The increase or decrease of members is sometimes used as a basis for determining the strength or weakness of a church. A By-Law entitled "Numbering the People" in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy reads as follows (Art. VIII, Sect. 28): "Christian Scientists shall not report for publication the number of the members of The Mother Church, nor that of the branch churches. According to the Scripture they shall turn away from personality and numbering the people." It is the spirituality of the members, not the number of them, which properly determines the strength of a church.
In the twenty-fourth chapter of II Samuel it is recorded that King David ordered the numbering of his people. Although Joab, captain of the host, who was to take the census, questioned the wisdom of the king's command by asking, "Why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?" the king's order stood. But when the count was reported to the king, the Bible records that "David's heart smote him." Apparently he discerned his error of humanly measuring strength and power in the scale with God, omnipotent Spirit.
We are told in the same chapter that under divine direction David asked Araunah, a Jebusite, to sell his threshingfloor that on it an altar to God might be built. Here a sacrifice would be offered to lift from the people the plague which David's sin had brought upon them.
Araunah wanted to present David with the needed materials, but David replied, "Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." So David built the altar and sacrificed that which he bought with a price, and the plague was lifted.
Spiritual awakening and healing can take place only as material sense is relinquished and the omnipotence of Spirit is understood. Our thoughts and lives become more spiritual as we abandon materiality. There is no other way. Even so, there is no other means by which the healing power or the strength of the Christian Science movement can be increased except as the members increase their spirituality and consecration.
In the early years of the Christian era this increase of spirituality enabled the apostles to accomplish outstanding cases of healing, both of physical disease and of conversion of sinners. These proofs of the supreme power of Spirit resulted in great increase in the number of followers. It is said that "by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. . . . And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women" (Acts 5:12-14).
Spiritual understanding and Christian healing must be cultivated and cared for within the heart of each member if the Church of the newborn is to continue to advance and serve its full purpose of keeping aglow the light of Truth that is to save humanity. Christ Jesus once declared (John 14:6), "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Membership in the Church of Christ, Scientist, is progressive and not something that has been fully accomplished merely because the name of the applicant has been placed on the records of the Church. Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 35): "Our church is built on the divine Principle, Love. We can unite with this church only as we are newborn of Spirit, as we reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the fruits of Love,—casting out error and healing the sick."
Recalling these requirements for uniting with the Church of the newborn, we can conclude that none of us as yet have realized our full opportunities as members, although we are gradually attaining a more complete demonstration of membership. The goal has not been reached. Our longing to attain this status and to enjoy the fullness of fellowship within it is a prayer that is answered as we put into practice the truths we discern.
The several requirements laid down in applying for and being admitted to membership in The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, or in one of its branches are essential. Each one must be studied and meticulously conformed to. But the uniting process referred to in Mrs. Eddy's statement is a continuing one after these human footsteps have been taken and the applicant has been admitted to membership.
As the new birth goes forward and as we heal ourselves and others, individual membership is advanced. It is a process of lovingly caring for and developing spiritual sense.
Tender guidance to develop in each church member this priceless faculty of spiritual understanding has been given by Mrs. Eddy as follows (Church Manual, Art. IV, Sect. 1): "The Bible, together with Science and Health and other works by Mrs. Eddy, shall be his only textbooks for self-instruction in Christian Science, and for teaching and practising metaphysical healing."
In this By-Law, we recognize a vastly important provision for keeping the divine light aglow in our lives. We should exercise the utmost caution in selecting the thoughts which we entertain. Reading works which are antagonistic to Christian Science and which advocate materialistic systems dulls our pure spiritual discernment. Whether we read for self-instruction, for practicing Christian healing, or for teaching Christian Science to adults or children, we must be sure that our instruction is supported by the textbooks as prescribed by the Manual.
We must continually improve our membership by obeying our Leader's Rules. She has found and marked the way for us. It is undeviating. To deviate from it is to lessen our ability to demonstrate the divine Principle, Love. We unite with her Church only in the degree that we bring our thinking and living into conformity with the Rules and By-Laws of The Mother Church. This involves a continuing, daily, spiritual effort, impelled by divine Love.
Such high quality of obedience is indeed a prominent factor in the advancement of our individual membership in Love's Church. Wherever this better sense of membership, evidenced by the individual members' "bringing forth the fruits of Love,—casting out error and healing the sick," is achieved, then the number of members and strength of the movement will grow as in the days of the apostles. And we can always increase the status of our individual membership.
