These questions are meant to help think through what was taught, provide a check on leaning, and help you to internalize how biblical membership is related to the local church. 

After a review of how church membership relates to the local church, we have seen that membership is an explicit command that is required of believers to obey. 

¹ It is grammatically possible that “them” of v. 13 refers only to the Apostles, but the context demands that we understand the “them” to refer to the church.

² The Greek word is κολλᾶσθαι

² The Greek word is kαταλεγέσθω 

Even though there is not a direct and explicit verse in the New Testament that commands Christians to formally join a local church, every Christian should formally join a local church because Scripture implicitly requires it.

Jesus himself used this principle for teaching many times. For example, Jesus referenced the 10 Commandments. He pointed to do not commit adultery and do not murder. Jesus made it perfectly clear that not murdering implied a clear command not to hate. He also made it clear that not committing adultery clearly implied a command not to lust. If you fail to keep the implied command of not lusting and hating, then you fail to keep the command not to commit adultery and not to murder.

Similarly, there are passages in the Bible that make implications how the local church is to live together, and if we miss the implications of those commands, then we can fail to keep the command altogether. So then, are there any implied commands about local church membership? The next question that should come to your mind is, “Show me where Scripture implies it.”
 

My point in this article is this: While the bare command to be a member of a church is not present, there are many commands in the New Testament that you cannot obey without being a member of a local church.

We have already looked at the explicit analogies with the metaphors for membership, and now we will look at how particular verses in the Bible cannot be followed without the structure of church membership being in place.

The following verses will be examined to demonstrate obedience to these commands can only be obeyed if formal membership in the church exists. If it can be demonstrated that certain biblical commands cannot be obeyed without formal membership, then formal membership would rightly be called an implied command. If it is an implied command, then it has the weight of an explicit and formal command.

In Acts 2, what were the people who were baptized in added to? They were added to something, and the group they were added to was numbered. From the very beginning the church kept count of who joined the church. This necessarily means that there were those who were in the church, and there were those who were out the church. They clearly kept count. So then, how could they keep count unless they were added to a group who formally identified with the church?

They were not just Christians who had a private relationship with Jesus but did not become a member of a church. They were added to a church as soon as they were baptized. 

After the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, believers in the church and the non-believers who heard of the events were both afraid (v. 11). The fear was so great that many did not dare “to join” the church, presumably for fear that they would suffer a similar fate.¹ This is often a concern for some who oppose church membership. What does the word translated “join” in the English Standard Version mean? The word in the original is can mean “to bind closely,” “to join together,” and “unite.”  This same word occurs in 1 Corinthians 6:17 to refer to the union that occurs between a believer and Christ. At the very least, the use of the word “join” refers to more than a casual showing up. It indicates some sort of formal connection, more like formally joining a club.

In 1 Timothy 5:9-12, Paul gives Timothy a set of instructions for enrolling widows on the list of those receiving support from the church. He writes, “Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works…But refuse to enroll younger widows…”

The verb translated “enroll”  can be either specific (“to put on a list”) or general (“to consider as part of a certain group”).² The former meaning would make the point more marked in that the church was clearly keeping an accessible list of widowed members. Yet even the latter meaning would mean that the church was distinguishing between people in a way consistent with the practice of church membership.

Why mention the widow’s list? It’s difficult to imagine the church keeping a list of widows but not keeping a list of members. If it didn’t keep the latter list, what group of widows would even be considered for inclusion on the former list? Any widow in the entire city of Ephesus? The widow who showed up a few times a few years ago? Of course not. The church would have some specified group that it was drawing from. That specified group would be those who formally joined the church in Ephesus. And it would be the membership rolls that the church used to enroll widows.

There was an immoral person expelled from the church in Corinth, and Paul says not to associate, or even eat with, those who are sexually immoral and claim to be Christians. Paul then says, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.”

First, we should notice Paul’s language. It is very important. Notice Paul says, “inside the church.” He also says God judges those who are “outside” the church. So, there is an inside and an outside of the church. How do we know who is inside the church and who is on the outside? Is a stranger to the church who visits on Sunday morning someone to be considered “inside the church?”

Paul called upon the Corinthian church to judge those who were inside the church, not those who were outside. They were responsible for the testimony of those who belonged to the church, not those who didn’t. This passage does not make sense if the Corinthian church didn’t have some public, formal means by which people identified themselves with the church. It also doesn’t make sense if the church does not hold the people who are inside it to a standard of behavior or teaching, and we will look at that in detail later

In 2 Corinthians 2:6, Paul refers to the ex-communication of this individual as the “punishment by the majority.” While we will think of church discipline later, it should be noted that the existence of a “majority” means that there was a set of people from which the majority is formed. There cannot be a majority of an unspecified group; it must be a majority of something or some defined group. Was it the majority of people Paul mentioned those who happened to be present the day the vote was cast to ex-communicate the immoral person? Could non-Christians then vote to ex-communicate from the church? Could any Christians who happened to be visiting that day from another city who didn’t know the situation vote?

The most natural assumption to make is that Paul meant the majority of an acknowledged membership of the church. Those who covenanted together and comprised the body of believers in Corinth.

In 2 Corinthians 2:6, Paul refers to the ex-communication of this individual as the “punishment by the majority.” While we will think of church discipline later, it should be noted that the existence of a “majority” means that there was a set of people from which the majority is formed. There cannot be a majority of an unspecified group; it must be a majority of something or some defined group. Was it the majority of people Paul mentioned those who happened to be present the day the vote was cast to ex-communicate the immoral person? Could non-Christians then vote to ex-communicate from the church? Could any Christians who happened to be visiting that day from another city who didn’t know the situation vote?

The most natural assumption to make is that Paul meant the majority of an acknowledged membership of the church. Those who covenanted together and comprised the body of believers in Corinth.

It is difficult to imagine, if not impossible, to see how these commands and metaphors of how the church should function and be obeyed without a clear sense and structure of formal membership in the local church. Among other scriptures, these examples give strong evidence that participation in the life of the church body wasn’t casual or easily dissolved. It was a relationship that one formally entered into, and it came with responsibilities and privileges.

¹ It is grammatically possible that “them” of v. 13 refers only to the Apostles, but the context demands that we understand the “them” to refer to the church.

² The Greek word is κολλᾶσθαι

² The Greek word is kαταλεγέσθω 

If you are looking for a verse in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt be a member of the local church,” you’re not going to find it. Rather than bare commands, there are metaphors which describe how a church relates to it members, and these metaphors about church membership give depth and meaning to what membership is to look like. In this respect, there is an incredible amount of information on what church membership is supposed to look like.

Sometimes it is difficult to figure out what church membership really looks like in the daily life of the church. So, in his mercy, God gives us so much more than the bare command “thou shalt join a church.” God uses multiple metaphors to paint a picture of what church membership is supposed to look like and how it is supposed to function.

So, what is a metaphor? A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true. However, this figure of speech helps explain the idea in a way a simple statement does not. 

If the Bible simply had a verse that said, “You shall join a church” our tendency would be miss the point of what it means to join a church and to treat membership as a “check the box” task. This is evident by the fact that there are churches who have many people who are on the membership rolls but are deceased, non-participatory, have defected, or who are members of another church while still on the rolls of their former church. Biblical metaphors for the church carry more meaning than a bare command – metaphors give meaning to what church membership in a way that “thou shalt join a church” simply can’t convey.

Far more vivid than a simple command or an additional benefit, the Bible describes the relationship between the members of the local church with a series of metaphors that shape our understanding of the church. These metaphors challenge our cultural individualism, they challenge self-sufficiency, they challenge pride, and they challenge our thinking that we can handle everything ourselves. These metaphors are intended to beg the question, “Does membership in my church look like that?” The goal of these metaphors is to paint that same picture today that is described in the New Testament.

membership looks like are (1) a family, (2) living stones that build a temple, and (3) a body whose every member is necessary to function. These metaphors provoke our imagination to consider how we might build a church that is a genuine family, like the bricks of a temple, or a body whose every part is necessary and needed. These metaphors force us to ask things like, “Am I really a family member in my church, or am I more like a neighbor down the street?” It forces us to ask, “I am a hand or a foot in the body of the church, or am I more like a glove or a shoe that can be changed or replaced?” These metaphors show us that membership in the church is more than having our name on a piece of paper; being a church member informs us how we should live. So, consider that the Bible gives us three metaphors that are even deeper and richer than a bare command for membership.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul calls the church the “body of Christ” and Christians the “members” of that body – an image Paul likely adopted from Jesus himself (Acts 9:4). In Paul’s thinking, a Christian is neither isolated nor independent. A Christian is like any appendage in the body: only useful when part of a body.

Think of that analogy. When you look at someone’s eyes there are some thoughts that can come into your mind. You can appreciate the glimmering, sparkle, and even distinctive color of a person’s eye. But if you were to see someone’s eye apart from their body, then a whole different set of thoughts come into your mind. Probably ones that are nothing like the previous ones that are mentioned. Sentiments like gross, disgusting, or nauseating may come into your mind. That is because apart from the body; body parts are dead. They don’t have life, or they will die very soon. Truly, the description of the church as members of a body bring many important points to mind.

Of importance here is that Paul is not referring to all Christians of all time,  but rather Paul is specifically talking about members of a local church. A specific church in a specific location in time and space. And notice the “member” verbiage is not a pastor’s invention – Paul said “member” five times in 1 Cor 12:12-27. The verbiage applies to a member in a local congregation, not the universal church.

The most prominent apostles call the church “the household” of God (1 Tim 3:15; 1 Pet 4:17). This word “household” is a synonym for “family.” And even families have members. That why we have the word “family member.” Family members do family things. They share meals together, celebrate together, they cry together, they mourn together, they make decisions together, they rejoice together, and when apart for a long time – they long to unite.

Once again, the New Testament conceives of membership of a church as members of a family and not simply a “check in the box.” The “family of God” is the picture that describes the New Testament church. Just like me being a husband and a dad changes my life and priorities, so too does being a member of a local church. Relationships are forged and priorities are changed.

Regularly attending the local church without committing to membership is like visiting a neighbor: you may enjoy the friendship, but you are not part of the family. The description of the New Testament church should demonstrate that regular attendance without commitment is not being a part of the “household of God.”

Paul also calls the church the “temple of God” (1 Cor 3:16-17). Peter also calls Christians “living stones” that build up a “spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:4-5). In the Old Testament, the dwelling place of God was in the tabernacle or temple. As a fulfillment of the tabernacle and temple (Jn 2:19-21), Jesus now pours out His spirit on the church and He dwells not in the temple – but in his people. The members of the local congregation are now the dwelling place of God. The picture is of bricks or stones – you – that are mortared together in order to build a single temple where God dwells with his people.

The Cambridge Platform, a summary of how the church is to be organized, put together by seventeenth century ministers in Massachusetts, points out that Christians must have a visible group of believers to which they belong, or else they are not a church. Just as a body, a building, or a house, hands, eyes, feet, and other parts of the body must be united, or else they are separated and not a body. Stones and wood, even though they are measured, cut, and sanded, do not make a home until they are compacted and united.³

Paul also calls the church the “temple of God” (1 Cor 3:16-17). Peter also calls Christians “living stones” that build up a “spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:4-5). In the Old Testament, the dwelling place of God was in the tabernacle or temple. As a fulfillment of the tabernacle and temple (Jn 2:19-21), Jesus now pours out His spirit on the church and He dwells not in the temple – but in his people. The members of the local congregation are now the dwelling place of God. The picture is of bricks or stones – you – that are mortared together in order to build a single temple where God dwells with his people.

Maybe you still thinking that these metaphors are nice, but they do not give us any commands. However, the Bible does more than give a command – it gives a way of life that must describe your life, and that is a command. If you actually belong to God, then you’re a part of a body, a member of the family of God, or you are a brick in a temple where God dwells. The only question is to what body, family, or temple do you belong? There is the unavoidable question of formal belonging and membership. This question is inevitable because in order to follow the plain commands of being a member of a body, living stone in a temple, or family member, there has to be family, a body, or a temple in which to join.

¹ In church history, there has always been a distinction between the local church and the universal church (sometimes referred to as the invisible church). The term  "local church" is a church that physically meets together. The term "universal church" is used to describe all believers of all time. 

² The Cambridge Platform, Ch. 4, p.1

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.

Now that we have had a brief introduction to church membership, it is also helpful to introduced to the goals of church membership. But first, some terms and definitions. To help along the rest of this study, 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 reciprocal commitment to a local church. It is like joining God's family, and the Bible even compares it to that. More on that later.

So, local church membership can be compared to joining the family of God. In fact, the Bible describes it just as that -- joining the family of God. Just think about it. You get God as your Father (Luke 12:32; 2 Cor 6:18; Eph 4:4-6), you get new brothers and sisters in Christ (John 19:26), Jesus is referred to as our brother (Heb 2:11, Mark 3:34) and even our elder brother (Rom 8:29). The New Testament if filled with admonitions to join the family of God (John 1:12; Eph 2:19-22).

I am going to lay out some reasons in which the Bible demonstrates that one of the primary ways that you know you are in the family of God, and by reason are headed to heaven, is by joining a local church.¹

Some have argued that membership is nothing more than a way to make an exclusive club, or that membership is used to keep control of a church so that it looks or thinks a particular way. While some perceive church membership in this manner because of genuine failures of some congregations, the biblical perspective on church membership does not seek control, power, or unnecessary authority.

Rather, biblical church membership seeks two primary goals. First, it seeks to establish proper boundaries by identifying Christians with the family of God. Second, once those boundaries are established, biblical membership seeks to bring life, flourishing, and unity to those within the local church.

In the New Testament, salvation is followed with connection to a local church (Acts 2:38, 41). The New Testament does not know of a Christian who does not belong to a church in the New Testament.²  Not only in the New Testament, but in the ensuing generations of Christians we find that the early church writers proliferated ideas for the need of the community of the local church. So important was joining the local church in early Christianity that it led the early church father Cyprian to write, “You cannot have God for your Father unless you have the church for your mother.”³  I would say it more like, “If we are actually in the family of God, we not only get a new Father, but we also get a new brothers and sisters. Rejection of one is an also a rejection of the other” (cf. Luke 10:16).

In the New Testament, a person was saved for the purpose of enjoying a personal relationship with God. But where we can tend to go wrong is think that a personal relationship with Jesus can simply be a private relationship with Jesus. Rather, according to the New Testament, a person is saved by Jesus Christ into a community. Salvation in the New Testament includes both being saved by Christ and joining his body – which is a local church. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that Christians are "one body" and “baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:12-13).

Of my favorite music artists is Stephen the Levite. He has a helpful song about church membership, and one of the most striking lines in the song is:

If membership is being part of the body,
Then how can you be a body part
When you're apart from the body?

He has an excellent point. So, the question is: what body of believing brothers and sisters, that follow your Father in heaven, have you formally committed to? Who is your spiritual family? This biblical question highlights the scriptural reality that salvation is a community creating event.⁴

The second reason for church membership is help the church flourish. I’m sure you know what a generator is. The historical definition of generate means “life giving” or “to birth.” So, when your generator is off, it cannot give life to your tools, house, or whatever else needs electricity. When the generator is working, it gives the necessary electricity to bring your tools and machines to life. In the same way, the Bible describes believers as being regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5). This new life from the Holy Spirit then empowers us to love and obey the commands of the Bible. Doing so, in turn, brings life to Christians and the local church. This is what is meant by generative nature of church membership – membership brings life to the church by means of keeping the commands of God in the New Testament regarding membership.

There are many passages of scripture which specifically point out that faith in God leads to obeying the teachings of the Bible, which brings life.⁵ Consider the following scriptures:
Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 4:1 And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you

Deuteronomy  5:33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Proverbs 4:4 He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.

Did you know that surveys, statistics, and examinations of multiple churches over more than half a century has shown that one of the primary reasons churches lack vitality and health is because they lack biblical church membership?⁶ Membership is the means by which the church corporately keeps each other accountable, on the path of life, and maintains its own vitality; it is how the family of God helps each other to get home. We are not lone rangers. God has given the church tools to keep Christians in the family until the day when we see our Father face to face. Also, we cannot reject these tools, because rejection of these tools means we reject the means by which the Father brings us all the way into his family when we see him face to face.

¹ For other helpful resources that advance the same points, see Mark Dever, Why Should I Join a Church?, 9Marks: Church Questions (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020) and 
Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012).

² There are two exceptions in the New Testament: the thief on the cross and the Ethiopian eunuch. However, it should be noted the thief could not have been a part of any church because he died shortly after being forgiven of his sins, and the Eunuch’s story is not told to us after he was baptized. Of the remaining examples in Scripture, they are invariably connected 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 Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, vol. 5, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886), 423.

⁴ Hellerman, Joseph H. When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus' Vision for Authentic Christian Community. B&H Publishing Group, 2009.

⁵ 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.

⁶ https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-sharply-past-two-decades.aspx

The take away from this poll and the data released in it show that in 1998 the percentage of American adults who were members of a local Evangelical church dove from 70% to 58% in 2018. That is an 18% decrease over 20 years. In the Roman Catholic Church, the poll showed that less than 10% of professing Catholics attend church in any given week (https://news.gallup.com/poll/232226/church-attendance-among-catholics-resumes-downward-slide.aspx). 

Have you ever asked yourself “what is the purpose of church membership?” Seriously. Why do Christians become members of a church? If salvation is by faith in Jesus, then what is church membership for? Why do some people care deeply about it while others attend church without ever being a member? Don’t they get make it to heaven regardless?

The only way to get the answer to that question is to go to the Bible and see what it says about membership – and it may be surprising to see how much the Bible has to say about membership.

To understand membership and the vision of the New Testament, we will use a map. This map is built on four biblical values: the local church, salvation, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Each of these elements are connected to membership in a way that could be distinguished but not separated. In other words, membership is directly connected with -- and should not be separated from -- the local church, salvation, baptism, and the Lord's Supper.

When we understand how the local church, salvation, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper each relate to church membership, then we will understand the purity, beauty, fellowship, and vision of the New Testament church and biblical membership. These four aspects of membership establish the fidelity and flourishing of the family of God, and it establishes how Christians are to relate to one another within the family.

The local church is referred to as a household, or a family (1 Tim 3:15; Gal 6:10; Eph 2:19). God is our Father (Rom 8:15) and Jesus is referred to as our brother (Matt 25:40; Mk 3:34; Rom 8:29; Heb 2:11-12). Together, we are pictured as one beautiful family in God.
However, when family does not operate or behave how they are supposed to, they are often referred to as a “dysfunctional family.”

Let’s be clear in this metaphor: our Father is not dysfunctional; only his sinful children are. It is the sin of his children that lead to dysfunction in the family of God. Dysfunction is a fitting word to use here, because when children sin, they cause the family not to function like it should. Those who are dysfunctional in a family exhibit continuous misbehavior which often leads to others in the family misbehaving. There are dysfunctional Christians who would object to the concept of church membership and not seek to join the family of God. They typically fall into one of five general categories.¹

Indifference is another way of saying that someone simply does not care one way or the other. When a person is presented with options, there is not a reason to choose one option or the other. However, indifference is an approach which does choose an option: it purposefully and intentionally chooses the assertion that church membership does not matter. Today it is my goal to show you that such an option is a rejection of the teaching of the New Testament (1 Cor 12:12-27) and the practice of the church throughout history. 

First , let’s define ignorant. There is a common belief that ignorant means “dumb” or “stupid.” It does not mean that at all, rather, it means “you don’t know.” Some people have never been taught about church membership. So, you may fall into this category simply because you have never been in a church that practiced biblical membership. If that is you, then my goal is to demonstrate that the Bible speaks to the subject of local church membership, and it clearly calls those who are Christians to obey Jesus by formally joining a local church via membership.

Some people want a “thou shalt” or a “thou shalt not” kind of command in Scripture when it comes to church membership. It is interesting that the same demand does not come for an even more important doctrine: the Trinity.

Just consider – nowhere in the New Testament are we given a “thou shalt believe in the Trinity” kind of command. It does not exist. The doctrine of the Trinity comes from a systematic approach – looking at all the puzzle pieces and putting them together to form a picture so clear that it is a fundamental truth of Christianity. That’s how the church has come to the doctrine of the Trinity.

So, if you believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, you should also allow for the same process to put together the puzzle pieces for church membership. To take that same logic of needing a “thou shalt” command would also lead you to reject the doctrine of the Trinity – which would mean a rejection of the nature of God.

The second reason for church membership is help the church flourish. I’m sure you know what a generator is. The historical definition of generate means “life giving” or “to birth.” So, when your generator is off, it cannot give life to your tools, house, or whatever else needs electricity. When the generator is working, it gives the necessary electricity to bring your tools and machines to life. In the same way, the Bible describes believers as being regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5). This new life from the Holy Spirit then empowers us to love and obey the commands of the Bible. Doing so, in turn, brings life to Christians and the local church. This is what is meant by generative nature of church membership – membership brings life to the church by means of keeping the commands of God in the New Testament regarding membership.

There are many passages of scripture which specifically point out that faith in God leads to obeying the teachings of the Bible, which brings life. Consider the following scriptures:
Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 4:1 And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you

Deuteronomy  5:33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Proverbs 4:4 He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.

Did you know that surveys, statistics, and examinations of multiple churches over more than half a century has shown that one of the primary reasons churches lack vitality and health is because they lack biblical church membership?  Membership is the means by which the church corporately keeps each other accountable, on the path of life, and maintains its own vitality; it is how the family of God helps each other to get home. We are not lone rangers. God has given the church tools to keep Christians in the family until the day when we see our Father face to face. Also, we cannot reject these tools, because rejection of these tools means we reject the means by which the Father brings us all the way into his family when we see him face to face.

The next question to ask is, “What would Christian churches look like if they studied and accepted the vision of membership in the New Testament?” Another way to ask the question is, “How should biblical membership affect the thinking and life of the New Testament church?”

My hope is that you would join me to examine closely and carefully what the Bible has to say about the purpose and benefits of local church membership to set apart the people of God and bring about the flourishing which God designs each church to experience and enjoy.