A Biblical Argument for Church Membership
A Biblical Argument for Church Membership:
Some argue that church membership is not found in the Bible. This argument further adds that having a process where the church acknowledges who belongs to the church requires a step or process not found in the Bible. The argument presented here is that membership is biblical. The pattern for the early church was to join a local congregation. Membership is consistent with church discipline, consistent with church government depicted in the Bible, and honors the church that Christ built. The argument for church membership is integrally tied to the argument for attending the local church regularly and congregationalism. It is also important to note that a church is a congregation of believers which is distinct and separate from a church building. In modern America, sometimes, the two words are used interchangeably and can cause confusion. In this post, the term "church" refers to a congregation of believers and not the building where they meet.
The first argument generally given to support the fact that membership is not biblical is that the word "membership" is not used in the Bible.[1] However, this argument ignores what membership symbolizes and the various analogies used for the church in the Bible. Membership is belonging to a group in a significant and distinguishable manner. For example, King Herod persecuted the early church and “laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church” (Acts 12:1; cf. 8:1). In order for King Herod’s proxies to persecute the church, there was a distinguishable way to determine who belonged to the church in Jerusalem and who did not.
In contrast to this argument, Paul uses the analogy of the body to describe the church (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:12-31). Paul explains, "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (Rom. 12:4-5). Thus, Paul, in his own words, describes a congregation of believers as a "body" that is made up of different "members" who have complementing functions (Rom. 12:4-5). This same argument for members of the body functionally complementing each other is made in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. Paul further tightens the analogy by explaining that "God arranged the members in the body" or, in other words, God has organized the congregation of believers that belong to the body (1 Cor. 12:18). The argument presented here is that the term "membership" is within the bounds of Scripture and is faithful to Paul's analogy.
Consider the pattern in the book of Acts for new believers and the early church. Once people heard Peter’s sermon and became believers, they “were baptized” (Acts 2:41). These newly baptized believers were “added” to that newly formed group of believers (Acts 2:41). This newly formed congregation “devoted themselves to meeting together” (Acts 2:46; cf. 2:42) and “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching" (Acts 2:42). The actions and descriptions of the early church required belonging to a group of believers. This congregation was united together in doctrine and teaching. Admittance to this congregation required that one be a believer (Acts 2:38-41) and be baptized (Acts 2:41). These behaviors overtly marked a person as being a member of that early church in Jerusalem.
This early church in Jerusalem also displayed a pattern of meaningfully belonging to one another. In Acts 6:2, the Apostles summoned the "whole company of disciples" to choose seven men to serve the local church. How could they summon the "whole company" without knowing who belonged to that congregation? There was logically a discernible difference between the "company" and those not of the "company." The church was instructed to "select from among you" seven men to serve the body of believers and, in particular, make sure that Hellenistic Jewish widows were not overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Acts 6:1, 3). Once again, they chose seven men who belonged to that local church and were known by the church (Acts 6:4-5). The Apostles' plan "pleased the whole company," and Stephen famously was chosen among the seven men who belonged to that congregation (Acts 6:5). Belonging to a body of believers is a pattern seen throughout the New Testament (Acts 14:27, 15:22, 40; 1 Cor. 5:4, 6:4; Philemon 2, etc.).
Church membership becomes apparent in the biblical concept of church discipline. In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus prescribes the proper method for performing church discipline. Jesus explains that the final arbiter or level of church discipline is to "tell the church" (Mat. 18:17). If the person in error does not listen to "the church," they are to be expelled from the church (Mat. 18:17; cf. 1 Cor. 5:2). These statements made by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20, assume that believers will belong to a church. Similarly, in the church of Corinth, one of the church members was overtly sexually immoral, and Paul instructed the church in Corinth that he should be "removed from among you" (1 Cor. 5:1-5). How could this final stage of church discipline be effective if the man in Corinth had not belonged to the church? In a modern church, how could you expel a person from the church if they were not a member of the church? It should also be noted that Chloe's household reported to Paul these various problems in the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:11). Thus, both Chloe and Paul were able to distinguish who belonged to the church in Corinth and who did not (1 Cor. 1:11, 5:1, 6:1, 4).
The New Testament pattern for church government also makes the need for membership more apparent and consistent with the biblical record. The author of Hebrews states, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account" (Heb. 13:17; cf. 1 Tim. 5:17). If church membership or belonging to a local church is not biblical, who exactly are believers supposed to submit to (cf. 1 Pet. 5:5)? How would a believer know what set of pastors/elders to submit to? Who would pastors give "an account for?" Likewise, Peter encourages pastors to "shepherd the flock of God that is among you" (1 Pet. 5:1-2; cf. Acts 20:28-30). Peter's instruction assumes that a pastor will shepherd the local church and that the local church members are discernable. Peter also further explains that a pastor should lead in a manner that is "not domineering over those in your charge" (1 Pet. 5:3). This verse clarifies that elders have people in the local church that are "in your charge" or, in other words, have been entrusted to them (1 Pet. 5:3). How can people in the church be under the charge of a pastor if they do not belong to that church and are not being shepherded by that pastor? The author of Hebrews assumes that the believer will belong to a local church and will “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together” (Heb. 10:24-25).
Not belonging to a local church or being a member of a local church is to ignore the crucial and active work of Christ. Jesus built the church (Mat. 16:18). Jesus organized the church (Eph. 4:11-16; cf. 1 Cor. 12:18). Jesus is the head of the church (Eph. 4:15). Jesus sustains the church and grows the church (Eph. 4:15-16). Jesus purchased the church with his own blood (Acts. 20:28). The church is a God-given resource for spiritual development for the believer, and God has appointed leaders in the church to equip believers for ministry (Eph. 4:11-16). Church membership is based on a discernable pattern found in the Bible. This biblical pattern encourages one to join a local church, make themselves known, be held accountable, build up the body, and be built up.
Notes:
For a list of biblical references that imply or assume belonging to a local church or being a member of a church, click here.
[1] The NET version of the Bible does translate the Greek word ἐκ (a part of) as “membership” in 1 Cor. 12:15, 16.
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