Part 1: Membership and the Local Church

To help along the rest of this study, we need to define some terms. It is necessary that we all have in mind the same thing when the term “church membership” is used. In a simple sense, church membership is a formal and reciplorcal commitment to a local church.

Today some view the local church as something of a grocery store – where you go once a week looking to fill up your spiritual pantry. You find the store with the items you like and maybe a coffee shop inside. You get your groceries and your coffee. And there is this loyalty program that you can join at the grocery store to get extra benefits. Maybe you get points, and then you redeem those points and get ten cents off a gallon of gas at the gas station next to the grocery store. In other words, loyalty to grocery store brings additional benefits. Many people see that loyalty program the same as they see church membership. It brings benefits, but it is not necessary.

It is helpful to think of membership in terms of consumers and owners at the grocery store. Consumers arrive, they get what they need, and they go home. They consume. Consumers are those who look only for what they want. If the store they go to does not provide what they are looking for, then they simply go to the next store and find what they want.

This mindset or practice is called consumerism. This mindset is how we approach retail stores in America. We come and look for something we want, such as a product of some sort, and in exchange we give the store something it wants, such as money. This is the way a business operates. In the business world, there is nothing wrong with this approach. However, when applied to the church this mindset is often referred to as “church hopping” or “steeple chasing.” Our culture has taught us to look for a church with the same approach we look for a box of cereal.

However, owners are fundamentally different from consumers. Owners are invested into the organization. Owners have an interest attracting new people, growing the organization, maintaining a corporate image of the organization, and working hard and investing themselves because they know there is a reward. A good owner also looks out for the wellbeing of his people and organization. When someone is invested in an organization, they are referred to as a shareholder, because they hold a share of the rewards of the organization. Likewise, Christians are called to be shareholders in the local church by aiming to build and expand its influence and goals.

Regarding the church, Christians must have the mindset of owners rather than consumers. This is how the Bible pictures church members; even commanding them to do so, because what is at stake is so much more than a few additional benefits. What is at stake is the health of the church, the ability of the church to influence the community, and the watchful care over souls who are joined to the congregation. There is a truly a pastoral and spiritual risk to believer’s spiritual health if the church fails to understand biblical membership and the members fail to take ownership of the church. Again, knowing the difference between consumers and owners allows us to understand our relationship to the church – and ultimately – to Jesus.

In the New Testament, Jesus calls the church to be co-owners through two parables which are commonly known as the parable of the talents and the parable of the ten minas, and they are found in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27. If you are not familiar with the parables, read them now. Let’s examine Jesus’ own words and how he rebukes the consumer and rewards the owner in these two passages of scripture.

The first thing of those with the ownership mindset was immediate ownership. The faithful owners received five talents “went at once to trade,” and the one with two talents did “so also” (Matt 25:16). They were to work right away for the multiplication and benefit of the master’s investment. This could be because they realize what was given to them: the property of God (Matt 24:47; 25:14; Lk 19:16). Specifically, this property is the kingdom of God when Jesus returns. This is highlighted in both Matthew 25 and Luke 19. The servants realized what they had, and they realized what was coming – the kingdom of God. And they immediately went to work when they were charged to increase this kingdom.

In contrast, the consumer mindset went to work making excuses on why they did not work to increase what was given to them. The “wicked and slothful” servant said that because he knew the master was harsh, he was afraid to invest the talent rather than losing it. The excuse that the servant gave was used against him, and the master cast that servant into outer darkness. Note that the master was not pleased with his initial investment – he wanted to see an increase in his investment through the servant’s diligent work.

A question of application would be: How do we avoid falling into the consumer mindset where we fail to steward the talents the Lord has given us? Our stewardship of the kingdom of God reveals our relationship to the King. Poor stewardship reveals our relationship to the King as his enemies. Productive and hardworking stewardship reveals our relationship to the King as good and faithful servants. Only good and faithful servants invest and grow the kingdom of God while on earth. Only good and faithful servants are asked to “enter into the joy of [their] Lord” (Matt 25:21).

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31). On that last day, many will say to Jesus “I have faith in you! I’ve read my Bible!” Yet, Jesus will say to them on that last day, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers! You who claimed to serve me and yet never lived as one of my servants by investing and increasing my kingdom here on earth” (cf. Matt 7:21-23).

Those who heard this parable from Jesus were his disciples, and to hear the message of the kingdom is not only a privilege but also a responsibility, and Jesus will hold everyone accountable for what they do with the message. If we desire to hear Jesus tell us "well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:23) then does membership related to being faithful servants? What does Jesus tell the church to do regarding stewardship and ownership? What steps should we take to ensure we are stewarding the kingdom properly?

Know What You Are in Possession Of. The first step in stewardship and ownership is publicly identifying with a church in formal membership. When Jesus commends the faithful servant for stewarding the talent he was given, he is commending him for stewarding the Kingdom of God on Earth. In order to steward the Kingdom of God, Jesus means for us to identify with the kingdom. You are unable to steward properly something that you don’t identify with.

Consider this analogy: If you loved Kroger so much that you wanted to expand the “Kroger Kingdom,” then you have two options. You could either give your business to the store a couple times a week and shop there, or you could join the Kroger team (and shop there too). Your ability to expand the Kroger Kingdom greatly varies according to which option you take. This is because the level of commitment of the two options are very different.

Imagine someone who is not a member of a church – they are very limited in their ability to expand the Kingdom of God. What church are they going to invite people to if they don’t have a congregation to which they are formally joined? Often times those who have not joined in membership do not understand the mission of the church. What is the church seeking to do in the community? What are the members to teach the lost about the mission of the church? Does someone who is not a member of a church understand what any given church teaches? Membership classes are designed to inform the church what is in possession of, and then invite those same Christians to take possession and steward what God has given each of his servants – which includes you.

Know How to Engage in Business. How is a businessman going to make a successful business and expand it if he doesn’t know how to “engage in business” (Lk 19:13)? In other words, how can an organization expand the kingdom if the members of that organization don’t know how to do so? The mission of pastors is to, as it were, train the saints to engage in business. The apostle Paul described training the church to engage in business as “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry” (Eph 4:11-16). The goal of this would be that church members “grow up in every way” into Christlikeness (v. 15) and the church would grow and expand the kingdom of God (v. 16).

If ownership and stewardship actually begin with membership, then what does formal membership look like? We have looked at the metaphor of the “Kroger Kingdom.” That metaphor helps aid our understanding because we are familiar with Kroger, and because of that we can relate it to other things to see how they are similar. The Bible uses similar reasoning to explain how the church membership is to function.

¹ The letters of the New Testament were invariably written to churches or individuals who were in a local church context. 

² There are two exceptions here: the thief on the cross and the Ethiopian eunuch. While these are pointed to as exceptions in the New Testament, it should be noted the thief could not have been a part of any church because he died shortly after, and the Eunuch’s story is not told to us after he was baptized. Of the remaining examples in Scripture, they are overwhelmingly linked with a local church.

³ Cyprian of Carthage, “On the Unity of the Church,” in Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix, ed. Alexander Roberts, James.

⁴ The observation that faith leads to keeping the commands of God, and the commands of God bring life, are repeated no less than 22 times in the Bible. See: Lev18:5, Deut 4:1; 5:33; 8:1; 30:20; Prov 4:4; 6:23; 7:2; Psalm 119:3; Eze 20:11-25; 33:15; Neh 9:29; Matt 19:17; Jn 5:39, et al.