The Importance of Church Membership
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
-Hebrews 10:23-25, ESV
My very first post was about loving what Jesus loves: the Church. More recently, we saw that those who stir up division in the church do not love Jesus, so stirring up division is a sure sign of unbelief. But there are many Christians in America today who show a lack of love for the local church—and therefore a lack of love for Christ—in a much more subtle way. They never stir up division. They attend church faithfully, understand the Gospel, and share it with others. Yet they are displaying a lack of love for the local church because they are not members of a local church. This may be surprising and even appalling to many, so my purpose is to show from Scripture why church membership is so important, and how its neglect has caused many problems in the American church.
What is Love?
How can refusing to become a member of a local church demonstrate a lack of love? To answer that, we need to understand the meaning of love from Scripture not culture. Scripture defines love frequently by pointing to the example of Christ Himself: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). Christ loves the Church by giving Himself up for Her, serving Her for Her cleansing and sanctification, and nourishing and cherishing Her as Himself (Ephesians 5:24-30). That love looks like this:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.-1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, ESVnone
I discuss this in my leadership paper and posts on marriage in general and husbands in particular, but this suffices to define love biblically as selfless sacrifice and enduring commitment. It is therefore very similar to the way I define submission based on Philippians 2:3-4: choosing to live sacrificially by putting the needs of others and their ultimate good ahead of ourselves motivated by a healthy fear of God and following the example of Christ. All of this comes in the context of life in the local church, so while all of our love should fit this description, our love for the church should especially reflect it. We love the Church as Christ does when we sacrificially put the needs and good of the church ahead of our own and maintain lifelong commitment to the church. Church membership is a public declaration of that commitment.
Our Problem With Commitment
Therein lies the problem: Americans in general have a problem with commitment, so American Christians have a problem committing to local churches through membership. Americans won’t commit to the local church because Americans won’t commit to anything. I recently talked about how no-fault divorce laws are negatively affecting men, but that is only scratching the surface. No-fault divorce means that there is no legal or societal accountability for couples to remain committed to one another, making it easy for them to betray each other, destroying their families and society in the process. As a result, the prevalence of divorce made a mockery of the divine institution of marriage long before homosexual couples hijacked the term to describe their abominable relationships. To the modern American, marriage vows have become little more than empty political promises. The same lack of commitment is seen in the workplace with the prevalence of job hopping. It used to be normal for someone to spend an entire career working for the same company, but that is almost unheard of now. Employees are not committed to the company, and the company is not committed to employees. Workers jump ship at the drop of a hat, while companies do not hesitate to afflict their workers with round after round of layoffs just to make the numbers look a little better for the quarter.[1]Friendships too are now short-term and superficial, ending at the slightest inconvenience. We cannot imagine saying with Solomon “a friend sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). Or maybe we can, because familial commitment is sometimes no better. So are we really surprised that a culture that cannot commit to marriages, jobs, friendships, and family has trouble committing to the local church? Many see the church as a social club that people casually participate in without the need to commit or a dating relationship with no strings attached: if we don’t like something, we don’t hesitate to leave and find another church. In our consumer mindset, we church shop to the detriment of ourselves and the church as a whole.
Can church shopping really be detrimental? Yes, much like another type of shopping. A childhood friend is now a helicopter paramedic who talks of the dangers of “aircraft shopping”. This occurs when an air ambulance service turns down a flight in bad weather because it would be too risky, so the requesting hospital “shops around” until they find someone willing to take the risk, thus risking the lives of patient and aircrew alike. We face similar spiritual dangers when we church shop because of our consumerist, pleasure-seeking mindset. By incessantly shopping around for a church that will meet all of our desires, we are beckoning churches to cater to our wants rather than Christ’s commands, bidding them to set off into the storm of our pride and self-centeredness. Any church that would answer that call is at great risk of compromising on core doctrines and losing its love for Christ. And since Christ will suffer no rival, He will cause churches that prioritize man over Himself to wither and die. So yes, church shopping is just as dangerous for Christians and churches spiritually as aircraft shopping is to patients and aircrews physically. Church shopping like aircraft shopping like sleeping around is playing with fire. To avoid the spiritual equivalent of a fiery helicopter crash, we need to restore the seriousness of church commitments just as much as marriage commitments. The two are inseparably linked:
“A low ecclesiology [view of the local church] will lead necessarily to a low view of marriage. A low view of church membership vows will lead to a low view of marriage vows. In our day, when people walk away from local congregations so easily, why are we surprised when they do the same thing in their marriages.”
-Doug Wilson, My Life for Yours: A Walk Through the Christian Home, Moscow, ID: Canon Press: 2004: 69
Whether in marriage or a church, a lack of commitment is a serious matter. In marriage we call it infidelity, which in the Mosaic Law was a capital offense, so we should approach church membership with similar seriousness. We like pastors should join a local church with the intention of remaining in that church for the rest of our lives. Just as there are biblical reasons for divorce, there are biblical reasons to leave a church as discussed here and here, but many people leave churches today for unbiblical reasons. We need to quit sleeping around on the local church and instead commit to the local church through membership.
Biblical Basis for Church Membership
By this point you should see that commitment to a local church is vitally important, but does that require formal membership? Does the Bible really teach that all Christians should be members of a local church? Many have dealt with this topic, such as John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Marshall Segal, Garrett Kell, and Stephen Nichols, so I will only deal briefly with it here. I will focus on two passages to show that church membership is the biblical expectation. The first comes from the earliest days of the church: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The term “devoted”, which the NASB renders as “were continually devoting”, was used by the apostles to say that they would devote themselves to preaching the Gospel (Acts 6:4). It is also used to describe the servants and soldier of Cornelius whom he entrusted with the all important task of summoning Peter (Acts 10:7). It describers the way we are to be devoted to prayer (Romans 12:12, Colossians 4:2) and how the civil authorities are devoted to governing (Romans 13:6). All of this means long-term commitment that could be described as “forsaking all others”. That type of commitment is formalized, such as in the oath of a soldier or magistrate. Therefore, this passage implies church membership.
Another passage is even clearer: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). The term “neglecting” here is quite strong. It is used by Jesus quoting Psalm 22:1 from the cross (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34) and of everyone deserting Paul (2 Timothy 4:10,16). So this means that we are not to forsake meeting together with the saints in the local church. We have previously noted how this means we must regularly and physically (not virtually) attend the local church, but the strength of this term suggests that to obey this passage we should be members of the local church as well. This is especially evident in the corresponding command. We are not to neglect corporate worship and fellowship but instead encourage (summon, admonish, exhort) one another, which requires a formal commitment (i.e., membership).
Church membership also greatly aids both Christians and their pastors in obeying other commands of Scripture like submitting to our pastors (Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:5). When discussing the roles of the wife, we saw that submission is voluntary and selective, so we need to formally choose the elders to which we will submit. We are also obligated by Scripture to pay our tithes to the local church, which again requires us to choose that local church. Our pastors are also charged by Scripture to care for and discipline specific believers in a local church (1 Peter 5:1-4), which requires them to know who they are responsible for. Just as the husband is responsible to God for the specific wife and children God has entrusted to him in ways he is not responsible for everyone else, the pastor is responsible to God for all of the saints God has specifically entrusted to him in ways he is not responsible for other saints. Pastors therefore need to know exactly who those saints are, which requires an actual church membership roll. Finally, the church discipline process in Matthew 18 requires all to be submissive to the authority of a local church. Military command authority (and any discipline flowing from that) comes in the context of subordinates voluntarily placing themselves under the authority of their chain of command as publicly declared by an oath. In the same way, by taking the vows of church membership, members voluntarily and publicly place themselves under the authority of a local church and its elders. While it is possible to submit to church elders without this public declaration, that submission (and therefore obedience to Scripture) is greatly strengthened by formal membership. Therefore, church membership is biblical and expected. Any church that shuns the concept or downplays the importance of church membership greatly diminishes their ability to obey God in various aspects of church life. Any Christian who avoids membership or does not take membership vows seriously not only diminishes this gift of God given to aid in obedience to His Word but also shows by lack of commitment a lack of love for what Christ loves most. Church membership is extremely important.
Practical Considerations
Since church membership is so important to aid believers and churches in obeying Scripture, we must identify who should be members and how membership should look practically. First, all believers should be members of a local church. This means we must put aside our preferences and join a nearby church that matches our convictions. This can be difficult in certain regions—I live in the spiritual desert of New England after all—but it is definitely possible. You may not agree with all of the secondary doctrines the church teaches, but as long as that church is faithfully teaching Scripture and you can participate in the practices of that church with a clear conscience, you should not hesitate to publicly commit to that church through membership.
In the same way, church membership is important enough that churches should be very hesitant to withhold membership from professing believers, even if they may differ on theological positions. Scripture is very clear that we are to welcome our brothers and sisters in Christ and not to quarrel over differing opinions (Romans 14:1-4). One topic that often causes such quarrels is baptism, which some churches require as a prerequisite for membership. Scripture is clear that believers should be baptized, but genuine believers differ on the manner and specific meaning of baptism. Churches like mine baptize the children of believers (including infants) while churches like those I have previously attended do not.[2] The former may require baptism but accept various modes and ages of baptism, while the latter often only accept baptism of professing believers by immersion as valid. John Piper emphatically states that differing views on baptism should not bar believers from church membership, even calling it “preemptive excommunication”. In response, Wayne Grudemmaintains that those without a believer’s baptism should not be members but should still be able to fully participate in the church. Church membership is important enough that I would side with Piper here and say that the age or manner of baptism should not bar any believer from membership in a faithful local church. As Joe Rigney pointed out, baptistic churches can in good conscience accept any baptism by water in the Triune name of God as valid but irregular for the purpose of membership. A similar approach could be taken to many of the other issues of conscience that true believers may differ on. In all of these it is important that the church not pressure the member to violate conscience (Romans 14-15 and 1 Corinthians 8-10) and that the member not cause division in the church over these matters.
Now that we have seen how the importance of church membership means it must often take precedence over differences in secondary doctrines among true believers, we need to discuss how membership needs to be done. Charles Spurgeon’s church gives a stellar example of the process, so I’ll only cover a few points here. Because church membership is essentially a solemn covenant like marriage, new members should take vows and those vows should be public. In these vows, new members affirm their faith and their commitment to this local church, including regularly attending, giving of tithes and offerings, submitting to the elders and governing documents of the church (including church discipline), and upholding their responsibilities as members. Since members have obligations to one another, the church members should then reaffirm their responsibilities to these new members. Since I have argued that membership is Scripturally implied, churches like mine that subscribe to the regulative principle—that only what is prescribed in Scripture can be done in corporate worship—may differ on whether inducting new members is a proper part of the worship service. The link between baptism and membership as acknowledgments of one’s belonging to the visible church means that they could be done at the same time in the service, whereas the distinction between them means that it may be better to induct new members before the call to worship or at member meetings rather than during the service itself. Regardless of when it is done, it should be done publicly to remind existing members of their own vows and stress to all their importance. With our society’s problem with commitment, such a public membership declaration is important.
Finally, we need to briefly discuss when and how membership ends. In keeping with our culture’s lack of commitment, many people think their membership simply ends when they leave. However, the solemn obligations of membership mean that what was formally and publicly begun must be formally and publicly ended. Membership really doesn’t end until the person in good standing joins another church or one under church discipline is excommunicated from the church they left. Returning to the military command analogy, a military member transferring units is under the care and authority of the losing unit commander until the gaining commander assumes authority when the member checks into the new unit. So for the entire time the member is in the military, he or she is under someone’s command. For believers, this means that until death we need to be under the care and authority of a local church. So when members leave a church, they are still under the authority and care of those elders until they are established in a new church. To take the analogy a step further, any disciplinary actions follow the military member between assignments—and often prevent transfers in the first place. The same applies to church membership, so members who depart in good standing should go with the commendation of their elders, and the elders of the new church should facilitate their transfer of membership. For those under church discipline, this means that they cannot leave one church and join another. Per Matthew 18, an excommunicated member is to be treated as an unbeliever by every local church. Therefore, the elders of the new church must determine as part of the membership process why prospective members left their previous church. The new church cannot biblically accept those under church discipline into membership unless that church discipline is found to be unjustified by Scripture. Even those not under church discipline may have left for the wrong reasons. They need to repent of that and either be reconciled to or released from their previous church before they can be accepted into membership in a new church. This is a church discipline issue, since leaving a church for unbiblical reasons is just as much grounds for church discipline as seeking a divorce for unbiblical reasons. Ultimately, membership in a local church is an extension of membership in the universal church and should be treated as such. Finally, all members of the church need to be made aware that the member has left and whether that departure was in good standing under the blessing of the elders or not.
In the end, we see that church membership is extremely important, especially in our culture that despises any form of commitment. We who love Jesus Christ need to demonstrate that love in part by visibly and publicly showing our love for the local church by our commitment, which is best expressed in making and keeping our church membership vows. We have obligations to one another that we cannot take lightly because God does not take them lightly. We need to restore the seriousness of our commitment to the church, and then expect that the seriousness of our commitments to our families, jobs, and other obligations will be restored as a result.
NOTES
[1] See Simon Sinek, The Infinite Game, New York, NY: Portfolio: 2019.
[2] See Douglas Wilson, To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism—Covenant Mercy for the People of God, Moscow, ID: Canon Press: 1996 or J.V. Fesko, Word, Water, and Spirit: A Reformed Perspective on Baptism, Grand Rapids, MI: Reformed Heritage Books: 2010.
