The WHY of Church Membership

Why church membership? Why insist that Christians ought to be members of their churches, especially at a time when membership in all religions is at an all-time low, and when many churches have chosen to forego membership altogether?

Is our insistence on church membership a misguided grasp to recover a phase of American life that is slowly dying, where even professional associations and membership is declining? (See also Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, 2001).

Perhaps the more pertinent question behind the question: Is church membership even in the Bible? The short answer to that question is…no. Church membership is not in the Bible—at least not in the way you think it is.

It's true that you can’t find a passage like, “And then Silas went to the church business meeting and the membership voted to include him into their membership.” Or “Barnabas asked for a transfer of church letter when he moved to a new city.”

Although the familiar and modern trappings of church membership are missing from the accounts of the New Testament, we can still find all the concepts of membership there.

Think of the topic more like this: we entered into God’s kingdom by faith…but now what do we do? We have become a disciple of Christ…but now what?

The biblical answer is that now we need to gather with other disciples. Together we help each other be disciples. In that sense, we do have church membership in the Bible. We need to first look at what the first disciples did after Jesus ascended to heaven. What we discover are three things that tell us about church membership.

1. Why Church Membership? Because it is Assumed as Our Ordinary Christian Obedience in the Bible

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men, brothers, what should we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:36-38, 41.

What is the prerequisite to this baptism? They must believe. Notice also the word “added.” Added to what or whom? The number of disciples. See also 1:15. 2:1, “And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (a crowd of about 120 persons was there together),…And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place”.

What did they all do now that they were added to the number?

“And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with all, as anyone might have need. And daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47.

How did they become a part of that number? Two things: 1) They were saved, “And the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved” (2:47). And 2) they believed, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common” (2:44) That is what defined this community: they believed. And because they believed, they were dedicated to the teaching and to fellowship with one another.

What was the content of the message that they believed? 3:18-19, “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

We learn by reading the rest of Acts that chapter 2 was not just a one-off sermon of Peter. What Peter preached that day was the content of the message. In chapter 2 he called on them to believe and to follow Christ. In chapter 3 he called on them to believe and to follow Christ. See also 4:11-12, “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” We see that Peter’s consistent message is to repent and believe. See also 4:32-33, “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own, but, for them, everything was common. And with great power the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”

The repeated message of the apostles was that entrance into the Kingdom of God (and God’s church) is by repentance and faith in Christ’s person and work. Belonging is through believing. Affirmation is on the front end.

But Does it Follow?

At this point you might say, “Sure, they gathered together. They were having fellowship, But why do I have to have fellowship with other believers? I believe in Jesus, but why does that mean I have to join a local church? Why can’t I just say that I belong to the universal Church? Why identify formally with a local church?”

First, because the very meaning of the word ‘church’ implies a local gathering. The special word that Jesus chose to identify His new covenant people was Ekklesia. That word means assembly.

We can see how that word was used in Acts 19:38-39, 40, “‘So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful meeting [ekklesia]. For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no cause for which we can give as an account for this disorderly gathering.’ After saying this he dismissed the meeting [ekklesia].”

There was a riot at Ephesus. The town clerk urged the crowd to allow the matter to be settled at the legal assembly. This is the same word that is used for the church elsewhere in the New Testament. Luke, the author of acts, then described the riot also as an assembly, using the same Greek word. One translator wrote this passage could be translated “A meeting of the people who belonged to that place.” Or “Those whose homes were in that town.”

Two scholars wrote this: “The term Ekklesia was in common usage for several hundred years before the Christian Era and was used to refer to an assembly of persons constituted by well-defined membership. In general Greek usage, it was normally a soci-political entity based upon citizenship in a city-state” [Louw & Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, 1988.]

I’ll deal more with the historic use of the term ekklesia in a forthcoming article and show how its legal and political significance is important to understand Jesus’ intention for His people on earth. But it is enough today to show that this word is the special term Jesus chose to give to His people of the New Covenant (see Matthew 18:17).

They are the church—the assembly, the congregation, the gathering. And what do assemblies do? At the very least they assemble. What do congregations do? They congregate. What do gatherings do? They gather.

Yes, there is a universal church. There is the assembly of the saints who gather before the throne of God. We will all one day be gathered together before the Lamb. One day there will be the congregation of the people of God from all time and all places. But in this life, and on this earth, we assemble with other Christians, face to face, in specific locations.

Paul addressed the church that is at Corinth. “To the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2). They were the assembly of disciples who met in that city. They were those who knew one another, those who were committed as disciples together. They were those who would gather to hear the letter read aloud to them.

Secondly, I would want to ask a question to someone who wonders whether they need to gather with a local church: How do you even know you belong to the universal church without identifying with a local church? How can you say you love Christ when you avoid His body? Which is another way of saying:

2. Why Church Membership? Because it Affirms your Salvation.

How do you know you’re not self-deceived? Something that is implicit when we talk about membership is something we call regenerate church membership. Simply put, regenerate church membership is the belief that the only people who should be members of a Christian church are Christians, or those who are regenerate—those who have been born again. That is implied in all the passages about the church quoted above in the book of Acts. “They believed.” In other words, they received these things as true. They confessed Jesus as Lord and were therefore baptized, publicly declaring themselves as His disciples. Therefore we believe that there is an inside and an outside to the church.

There is a spiritual fence that divides the church and the world. There is a circle that separates those who are in the Kingdom and those who are without. Paul wrote in such a way that implied that there were those who were inside the church and those who were outside the church. The earthly barrier of membership and belonging ought to reflect, as far as humanly possible, the true, spiritual barrier of the Kingdom of God.

What we see in the New Testament is that those who were inside the church also knew which people were inside the church.

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. And you have become puffed up and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present: in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Are you not to judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God will judge. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” 1 Cor 5:1-13.

Paul said that people who are outside the church live a certain way. A person who is supposed to be inside the church should not act like one who is outside. And what was scandalous in Corinth was that even those outside the church were shocked by the way a man was living who was considered to be inside the church. And even more scandalous than that—those who were inside the church celebrated the actions of the man who lived this way.

Therefore Paul said to put him out. There’s more that needs to say about this, but I want you to first see that the church has an inside and an outside. They knew who their members were. It mattered who was in and who was out.

“But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather graciously forgive and comfort him, lest such a one be swallowed up by excessive sorrow. Therefore I encourage you to reaffirm your love for him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might know your proven character, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you graciously forgive anything, I graciously forgive also. For indeed what I have graciously forgiven, if I have graciously forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” 2 Cor 2:5-11.

Notice the word Paul used in 5:6. He said that there was a “majority.” What does that mean? A majority would imply they knew who was in and who was out. A majority implies an understanding of the full number of disciples who were a part of the church and that the voice of the majority was heard, and based on that majority a matter was settled. In other words, they had a congregational church government.

And of those who were in the church, a percentage of them—the majority—said this man should be out. Again, there is much to explore here, including the fascinating implication of democratic processes in the early church [voting, calling together members’ meeting, congregational discussions, how votes were tallied, etc.]. The end result was that the church put this man out because a majority of the church voted to put him out. Later on, it appears, this man repented. And because he repented of his sin Paul wrote to put him back in.

What we can derive from these two passages, as well as many others, is that church membership is a church’s corporate endorsement of a person’s salvation—in so far as they are able to hear a confession of faith and observe a person’s life. If a person no longer gives evidence of faith in Christ (by verbal denial or by an unrepentant lifestyle), then the church can no longer extend that vote of confidence in their salvation. A vote out of the church by ex-communication and church discipline does not mean we are certain they are lost, but it is a withdrawal of our certainty they are saved.

Because, as we’ve seen previously, entrance into the number of the disciples means a confession of faith. In the book of Acts, no one joined who did not also confess. By implication, there would also have to be someone who is able to listen to a person’s confession of faith in order to judge whether it is a true confession of faith.

Membership into a church implies a process of examination. Do you know the gospel? Do you know who Jesus is and what He did? Have you accepted Him as Lord? Tell us your testimony of salvation. When did you know that you were not saved, and when did you believe and become saved? What was your life like before Christ? What has your life been like since Christ? Tell us about your faith. Tell us about your repentance. Tell us about your baptism.

When we enter into a church we enter as a disciple. They receive us, recognizing us as a disciple. They have heard our testimony, they affirm it is a true confession of the faith once-for-all delivered to the saints, and they publicly acknowledge us as disciples of Christ, as those who have the same confession of Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, and is the Son of God. And thus they exercise the keys of the kingdom of heaven and open on earth what we believe will have been the agreement of our Father in heaven.

“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven,” Jesus said (Matthew 18:18-19). [More on this in a forthcoming article].

When we baptize someone, we give public affirmation they are a disciple. We give a public record of our confidence in their salvation. They believe, and we receive them into the number, just like in the book of Acts.

And now that we are a part of that number, within a local body of fellow disciples, we have a relationship with one another. That relationship is defined by our belonging to those disciples as we together obey the Bible. Which is another way of saying:

3. Why Church Membership? Because it Places You Under Oversight.

Discipleship is done among the disciples. We give watch-care to one another’s souls. We give that oversight and we receive that oversight. We are being conformed to Christ in a community. This is God’s design.

In the broadest sense, even in the very imagery the Bible gives, to be a part of the people of God means that you are a member. It means you are a part of a body.

We are members, like hands or eyes that are a part of your physical body, as Paul says (1 Cor 12:21). We are sheep that are a part of a flock (1 Peter 5:2). We are stones that are a part of the building (Eph 2:20). There is implied a belonging. You have to be attached. You would not say someone was healthy whose members were detached—someone whose fingers, eyes, and hands were detached from their body. You are healthy when your parts are together and are working together. (See Ephesians 4:1-6; 11-16).

You need A body of Christ to be THE body of Christ. You need A family of God to be THE family of God. The body is healthy when it is attached together. Spiritual health and maturity are measured by how interconnected the parts are together.

How else can you obey the New Testament commands? How else can you do these things except through a community of believers? You can only do these best and with any significant regularity when you intentionally place yourself in a community of fellow disciples who have also pledged to do these things with you. The way churches have historically described this commitment is through the term meaningful membership or through a church covenant.

When you join a church you should pledge to carry out the commands of Scripture with them. What it means to be the church together is that we have agreed to obey the Bible together—to observe all that Jesus has taught us…together.

But what does that look like? What exactly is my job description as a church member? We’ll explore that in the next article—The WHAT of Church Membership.