Defining the Relationship
Relationships have always been messy. But it seems in recent years that the messiness has only increased. The incidence of divorce continues to run rampant. Family values like loyalty, trust, and patience continue to erode. The ability of people to practice healthy communication seems to be plummeting. People are even increasingly disillusioned with institutions that used to be trusted. People continue to be cynical about media and government. Church membership is declining. Growing numbers of people have lost confidence in university education and doctors. Relationships, in general, have fallen upon hard times.
But people need relationships. We’re social beings, created by God to relate to one another in speech, and to spend time in community. It’s important for our mental and emotional health. We need relationships of mutual commitment. We need relationships where there are clear expectations. We need relationships of real closeness and consistency. Though the Bible doesn’t have a verse that says, “thou shalt have church membership,” there are several reasons why it’s both biblical and prudent for local churches to formally delineate membership.
1. Church Membership is Biblical Terminology
First, the language of membership is, itself, biblical. Speaking to the church in Corinth, Paul tells them that they are “the body of Christ, and individually members of it.” The expectation of the Bible is that our membership in the body of Christ wouldn’t just be ethereal or hypothetical, but demonstrable and functional.
2. Making Pledges to God Alongside of Other Believers Is a Biblical Practice
Second, it is biblical for the people of God to together make pledges and vows to God with respect to His covenant (cf. Exodus 19:8, 24:3; Joshua 24:16-18). Though these pledges and vows are first and foremost oriented toward the relationship between the people and God, they also have implications for the ways that the people will relate to one another in community. When we enter into a covenant relationship with God, it inescapably means that we’re now in that covenant with other people. The leadership of a local church is acting biblically and prudently to lead the people in its assembly to formalize their commitments to God and His people around them concretely and corporately, rather than leaving the relationship unclarified and unconfirmed.
3. Commitment Is a Key Component of Healthy Relationships
Third, church membership straightforwardly affirms the importance of clear commitment in human relationships. There are many people today who think that it’s okay to drift in and out of physical, sensual relationships with other people, without any particular loyalty or devotion to their many partners. But this self-centered, utilitarian treatment of people is abjectly wrong. We in the church want to be careful to insist that relationships involve the giving of self, rather than the gratifying of self. We want to encourage people to willingly commit themselves in love to the people of their local church, rather than drifting in and out of weekly services and events.
4. Church Membership Clarifies Responsibilities
Fourth, church membership clarifies who the church leadership is responsible for. The Bible commands elders of the church to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight… not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3). In order for the elders to serve those who are “in [their] charge,” there needs to be some way to clarify who’s in their local church versus who’s not.
Coupled with this, Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” This passage indicates that church leaders have responsibility to watch over the souls of specific people. But without church membership – without members acknowledging the leadership of the church, and leaders recognizing the particular sheep under their care – there’s the potential for great confusion, to the harm of the church health and flourishing. This indicates that Scripture identifies the need for clarifying church membership.
5. Church Membership Enables Biblical Church Discipline and Restoration
Fifth and finally, church membership is an important way of distinguishing between those who are faithful (though imperfect) Christians, in good standing with the church, and those who are out of fellowship with God and His people through unrepentant sin. The Bible makes it clear that there is to be a formal expulsion of men or women who refuse to turn from their errors (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5:5, 11; Titus 3:9-11). The point of this is ultimately to wake them up to the separation that exists between them and Christ, in order that they would humble themselves and seek restoration. But if there is no church membership, and thus no capacity to define, delineate, or otherwise revoke a rebellious person’s membership, it isn’t possible to fulfill these biblical commands. This further indicates that church membership is both biblical and practically necessary.
Does Your Church Practice Church Membership?
So as you seek a church that takes the Bible seriously, make sure that you find a church that practices church membership. Find a church in which the members are clear in their commitment to Christ. Find a church in which the members are diligent in their commitment to one another. And find a church where its leaders are serious in their care for you, as a member of Christ’s body.
