Church Membership: Whose Idea Is It Anyway?

Posted By Jackson Watts on Jan 7, 2013 | 3 comments

The Christian church constantly faces the challenge of tensions in its faith and practice. Believers have to look forward to heaven’s glories while avoiding gnostic tendencies toward escapism. Churches have to determine how addressing social conditions such as poverty relates, if at all, to the Great Commission. And more recently, Christians are learning to participate better in the environmental conversation while not succumbing to the implicit pantheism of so much modern environmentalism [1].

One challenge that is especially difficult to navigate in our age of tolerance, pluralism, and political correctness is that challenge of being a welcoming, loving, inclusive community, while also being God’s set-apart, holy people. Unfortunately, these are often two spiritual universes whose constellations never come into alignment. Either churches emphasize holiness in such a way as to narrow “Jesus’ way” to “their way,” or they emphasize Christ’s love at the expense of true repentance. These challenges present the church with a dilemma. This dilemma is seen most clearly by examining a local church’s beliefs about church membership, what it means, and how one practices it.

Parachurch ministries in evangelicalism such as 9Marks have called a great deal of attention to this topic in recent years. However, the more basic question that Christians should be considering is whether church membership is part of authentic Christianity, or simply a human invention. In this essay I will offer four basic reasons why it is a legitimate, Christian principle that guide the church’s practices.

Biblical

One of the first moves most Christians make to legitimate a particular practice is to find specific proof-texts. They look for the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots” of the faith. In some sense this is a reasonable search. On the other hand, it is often a disappointing one. We quickly discover that the biblical message comes to us in parable and proverb, history and prophecy, genealogies and other genres that often make interpretation tricky. The biblical data must be examined carefully to be sure we’re discovering what’s there (exegesis), and not inserting what’s not there (eisegesis).

When it comes to church membership there are at least three biblical threads to grasp: (1) specific mention of Christians; (2) the evidence of record-keeping; and (3) the body-member language. We will briefly consider each.

Paul had more than a passing acquaintance with the earliest congregations. He knew many of them because he had personally evangelized and discipled them. He had been a vital instrument in their spiritual progress. Within the Philippian church, Euodia and Syntyche were two so clearly identified with the church that he could write and exhort them to lay aside their disagreements for the sake of the church (Phil. 4:2). In an even more extreme instance, he singled out Hymenaeus and Alexander who were subjected to severe spiritual discipline in hopes that they would repent (1 Tim. 1:19-20). Thankfully, Paul’s mentions weren’t always dishonorable. In fact, in several instances his letters conclude with extensive salutations and spiritual counsel (Rom. 16:1-16).

The relevance of such examples is this: Paul knew who constituted “the church” such that he knew who warranted spiritual oversight, whether by rebuke or exhortation. The evidence of record-keeping flows out of this first observation. The church apparently had a roll to record who the widows were under the church’s care (1 Tim. 5:9). It was a practical tool designed to distinguish some women from other women in order to help guide the church’s ministry. We can speculate as to whether this was recorded on papyrus, or some other ancient material, but widows were “enrolled.”

Finally, the body-member passages (mostly located in 1 Corinthians 12-14) is the most obvious example of why the modern language of membership is not a human invention. It is the very inspired Word of God that teaches us that every Christian who is united with the church through baptism (1 Cor. 1:15-17), who subscribes to the apostle’s doctrine (1 Cor. 2), and who is living in spiritual harmony and moral purity (1 Cor. 3:1-4; 5:1-6:20) can rightly be called a ‘member’ of the body.

Theological

Theology arises out of consideration of biblical texts, categories, and the overall narrative of the faith. And so a theological basis for church membership emerges from following the trajectory of Scripture. Repeatedly, we find that God has always had a people, identified and marked off as His people. Just as being “in Eden” meant one thing concerning humanity’s relationship to God, so does being “out of Eden.” Being on the ark with Noah versus being outside its doors was a dividing marker. Later, Israelites were set apart by their obedience to God’s covenant requirements, and certain beliefs and practices are what comprised those requirements. The difference of being inside versus outside God’s covenant community is an important, persistent theme.

As mentioned above, the New Testament refers to God’s people as “the body of Christ.” They are bought by His blood and held together at every joint by His Spirit. The idea, then, of church membership is a fitting way of describing what it means to be a part of God’s people. It is a tangible way of expressing what is true of our bodies physically, and the church’s body spiritually.

Historical

As one surveys the biblical record of Acts and church history, more warrant is found for church membership. One example of this is the spiritual significance that the rite of baptism has had throughout the ages. To identify oneself with Christ through baptism was also to identify oneself with Christ’s people—the church. Even in most countries today where Christianity is a minority faith, it is still socially risky to embrace baptism. In many cases one jeopardizes his life by such decision. Baptism signals that one is ceasing to identify and align himself with an acceptable ethnic, political, or religious community, and is instead being buried and raised with Christ along with His saints.

And yet this pattern is lost on so many in the West today. Religious rituals bind us to those we practice the faith with. However, this relationship between ritual and community has often been lost due to our obsession with individual comfort, freedom, and autonomy.

Practical

A final, often overlooked reason for church membership is based in its practical dimensions. This is not to say that something being “biblical” and something being “practical” are two different things. In fact, we should expect that fidelity to biblical models will prove spiritually beneficial to the church as she practices the faith. When it comes to the family of God, our love, prayer, and ministry efforts should bless them. However, if we don’t know who constitutes a given family, then how will we know if we are meeting our basic spiritual obligations? [2]

The truth is that we always make assessments about who we owe something to—whether in terms of our time, financial and emotional support, and who we will use our gifts to edify. The Scriptures warn that pastors will give an account to the Lord for the way they have exercised spiritual oversight (Heb. 13:17). When we hear these considerations, the practical value of some form of clear, church membership becomes obvious. Some identifying tool, such as a church roll, helps the body to know which members comprise it. This then helps them to understand the extent of their accountability in ministry.

The practical benefits also extend into other dimensions of the church’s life. How does the church know who they might lend their facilities to? Should any professing Christian be allowed to vote on church business, such as a budget, or even help choose the next pastor of the church? Real-life situations such as these occur all the time, and biblical, church membership helps the congregation make sound, spiritual judgments.

Conclusion

Some will perhaps still question the specifics of the process to becoming a church member. It will largely fall to each individual church to use Scripture, tradition, and spiritual wisdom to negotiate these details. But the need for Christians to be a member of a church is not a matter of opinion or preference. It is a biblical and prudent means for publicly enlisting oneself in the Lord’s service—to Him, and to His people.

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[1] “Creation care,” for this reason, is the language Christians have been more prone to use, indicating not just political differences, but theological ones.

[2] This is especially the case if one has signed a church covenant, which always entails certain commitments made to the well-being of other church members in very specific ways.

For Further Reading:

Jonathan Leeman’s Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Crossway, 2012) is perhaps the best, brief argument for biblical church membership.

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