Do you choose the Christian church, or does the Christian Church choose you?

            I am noticing that a lot of a church's ecclesiology stems from their theology, and not necessarily their theology of the church. Michael Jinkins (2003) quotes John Locke's argument that, "if afterwards he discover anything either erroneous in the doctrine or incongruous in the worship of that society to which he has joined himself, why should it not be as free for him to go out as it was to enter?" (p. 182). When John Locke wrote these words, there was a very real and very oppressive state church dictating what everyone should believe. If someone were not a member in the state church then they were practically alienated from the state and their citizenship was void. Jinkins (2003) writes that, "herein lies also a hint of the alienation of persons, the dissension and spirit of schism, as well as the impulse to exclusion that has been inseparable from the story of Protestantism in general and of North American evangelicalism in particular" (p. 183). Jinkins recognizes a stark difference between applying John Locke's quote to believers whose faith was oppressed and stifled in the state churches of his time and the individualism and voluntarism that plagues much of the church today. Anymore, church is not about worshiping God and the communion of saints, but for some it is about what makes them feel good during worship and the communion of like-minded people (whether they are saints or not).
            I am sure almost every congregation either is dealing with or has dealt with the problems that individualism and voluntarism present to the church. Our congregation has experienced many different types of people with a mindset that the church is most importantly about what they are comfortable with both theologically and ecclesiologically. For example, on more than one occasion, we have had families come and visit who have tried to persuade the whole congregation and the session that their doctrinal convictions are right and ours are wrong. This form of individualism is worse than most because most individualism in the church is expressed by vagabond Christians who just cannot seem to find a place to worship because nobody else is as picky as they are on just the right doctrines and church polity. There was one gentlemen that visited our church for a good month or two who was an ardent dispensationalist. Our Sunday school class at the time was about the Temple, and every week, this gentlemen would go out of his way to speak up and try to persuade all of us that his ideas were right and that our approach was all wrong. Such behavior and arrogance was not edifying whatsoever, but became a constant nuisance. Eventually, although we would have been more than happy if he decided to stay and continue worshiping with us, the session told the man that we are a confessional church and we will never be dispensationalists because we adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith. If he wanted to worship in a church with like-minded people, he would never really feel comfortable with us.
            Returning back to my first point, however, we are what we believe. If we believe that the church is a representative body of Christ, united to Him by the Holy Spirit, and chosen from before the foundations of heaven and earth by the Father, then our ecclesiology and polity will reflect that belief. If we believe that the church is more about the individual, to come and go as they please, to worship where they feel the most comfortable with others who believe in the same things they do, then our ecclesiology and polity will reflect that belief. Of course, to a certain degree, we all choose a church, respectively. However, in a broader context, the universal church chooses us. That is to say, Christianity is not a choice but a calling. The problem I see with the individualism and voluntarism that seems to be running rampant in the church is that it does not bring us closer together as one Body of Christ, but rather breaks us down into more and more divisions. If the church is all about the individual's free choice and voluntary right to choose, then what happens is churches stop preaching the Gospel truth and instead they start marketing to a world full of individuals. The church down the street is not seen as another flock of Christ but as competition. Instead of feeding the lambs, pastors water down their sermons to the point where there is not even milk in them anymore lest they offend someone and those individuals move onto another church. Then you have other individuals who go from church to church, looking for someplace to attend, but nobody seems to be the Goldilocks church for them and "just right." Therefore, they decided to start their own church to suit their own needs. But what if the reason that there is no church that is "just right" for them is because they're everything but right when it comes to their stance on ecclesiology, worship, or other doctrinal convictions?
            Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Eph 1:3-6)
            God chose us to be members of His family in Christ before the foundation of the world. The true body of Christ has been chosen. If you are Christ's, then the church (the body of Christ) chooses you. I am sure that many who read this will completely disagree with the idea of predestination and effectual calling. After reading through the texts for this class, however, it seems like this theological principle is a major architect of your approach to ecclesiology and polity. If salvation is asking Jesus into your heart and seeking after a personal relationship with God then your ecclesiology will most likely resemble your voluntarism and individualistic salvation. If nothing else, let me ask you to consider this: what child ever puts itself up for adoption? What child ever sits at an orphanage voluntarily and waits for the right parents to come along and when they do, has the ability to force them to adopt it? "In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will (not ours), to the praise of his glorious grace (not our individuality and ability to choose), with which he has blessed us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). So, yes, we might choose what church we wish to worship at, but the Body of Christ chooses us. We are engrafted into the vine. We are not wandering limbs looking for a tree to attach ourselves to. So, does, "one only [become] a Christian by a conscious and individual act" (Jinkins quoting Tracy Strong, 2003)?

References:

Jinkins, M. (2003). The "gift" of the church: Ecclesia crucis, peccatrix, maxima, and the missio dei. In J. J. Stackhouse, Evangelical ecclesiology: Reality or illusion? (pp. 179-212). Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.