Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1Corithians 12:27)

Many churches today are having trouble encouraging church membership; some have eliminated it altogether. Some Christians regard church membership as unnecessary and theologically unsupported. Others are reluctant to commit themselves anywhere because they have experienced disappointment and hypocrisy in the church, or they just do not want to be held accountable. But what does the Bible say? The New Testament knows of no Christians who are not accountable members of local churches. One only has to pay close attention to whom the epistles were written – to people in local churches under the governance of ordained elders. Author and pastor Philip Ryken says, “There is no union with Christ apart from the communion of the saints. Nor can the saints have true communion without belonging to one another by belonging to Christ in His church.”

Church membership is actually strongly implied in the Scriptures. First, it is implied by the metaphors used in the New Testament, such as the church being the body of Christ (1Cor.12:12-31). Paul says believers are members of this body, and this organic relationship implies a close commitment to the whole. To belong to the body of Christ is to belong to a body. Secondly, church membership is implied in the way the New Testament requires elders to care for the flock of their particular charge. They are to have a special responsibility to care for their local church (Acts 20:28; 1Peter 5:2-3). This implies that leaders know for whom they are responsible. The ordination of the first deacons (Acts 6:1-7) was in response that some members on the rolls of the Jerusalem church were being overlooked. The church at Ephasus maintained a list of widows under its membership care (1Tim. 5:9). Thirdly, membership is implied by the requirement of Christians to give submission and honor to their elders (Heb. 13:17; 1Thess.5:12-13; 1Tim.5:12-13). Without some kind of willing covenantal agreement or commitment this is not possible. How is this leadership and submission going to work if there is no membership defining who has made the commitment to be led and who it is that chooses the leaders? Fourthly, discipline is to be exercised in the church (Mt. 18:15-17). How is this to happen if there is no definable group called “the church” that will take up this sensitive and weighty matter? Fifthly, church membership is implied by the simple fact that excommunication even exists. How can someone be removed from the church (1Cor. 5:12-13) if there isn’t a way of defining who is inside the church? The early church knew who was part of their community and who was not. Some kind of expressed willingness or covenant or agreement or commitment has to precede a person’s submission to a group of leaders. Sixthly, Christ shepherds and rules the church through elders. Elders exercise the keys to the kingdom (Mt.16:19) and have the sobering job of admitting people to or excluding people from church membership based the Bible’s definition what it means to be a Christian.

Therefore, the New Testament does call Christians to be committed to a particular local church. This commitment will be a formal one so that the elders and the church will know who has made it and who has not. Author and pastor John Piper says, “Church membership is a blood-bought gift of God’s grace. More than most of us realize, it is a life-sustaining, faith–strengthening, joy-preserving means of God’s mercy to us. I urge you not to cut yourself off from this blessing.”

In the next article I will deal with the similarity of formal church membership and marriage vows, and the privileges of church membership.

Pastor Griffith

Recommended reading: How Important Is Church Membership? by John Piper; Church Membership – The Context for Unity by Mark Dever; Is Church Membership Optional? by Stephen Pribble; The Importance of Church Membership by J.V. Fesko; The Communion of Saints (strongly recommended, especially chapter 4) by Philip Ryken.