The importance of Church Membership

 

The importance of Church Membership

The basis of church membership

At the very moment that you come to faith you immediately become a member of the body of Christ according to 1 Cor. 12:13, this is what is often called ‘the universal church’.  There are numerous references to this ‘universal church’ in the Bible.  For instance in Matt. 16:18 Jesus says to Peter “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”.  In this it is clear that Jesus is not speaking about a local church, but all believers everywhere.  Similarly in Eph. 1:22-23 where Paul says “And God places all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything in the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”.  Again it is clear that this is speaking of Christ’s headship over all believers worldwide.  

But there are similarly many examples where the reference to the church can only refer to a local body of believers.  For instance in Matt. 18-15-17 where Jesus speaks of a ‘brother’ who have sinned against another ‘brother’.  First the Lord calls you to speak to him alone, and if that doesn’t work to take two or three others with you and speak to him again.  However if that doesn’t help you need to tell the church so that they will collectively call him to repent.  If even this fails, the church must treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.  The reference to ‘the church’ here, clearly does not refer to the universal church worldwide, but refers to an identifiable group of believers who congregate together and is called a church.  So while every believer by faith automatically becomes a member of the universal church of Christ, the expectation is that they have to become part of a local body of believers which we call ‘the local church’.  There are many references to such local churches in the Bible.  Many of the letters of Paul are addressed to local churches.  For instance, the church in Rome, the church in Corinth, the church in Galatia, the church in Ephesus, Philippi, the church in Colosse, the church in Thessalonica.  Similarly in Acts 8:1 it refers to the church in Jerusalem.  Primarily when the Word of God refers to ‘the church’ it is speaking about the local body of believers who have united together f or the purpose of worship and mutual edification.  

The Local church are called to join together to receive the Word of God, according to 1 Tim 4:13 and 2 Tim. 4:2; for mutual edification, according to Rom. 12:3-8 (i.e. 1 Cor. 12:4-31; 1 Pet. 4:10-11); to participate in the ordinances, the Lord’s Supper (Luk. 22:19) and Baptism (Acts 2:38-43) and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matt. 28:18-20. 

But the expectation is that every member of the body of Christ should also become a member of the local church, which is the local expression of Christ’s body.  References to the local church appears 114 times in the New Testament in the Greek word ‘ekklesia’ which means ‘assembly’ or ‘congregation’. 

As a church member, you formally commit yourself to that body of believers with the purpose of spiritual growth not only of yourself but that whole body.  The church exist to receive instruction from God’s Word, according to 1 Tim. 4:13 (i.e. 2 Tim. 4:2) for the edification of one another Rom. 12:3-8 (1 Cor. 12:4-31; 1 Pet. 4:10-11), the practice of the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism according to Luk. 22:19 and Acts 2:38-43, and the proclamation of the gospel as seen in Matt. 28:18-20.  

So every congregation is the local expression of those built on the Rock which is Christ in Matt. 16:18; those who are the body of Christ under Christ’s authority according to Eph. 1:22-23; who has the responsibility to help, guide and even discipline each other according to Matt. 18:15-17.  Every local church is and separate identifiably body of believers who are as a congregation called to meet, built and grow as Christ’s church.  Every local church is a separate group of believers who seek to honour and obey our Lord. 

But that local church is made up of individuals who are likewise called to be a part of that church:

A Building: In 1 Cor. 3:1-9 the church is called a building.  Believers are “mere infants in Christ” Paul says yet we are called to be “fellow workers” in God’s field and God’s “building’.  Elsewhere in Scripture the local church is called God’s Temple (Eph. 2:21- 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; 2 Pet. 2:5) and individual believers are called the ‘living stones’ in God’s spiritual house.  So the local church is made up of individual believers who has a purpose, a place to fill and has responsibility for one another an rely on each other.  As ‘living stones’ we are bricks, that are not simply lying around or come and go as we please, we have a purpose and a place to fill.  This expects formal association, or then membership of a local congregation.  

A Body: In Rom. 12:4-5 the local church is also called a body which is made up of various members.  In that passage we are told that each of those members has a different functions and together they form the body so that each member belongs to all the others.  Clearly again formal association, or then membership of the local church is the exportation.  All believers must be ‘members’ of the local body of Christ, the church. 

A Family: In 1 Tim 3:15 Paul writes to Timothy the young Pastor, so that he ‘will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God’  So according to this, we are all children in God’s household, members of God’s family who according to Eph. 1:5 have surrendered ourselves to the authority of Jesus Christ and was adopted into this family.  The family picture implies relationship with God, but also with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  No family is a true family if people are just casually acquainted with one another, the expectation is formal association, that is church membership.

 

A Bricks in God’s building, as members of Christ’s body, as fellow members of the family of God we are expected to formally associate through official church membership to one another.   Clearly ‘free floating believers’ is a concept that if foreign to the Bible. 

The expectation of church membership

In the Biblical picture of the church as a building, body and family, there is clearly and expectation that we should not only perform functions to serve God, but also functions to serve and support one another.  Since the Bible expects believers to perform certain functions together as a body, it requires formal membership.  

When believers came to faith, according to Acts 2:41-47 (cf. Acts 5:14; Acts. 16:5), they repented, believed in Jesus Christ, was baptised and were then ‘added’ to the local church.  They regularly meet together according to Acts 2:42 to devote themselves together to “the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer.” 

The expectation is that believers, in obedience to God, must submit themselves both to the elders of the local church and to one another, which clearly expect formal association through church membership.  Let’s look at these various areas of expectation: 

a. The Church leadership

As Godly men, elders are called to shepherd the people of God according to Acts. 20:28 (cf. 1 Pet. 5:2).  Those who they are to shepherd, 1 Thess. 5:12 are those among whom they labour.  They are called to have charge over them (1 Thess. 5:13; cf. 1 Tim. 5:17); to keep watch over their souls (Heb. 13:17) and must one day give account to God for those who God has place under their charge (cf. 1 Pet. 5:3).  So God’s expectation from all believers is that they will willingly submit to the care and authority of the elders which have been placed over them.  Again this requires that all believers must become members who formally thereby places themselves under the charge of God’s appointed leadership, the elders of the local church.  In other words, if you are not a church member, the elders of this church has no responsibility to minister to you in any way more than they have to care for those on the street. 

b. The fellow believers

But its not just that God calls every believer to willingly submit to the care and authority of the elders, but also the care and authority of the whole congregation of other believers.  In Matt. 18:15-17 which we have already mentioned, when a fellow believers has sinned against you, after going to him alone and then taking two or three others with you, eventually if he still refuses to repent you must bring him to the whole congregation who has the responsibility to call him to repentance and if he does not repent, to cast him out of that church (i.e. 1 Cor. 5:1-13).  Clearly unless the believer has placed himself under the care and authority of the members of the church, they cannot do this, so the expectation is that all believers must be members of the local church.  But it’s not just in church discipline that all members have responsibility for one another, but we are also called to mutually edify one another.  Heb. 10:24-25 to care, love and encourage one another; Rom. 12:6-8 (cf. 1 Cor. 12:4-7; 1 Pet. 4:10-11) to build one another up through our various spiritual gifts.  In 1 Tim. 5:9, for instance, they knew exactly which widows were eligible to receive financial support. In Acts 2:41-47 (cf. Acts 5:15; Acts 16:5), they knew how many new believers were “added” to their number every day.  And when believers moved to another town, they wrote them letters of recommendation says Acts 18:27 (cf. Rom. 16:1; Col. 4:10; 2 Cor. 3:1-2).  All of this makes it clear that the Bible expects believers to formally associate with local churches by submitting to their care and authority through church membership.  The idea of lone ranger Christians who don’t formally associate with the local church is far from biblical expectation. 

Throughout the New Testament we see it is ‘the church in Jerusalem’ in Acts 8:1, the ‘whole congregation’ in Acts 6:5, the ‘disciples in Jerusalem’ Acts 9:26, the ‘whole church’ in Acts 15:17, of which ‘the elders of the church’ in Acts 15:17, has responsibility in ‘every church’ (Acts 14:23) when God has appointed them as overseers in.  So we see that every believers is called by God to formally associate through membership to the local church, so that that local church can be a recognisable and identifiable group who submit to the care and authority of those who God has placed over them.  Since God in His Word gives us the instructions, expectations and boundaries of how such care and authority over believers should be exercised and implemented to those who He has place under our care to watch over their souls.  

The call to church membership 

So why should you and I consider becoming a church member?  Let me give you 5 reasons: 

a. For the unbeliever

While the church is primarily a body of believers, unbelievers do come to our meetings.  In 1 Cor. 5:1-5 we find an interesting situation in the church where a believer is guilty of sexual immorality and the fellow believers needs to apply church discipline by casting this person out of the church.  Why, because this man is unrepentant and what he is doing ‘does not even occur among the pagans’. By the members of the church casting this man out of the church and handing him over to Satan, they set an example to unbelievers that such unrepentant sinful actions are not acceptable among them.  It must be shown that someone who continues in such ways of sin, can not be considered to be a true Christian.  While all Christians are sinners, all Christians are repentant (1 Joh 1:9). 

b. For the weak brother

The weak brother can be that brother who have fallen in sin and then repents when the congregation confronts him in Matt. 18:27 or 1 Cor. 5:1-5. But he can also simply be someone who needs care, love or encouragement in Heb. 10:24-25 or the brother who can benefit from your spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6-8).  The point is that we are called to be mutually edifying as believers so that we will ultimately all grow in the faith.  Some of us have developed further than others and we need to pick the weaker brother up and help him grow. 

c. For the stronger brother

Don’t think that any of us has grown beyond the point where we still need fellow believers to support us.  Let me remind you that God’s expectation from each of us in Matt. 23:37-40 is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind…[and to]…love your neighbour as yourself”  None of us has reached perfection in this and all of us can learn from one another of ways to grow in this.  But also, as we have seen recently all believers must continue to grow in this love for every fellow believer because we are called to love one another as Christ has loved us as 1 Joh. 3:16 teaches.  So the stronger brother needs to learn how to love every believer, including you if you are a believer and for that being a member of the same church grows the concern and love and gives opportunity to grow in that love. 

d. For the church leadership

In 1 Tim. 3 Paul instructs the young pastor of his responsibility to every individual in the church.  Elders must be above reproach, respectable and honest.  They must take care of all in the church as they would for their own family.  But those in my family are those who are formally members of my family.  The gardener or the domestic helper, the electrician or plumber my come to my house on occasion, and although I must be kind and loving towards them, my responsibility to care for them is different to what it is to those who are part of my family.  Unless you are a member of the church, you cannot expect the same level of care and concern.  The elders are called to care & have authority over those who are placed under his care and that care and authority extends only to those who are members of the church.  We may encourage and help those who are not members, but we have no authority or formal responsibility towards them. 

e. For the Lord our God

The church as a building, is not simply a collection of individual believers here and there who informally come together whenever they feel like it.  But as Acts 2:41-47 shows, they were added to their number daily.  The membership of the church is the body of Christ to such an extent that the Lord Jesus said to Paul in Acts 9:4 “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” when in fact Paul was persecuting the church.  In Rev. 21, the church are called ‘the bride’ who is beautifully dressed for her husband.  That means that we are called to identify and become part of the bride of Christ, which is the church.  God wants us to formally associate with the church, he calls believers to be part of the local congregation and not simply in an careless way, but through church membership.  Church membership which has been the standard for all believers right from the beginning of the church throughout church history.  The idea of a Christian that is not a member of the local church is a modern concept which goes directly against the expectation of God and the teaching of Scripture.  To be a believer is to formally become a member of the local church.