baptist, in that we baptise regenerate believers as a public profession of their faith in Jesus.
• We are Pentecostal, in that we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and his indwelling of all regenerate disciples of Jesus.
• We are Charismatic (“spiritual gifts”), in that we joyfully accept the spiritual gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit.
• We are Reformed, in that we continually ask Jesus to reform us into his image.
• We are Evangelical, in that we seek to convince others of their need for reconciliation with God through Jesus.
• We are Covenant, in that we have entered into the New Covenant with God through Jesus.

It’s okay to label oneself as any of these things. But perhaps we ought not to forget that we Christians are also all of these things.

Related: The Church vs the local church