Mark VI: A Biblical Understanding of Membership

MARK VI: A BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF MEMBERSHIP: WHY WE NEED THE CHURCH

Read Acts 2:41-47

I want to ask some questions this morning about our topic: Why church membership? Why is it better to be a member than to simply attend? Is it just so that we can vote at a business meeting?

I guess to begin to answer these questions, we need to begin with a discussion of what it is we are joining- the church. What is the church?

Let me tell you what the church is not first: First, the church is not a club or a loose affiliation of religiously like-minded people. Second, the church is not a building or a religious club house. Believers don’t go to church, we are the church. Finally, the church is not simply a non profit organization that runs on secular business models and the latest human relations theory. When you join the church, you are not joining an altruistic philanthropic society.

On the other hand, this is what the church is: First, when you join a church, you are joining
…a regular assembly of people who profess to give evidence that they have been saved by God’s grace alone, for his glory alone, through faith alone and in Christ alone (Dever).

Second, when you join a church, you are joining “a local, living and loving collection of people who are committed to Christ and committed to each other” (Dever). Third, when you join the church, you are joining the thing that God has ordained to display His infinite wisdom and awesome glory (“…now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10)).

Therefore church membership is only for true believers. Dever writes,
It is not for those who simply give cognitive assent to the gospel. It is for those whose lives evidence an increasing application of the principles of the gospel to the situations of their everyday lives, and whose character increasingly reflects the holiness of God.

So there are things that the church is not and there are things that the church is and clarity in this matter is helpful because it helps us to answer the question “Who should join the church?” and “Why church membership?”

Membership is a sign it signifies something! This is what it signifies:

1. Membership signifies that the church endorses the testimony of the individual. Church membership is the corporate witness to the genuine experience of salvation in the lives of its individual members.

This is huge, because if you are a member of Gateway Baptist Church, than that means that we are satisfied with your claim of conversion and changed life. (Do not interpret this as meaning that we can be 100% certain that anyone is truly saved, only God and that person knows their own hearts. We are not fruit inspectors; We cannot peer into people’s hearts, but we can be satisfied by certain external evidences such as repentance, faith, holiness etc.).
2. Membership is also a sign of our commitment to mutual love and care for one-another. It means we have committed to this local body to pray for them , to give to the financial support of their work, to rebuke and be rebuked, to encourage and be encouraged, to serve them and to be served by them. It is a covenant to a relationship.
Church membership is not a set of rights that I purchase with my tithe. It is a set of responsibilities that I commit myself to carrying out, both for and with other members in gospel fellowship, work, and joy (Dever).

Because admission into church membership is such a high calling and signifies such the glorious wisdom of the Living God, it must therefore be guarded by the highest standards because when members go into the world of their own private lives, their individual behaviour is a witness to the behaviour of the church as a whole. The fact is that people will write off an entire population based on the behaviour of just one person (that’s the essence of racism). So our credibility and our witness are at stake when we allow people to take on our family name.

We need biblical criteria for admission- the most essential criteria is this- you must be born again! The church is the gathered people of God. We are body of believers. Giving membership to unbeliever is like transfusing the wrong blood type into a body or transplanting an organ that is diseased.

I’m going to say something that is hard to take, but its true: unregenerate members are a cancer for the church- they are potentially fatal for the church. Unregenerate church membership results in things like the crusades- so called holy wars that are a cover for blood thirst and greed.
Unregenerate membership results in the introduction of heresies and cultic practices that sometimes end in massacres like the Jim Jones cult and the Waco cult. Unregenerate church membership is the equivalent of allowing a wolf to graze with the sheep- the grass is an appetizer. Dever warns, “One quarrelsome unbeliever can sow many seeds of division by slavery to sins like gossip, anger, lying, and covetousness.”

This does not mean that unbelievers are intentionally evil, or wicked, though some are (Satan plants false converts- false angels of light). Some are well meaning moral people. But they are spiritually blind and unable to discern the spiritual things of God. They cannot manifest the fruit of the spirit nor bear the image of Christ much less display the glory of God to an unbelieving world.

So the requirements for membership in the church are threefold: 1) Genuine repentance and faith in Jesus Christ; 2) Believers baptism by immersion; 3) A statement of faith that is biblical and consistent with the Church’s statement of faith; 4) (If they are transferring from another church) a good report; 5) agreement of the church’s covenant, mission, vision and values; 6) willingness to support the leadership and structures of the church.

Church membership comes with some responsibilities; they include:
· Regular worship attendance
· Faithful giving to the missions and ministries of the church
· Prayer for the success of the missions and ministries of the church as well as for the members and leadership of the church
· Serving the church according to you spiritual gifts, talents and passions
· Attending business meetings and being involved in the decisions and direction of the church

So let me answer the question, “Why church membership?” Why do we join the church? First, we join the church for the sake of non-Christians because we as a body are better equipped to give a unified witness of Jesus Christ. We each have talents, gifts, means, and characteristics which, when combined, can make Christianity more attracted and can be used of God more holistically to reach a diverse community of unbelievers.

Second, we join the church for the sake of weak Christians. God has given us spiritual gifts for the edification and building up of the church. And finally, we join the church for the sake of the leadership. So that the leaders can identify us and shepherd us as well as to count on us for support and encouragement. Hebrews 13:17 says,
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

There are many other reason for joining, such as the fact that church membership helps to differentiate between true and false churches; because it edifies the church when membership join them; we join for our own individual spiritual health, protection from false teaching, assurance that we are really members of the Body of Christ (You can’t be connect to the head if you are not connected to the Body); We join for God’s sake, because He calls us to the local church and we join for His cause- to display His glory to the nations by underwriting the cost of the spread of the gospel.


Conclusion:

So let me conclude by explaining why I chose our texts and then with a quick exhortation. You will notice in Acts 2:41ff- in verse 41 it says that those who received the word with gladness were added to the church (3000 of them). Notice it doesn’t say that they received the mission statement or the programs, or that they indentified with the homogeneity of the membership- they received the Word (it was an offensive message- Christ crucified) and they were added to the church. But verse 47 answers the question, who did the adding…. It was God. The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. God builds the church not us, not our programs, not our advertizing, not our wisdom, or because we have a handsome and witty pastor (But in spite of those things!).

Here’s the exhortation- If you are a visitor or a regular attender, take the time to get to know us- warts and all. I think deciding to join a church should be as important as choosing a mate or a career path. But often people put more effort into their mutual funds then they do church membership.

Choosing a church is like courtship, date for as long as you think is necessary- at least six months. Consider taking the membership class this Fall; it does not obligate you, but at least you can say you did due diligence before making a decision. Pray about it.

When you join, or if you are already a member, don’t do it for what you get out of. The saying is true, you only get out of it what you put in to it. Make a decision to be a healthy church member.
A healthy church member is an expositional listener
A healthy church member is a biblical theologian
A healthy church member is gospel Saturated
A healthy church member is genuinely converted
A healthy church member is a biblical evangelist
A healthy church member is a committed member
A healthy church member seeks discipline
A healthy church member is a growing disciple
A healthy church member is a humble follower
A healthy church member is a prayer warrior