The Church and
Membership
Is
church membership in the Bible? No, probably not the way that most people mean
when they ask that question anyways. So why do churches have membership roles?
That’s a great question. It’s a great question in part because it has a lot of
different answers.
So
back to the question: “Is church membership in the Bible?” A careful look at the Scriptures is necessary to answer that question and its implications.
Is “Membership” in my
Concordance?
Proof-texting
is a natural reflex of Christians when they want to investigate issues
pertaining to life. This reflex is not all bad because it comes from the
conviction that the Bible is in fact the Word of God. The practice of going to
the Scriptures is a sure sign that someone believes the Bible is God-breathed
and is profitable for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in
righteousness.(1 Tim. 3:16) It ensures us that we believe the Bible is a gift
from God and possesses authority, as it is His Word to us. (Acts 17:11)
That
being said, you’re not going to find “church membership” in the concordance of
your Bible. At least I didn’t. (I’ve already looked.) But does that mean it’s
not in the Bible? I used to think so.
I don’t think so anymore.
Christians
need more than a concordance to answer life’s difficult questions, although it
does help every now and then. For instance, if I want to find Biblical answers
about trans-genders, I don’t think my concordance is going to prove itself
helpful in that task. Likewise, it’s not really helpful in questions pertaining
to church membership. So where does one start? How about with Jesus’ teaching?
He, after all, is the answer in Sunday school.
Jesus. Kingdom. And
Membership?
When
Jesus first begins his earthly ministry He’s preaching about a kingdom. He even
goes on to list some specific things about it: God is dismissing the kingdom of
Israel’s job of representing Him (Matt. 3:9-12), Jesus is now the new and
better representative (Matt. 3:17). God is establishing a new kingdom, and it’s
not a place like Israel, but His kingdom is a rule over particular people. This
kingdom is only for people who are repentant, poor in spirit, and have faith in
Christ (Matt. 4:17, 5:3, Eph. 2:8-9). Furthermore, the citizens of this
kingdom, whom Christ would purchase by His death on a cross, would join Him in
representing God on earth. (Matt. 5:48, Rom. 8:29).
But
here is a pressing issue. How is a kingdom with no land, no geography, no
distinguished markings, and no borders supposed to be marked off? How is a
seemingly invisible kingdom identifiable? Anyone could claim to be a citizen of
that kingdom. Jesus and His apostles warned us it would happen. (Matt. 7:15-23,
2 Pet. 2:1) The representatives beforehand (the Israelites) had a specific
land, and even when they were in exile their dietary restrictions, circumcision
and the Sabbath distinguished them from other peoples.
If
the church is to avoid the public relations nightmare of being affiliated with
false teachers, unrepentant sinners, and those who deny the authority of
Scripture, then something has to be done. The world needs to know who Jesus’ rightful
ambassadors are. If Jesus is in fact King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He
deserves the right of representation don’t you think? Correction: He commands
rightful representation.
Establishment of the
Church
Jesus
did give us an answer to this predicament. Jesus established the local
church. In Matthew 16:17-19, upon
Peter and his confession Christ promises to build his church, gives them the “keys
to the kingdom” and then gives further details of “binding and loosing.” What
does that mean exactly? Later in chapter 18 (v.15-20) we are given further
clarification. Jesus authorizes the local assembly to “bind and loose”, that is
to make a pronouncement, of who is and is not in the fellowship of believers.
In other words, the local assembly has the power of the gavel. They declare
“in” or “out” for the fellowship of believers. That doesn’t necessarily mean
they always make the right judgment call. But it does mean it is the local
church’s job to perpetually confirm that believers are in the faith.
I think Jonathan Leeman in "Church Membership" is right when he interprets these passages as saying that the power of the keys rest in the local assembly. If interpreted this way, it helps us make sense of the rest of commands in Scripture. I think about the Great Commission for example—What would that look like without the local church’s power of the keys? Baptism would lose half of its meaning, meaningful discipleship would be problematic at best and impossible at worst. And how could you teach someone everything Christ has commanded (Matt. 28:20) without being in his or her life regularly, without assembling together regularly? (Heb. 10:25)
So
now the question arises: how do you determine who is in or out? Do they just
have to say “Jesus is real” or “I am a Christian”? I hope not.
Who’s In?
Just
as Jesus affirmed Peter’s profession of Christ, so the church is charged to
examine a person’s profession of faith and give a declaration of whether or not
it is legitimate. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses would tell you they believe
in Jesus, but I’m not about to tell you that they are truly citizens of God’s
Kingdom. Professions of faith must be tested.
This
is why John wrote to the church saying, “Dear friends, do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” Moreover he
gives us a way to test them. “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God:
Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and is
from God [the Son of God], but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is
not from God.” (1 John 4:1,3) There are a number of other things that churches
ought have their incoming members affirm for the sake of uniting and worshiping
God in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:24)
Be Holy
The
point is this: God has always, from the very beginning of His redemptive call,
commanded that His people be set apart, distinguished—that they be holy. (1
Peter 1:16) It is also true that God’s ultimate will is our sanctification, or
Christlikeness. (1 Thess. 4:3) Furthermore God’s Word tells us that without
holiness, no one will see God. (Hebrews 12:14)
Church
membership is an evidence of taking seriously the mandate to be holy. It is
even more than that: it is obedience to the command that God has given to His
people. It ensures that the church fulfills its God-given responsibilities—to
worship God rightly, to help one another toward heaven, and to represent Christ
to the rest of the world. At the very least we have to say that God wants His
people to be set apart. So if the question you’re asking is, “why church
membership?” It might be better to ask this question: “why not church membership?”
References
Leeman, Jonathan, "Church Membership: How the World Knows who Represents Jesus" Crossway Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 2012.
