I haven't been to church much in the last coupla years. Starting to get out of my funk and am looking again. The problem is, during my hiatus, I took time to read the bible, pray, study early church fathers, and pray again. What I see as passing as the "church" today isn't something that I recognize as coming from the bible. I don't recall the bible telling us to build huge buildings to make us more comfortable. I don't recall the bible telling us to be comfortable at all.
To John Deere, the bible tells us to meet with other Christians. It doesn't say sit in a pew and listen to someone who may or may not have been called by God to preach. During the early years of Christianity, Christians were persecuted. They didn't meet publicly, and there was no traveling preacher circuit. They came together as equals, for worshipping Christ, for strengthening their faith, for fellowship. It wasn't until after the 300's that they could actually practice their faith in public without fear of persecution.
As to membership, it means nothing except to add your name to an accounting role. I know in one denomination I used to be a member of, the preacher's salary was based on the number of "members". If you are committed to Christ, through the body of believers, then that's the "membership" you need.
