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For the longest time, it was assumed that being a Christian meant being a member of a Christian church. What was once assumed must now be defended. Why is this? One reason is that a growing number of churches do not have formal church membership. One may attend services, give financially, and participate in Bible studies sponsored by a particular congregation, but one cannot become a member of that church. Another reason is that there is no explicit command in the New Testament requiring church membership of Christians—“Thou shalt be a member of a local church.” The lack of such a command does not mean that the Bible does not require church membership. It does mean, however, that we must look for that requirement along other lines.
Before we think about Scripture’s testimony to church membership, we must first come to some understanding of what church membership is. Most of us are familiar with the basic idea of membership. We are members of Costco, Amazon Prime, and the local gym. But membership in the local church is not the same as membership in a business that provides goods and services. How should we think about church membership?
As a friend of mine has put it, church membership is “an acknowledged relationship with privileges and obligations.” We belong to a particular congregation (and not another), and we have been formally recognized as belonging to this body of Christians. That relationship carries with it certain privileges. For instance, a church member who has professed his faith in Christ is admitted to the Lord’s Table and is able to vote in church elections. That relationship also carries obligations. Often church members commit themselves to support the church by regular attendance at public worship and by regular giving to support the work of the church.
If this is what membership is, then how and where do we find it in the New Testament? We have already seen that we will not find in Scripture an explicit command to join a local church. What we see, rather, is this understanding of church membership both assumed and reflected in a number of places in Scripture. We may look at five interrelated lines of biblical teaching that show church membership to be a requirement of biblical discipleship.
First, the book of Acts shows us a pattern surfacing in the ministry of the Apostles that assumes the existence of membership in the church. The gospel is preached, and people respond in repentance and faith. These new believers are never sent out to live the Christian faith by themselves. They are gathered into existing communities of professing Christians. This ingathering takes place when the gospel is preached in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:37–47, especially v. 41) and throughout the rest of Acts. These communities are under the government and oversight of elders (14:23), gather for weekly worship (20:7–12), are engaged in ministries of service (4:32–37; 6:1–7), and send preachers to bring the gospel to distant lands (13:1–3). What we are witnessing is the presence and outworking of membership in the church.
Second, the New Testament letters help us see the relational dynamics of these local congregations. Readers of the New Testament are struck by what have been called the “one another” passages. There are many of these, but we may look at just one example. In Colossians 3:13, Paul tells his readers to “[bear] with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, [forgive] each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” This command assumes that these believers are living, worshiping, and serving alongside one another. Because sin remains in the best of believers, it is just a matter of time before we sin against one another. Paul calls us to forgive the person who has offended us (in light of the fact that the Lord has forgiven us our offenses). The “one another” in this passage—and elsewhere in the New Testament—points to a defined body of people (the church in Colossae; Col. 1:2). What gives them definition? Church membership.
Third, the worship of the church, particularly the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, testifies to the requirement of church membership. Consider the commands that Paul issues when he speaks to the Corinthians about the Lord’s Supper. One must not partake “in an unworthy manner” (1 Cor. 11:27). One must first “examine himself . . . and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (v. 28). The person “who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (v. 29). These commands tell us that only believers who meet Apostolic qualifications may come to the Lord’s Table. The Lord’s Supper is not for all people alike, nor is it for everyone who happens to be present in a church service on a Sunday morning. This sacrament is for persons who profess faith in Christ and who have declared themselves to be in union and communion with Christ (see 10:16–17). It is church membership that establishes, formally and publicly, which persons meet these qualifications. Without church membership, we could not safeguard the biblical integrity of the sacrament’s observance in the church.
Fourth, the discipline of the church assumes the necessity of church membership. The highest censure that can be inflicted in the church’s discipline is excommunication—that is, being put out of the fellowship of the church. Excommunication is something that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself established for the New Testament church (see Matt. 18:17) and that the Apostle Paul enforced in the church in Corinth (see 1 Cor. 5:5, 13). But for someone to be put out of the church, he must first have been put into the church. The church’s elders cannot remove someone from the church’s fellowship whom they have not first admitted to the church’s fellowship. Church discipline, therefore, requires church membership.
Fifth, the government of the church assumes the necessity of church membership. One of the hallmarks of the church is the eldership. Elders are leaders who govern and shepherd the flock of God. Christ assigns particular sheep to particular shepherds. That is why the author of Hebrews writes, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Heb. 13:17). And Paul tells the church in Thessalonica “to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you” (1 Thess. 5:12). These commands assume an existing, formal relationship between particular elders and particular Christian believers. And for such a relationship to exist, church membership must first exist.
Church membership might seem to be a mere formality or convention that can be easily discarded. Nothing is further from the truth. Church membership touches virtually every department of the church’s life and ministry. Just as importantly, church membership touches on the Christian’s life and ministry. Christ has His disciples mature not in isolation but in the formal bonds of relationship with fellow believers. We grow and serve alongside our fellow believers in the bonds of Christian love, commitment, and affection. Seen in that light, church membership is not only a command of Christ; it is a mark of the compassion and care of Christ for His people. What a Good Shepherd we have.