I was recently asked the reason we have membership at Gatetree. My friend went on to say, “We’re all part of the Body of Christ, right? I mean, it seems sort of club-ish to ask Christians to join your church.” Have you ever wondered why it is important for Christians to attach themselves to one local body of believers? The answer is simple—there isn’t any other way to be a Christian than to be committed to a local body of believers. Our Christian generation is a generation of “floaters.” They look at the church page like they look at the movie page, and figure who is playing where and decide that’s where they will go. But, the church knows no identity of a Christian without a local assembly. In the New Testament, all of the believers were members local congregations. In Hebrews 10, it states, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some and much more as you see the day approaching." Christians are called together in a wonderful unity and every Christian ought to identify with a local assembly. Call me cynical, but, I firmly believe that the reason most Christians aren’t attached to a local body is because they don't want to be accountable to anyone. It is crucially important to identify with a local church, to come under the authority of pastoral leadership, to be accountable to one another, and, to come into the ministry for the sake of serving Jesus Christ in that assembly.