If you’ve spent much time in church—particularly in the United States—you’ve likely heard about the idea of church membership; you may even be a member of a local church yourself. But why do so many churches have membership? Should you go through a membership process at a church, or are you automatically a member by virtue of your salvation, attendance, giving, or serving? Is “joining a church” redundant and unnecessary since the Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ at salvation (1Co 12:13)? Should today’s churches cling to membership, or should it be abandoned as an artifact of tradition?
The cultural perspective of church membership
Biblical church membership rebukes our aversion to commitment and promotes a deep devotion to the Head, Jesus Christ
Church membership was once regarded as normal, important, and even virtuous, but in recent years the idea has fallen out of favor. Our current American culture, which is generally skeptical of institutions, finds church membership distasteful and self-serving.
Cultural context explains why some Christians object to church membership. Observe other instances of membership in our American society:
Country Clubs. These exclusive organizations are perceived to benefit the elite or privileged while keeping out the undesirables. This connotation would be diametrically opposed to the purpose of the church. We do not exist to benefit ourselves, but to bring glory to the Lord. We are not called to avoid people who may seem “undesirable,” but to love them, connect them to Jesus, care for them, and grow them spiritually.
Sports teams. These groups indeed signify a unified group working together to accomplish a mission, but often connote a limited group in which some cannot earn a spot, and others quit for another team or another pursuit. This would also be antithetical to the identity of the church, in which feeble parts are important and all parts are loyally devoted to each other.
Health clubs. In these establishments, a consumer pays dues to use the goods or services and cancels their membership if they are unsatisfied. Again, this view of membership is contrary to the Bible’s portrayal of the church where we give freely to the Lord and hold a deep sense of belonging to Him and each other.
Each of these instances of secular membership clearly distort the true identity of the church, but provide some insight as to why some find the concept of membership unattractive.
The objection of some Christians toward church membership is also explained by understanding our culture’s aversion to commitment:
Relationships. Our culture’s preference of casual dating over exclusive relationships and cohabitation over marriage illustrates our aversion to commitment. It’s further demonstrated in relationships by infidelity, breakups, and divorce.
Commerce. Our culture now prefers to lease instead of buy, and when we buy we expect an easy return policy.
Registration. Our culture struggles to sign up. When we do, we want an exit clause if things don’t go as anticipated or a better opportunity comes along.
It is no surprise then that Christians in the 21st century prefer to attend rather than unite in membership. Biblical church membership rebukes our aversion to commitment and promotes a deep devotion to the Head, Jesus Christ; a profound sense of belonging to each other; and a lasting commitment and responsibility to the rest of the church through loving, serving, edifying one another.
The Biblical perspective on church membership
God calls you to the highest devotion to your local church body and its individual members
When beginning our church plant, I desperately wanted to follow God-given biblical instruction for churches and avoid man-made tradition. I had the privilege of wrestling with many ecclesiastical issues; membership was one of them.
Is membership an artifact of tradition, or is it rooted in doctrine? Should we distinguish between members and non-members, or is that exclusive and discriminatory? As a church planter and pastor who wants to stay as close as possible to the biblical precedent, I asked myself all these questions. Up front, I will let you know that local church membership isn’t explicitly and clearly commanded in scripture, but here are three reasons we chose to implement membership at our church.
The principle.
While the Bible does at times refer to a universal church, the vast majority of mentions of the word church refer to a local congregation of believers. Membership is a biblical concept (1 Corinthians 12) that communicates a profound belonging and a deep commitment which is often foreign to American churches today but was elemental to Christians in Paul’s day who were separated from the world and bound together by their shared persecution.
Many Christians today approach church as once-a-week (or less) attenders, consumers, or spectators. But the Christians of the Bible were a tight-knit group devoted to helping each other, serving each other, teaching each other, and living (daily) life together.
What about numbers, rosters, and roles? The concept of membership is clear, but differentiating between attenders and members might feel judgmental or prejudicial. But we see in 1 Timothy 5 that New Testament churches made a clear distinction of who was a member, and even kept track of the number of widows they cared for (1Ti 5:9).
Even in the infant church at Jerusalem, they kept account of members:
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The picture.
It is necessary to distinguish between the universal church (all Christians everywhere) and the local church. Scripture refers to both as the church (meaning a called-out assembly). The local church is a form of the universal, but is the only church to (as of yet) actually assemble.
1 Corinthians 12:13 reveals that Christians are indeed immersed and integrated as members of the yet-to-be-assembled universal church, but the text uses that truth to emphasize membership of the local assembly. Verse 27 states, “Ye are the body of Christ.” The subjective second-person plural (“Y’all” in Georgian) refers to the local church at Corinth as the body of Christ. The remainder of the chapter speaks specifically to functioning together within their local church.
Each of the 6 major metaphors of the church has defined membership.
BRIDE – There are many brides, but a man knows which bride is his.
BODY – There are many human bodies in a community, but each body can discern which parts belong to his own and which do not.
FAMILY – A man can distinguish who’s in his family from who’s a guest, who’s a neighbor, who’s extended family, and who’s an intruder.
FLOCK – Shepherds know which sheep are in their flock and which are not. The shepherd in Luke knew he had exactly 100 sheep, and he counted to find that one was missing.
BUILDING – A man knows which house is his and which are not. Not every piece of lumber in your neighborhood is part of your house. There’s a clear and definite distinction.
VINEYARD – A husbandman knows which vineyard is his; he plows, plants, cultivates, harvests, and builds a hedge around his own vineyard.
As for the universal church, there is a book of the names of its members (Rev 20:12, 15); should not the local church have the same?
The practicality.
Galatians 6:10 tells us that local churches are supposed to do good to all men, but especially toward those in the household of faith. How does a church know who is in its household? How does it know which widows to care for? As it concerns church discipline, how does the church determine when to rebuke those who choose to lead lives of unrepentant sin? How does a pastor distinguish who can serve and lead in different areas? How do the members effectively practice the “one anothers” of Scripture?
There have certainly been churches who abuse membership as a mechanism to respect persons, to secure prominence, or to exclude non-desirables. However, this is certainly not how God has called his church (universal or local) to function or minister.
Whether your church implements an explicit directory of members or not, God calls you to the highest devotion to your local church body and its individual members. Implementing a definitive church membership appears to be both biblically sound in light of scripture’s teachings for the church and practically effective to the needs of our people.
James DeKoker is the lead pastor of Oakland Heights Baptist Church in Cartersville, GA.