confusion about what the church is

So here's the question:

Is being a member of a local church synonomous with membership in the Lord's body? That's what I was raised to believe... it was not taught explicitly, but by the time I was a young teenager, it was painfully clear that those who were NOT a member of the church I attended were not 'members of the church' Jesus died for... and that those folks were lost.

As a matter of fact, throughout my childhood and growing up years 'in the church', we all but developed a cottage industry of deciding who is and who is not 'in the body', setting ourselves up as judge and jury, spending inordinate chunks of time discussing what insures one's membership in that body.

When Luke records the events of Pentecost, he observes, "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." So the question is 'what church was the Lord adding them to?' I believe even the casual student of the Bible will conclude that this refers to the 'church universal'... and that it does NOT allude to a local body of believers.

If it is true that the 'body of Christ' (which, according to scripture, Jesus will take back to Heaven with Him upon His return) is a collection of 'all the saints' from all the eras of time and all regions of the world, doesn't it follow that those 'saints' are members of His body... the saved... and that the members of the local church would be a 'subset' of the 'body of Christ' or church universal?

There are millions of wonderful reasons to be an active 'member' of your local church...but it is folly to believe that your salvation is assured because your name is on the church secretary's rolodex, or that you attend the 'right church' everytime its doors are open. Let us never forget that our salvation was once and for all purchased by Jesus Christ at the cross!

It is at least worth considering that the nice stained-glass edifice where you attend every Sunday morning has become confused with the Church which Jesus died to build...and we must never confuse THAT membership with membership in the Body of Christ. This is terribly important! Because the Church which Christ died to establish is THE BODY He will redeem on that last day...

So who are its members? Well, after Peter had convinced and convicted his audience, many of them asked "what should we do?"...note what Peter did NOT reply...He did not say:

• "join a church" or
• "attend synagogue every week" or
• "do good things, and you will be saved"... (incidentally, that's what the 'churched people' had been preaching for all their lives and, frankly, Jesus' teachings were based on this new 'grace' thing...)

Instead, here's how Peter replied (according to the Acts 2 text):

• "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.... and those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

Ahaa! THAT'S the church which Christ died to establish! So, are you a member?