In 1 Corinthians 12:27, Paul refers to the church as “the body of Christ.”  Every Christian is a “member” of Christ’s “body”, through which the Spirit of God continues the mission of God for the glory of God.  Every Christian is part of the “body of Christ” the moment they put their faith in Jesus.  Another way to describe this universal body of Christ is the “universal church”.  The universal church includes all Christians, at all times, and in all places.  

But being part of the universal church at-large is only the beginning.  God has also established that we, as Christians, identify ourselves with a particular local church to further develop our spiritual growth.  Local churches are smaller expressions of the universal church, and are the contexts where being a "member of the body of Christ" actually get fleshed out.  The biblical image of Christians being members of one body implies inter-dependence among the members.  This inter-dependence takes place in local churches.

Every member of Christ’s body has been given spiritual gifts specifically suited to serve the rest of the body (1 Cor. 12:4-7).  As Christians live out what it means to be members of Christ’s body in a local church, they mature and are cared for (Eph. 4:7-16; Hebrews 3:12,13), non-Christians are drawn to Christ through the beauty of His body (John 13:34,35; Matthew 5:14-16), and the wisdom and glory of God is revealed throughout the universe (Eph. 3:10). 

The body of Christ, the church, is not merely a theoretical or theological ideal, but a real life community of (sinful) people redeemed by Jesus, on mission with Jesus, and being transformed into the image of Jesus…together.  The local church is a prominent part of the New Testament: Spirit-empowered communities where the gospel is proclaimed, sinners are saved, leaders are established, gifts are expressed, discipline is exercised, people are loved, and lives are transformed.

At Charis, we put a high value on what it practically means to be a member of the body of Christ.  We express this value through covenant membership, where we give Christians the opportunity to commit themselves to help reveal the gospel of Christ through our local expression of Christ’s body.  Members commit themselves to sacrificially love and serve our church, our city, and our world in a variety of ways.  You can see the commitment each member makes to one another here: http://www.charischurch.com/mediafiles/ccc-member-covenant.pdf.