Anybody want in?

Before you read any further: most of my posts thus far have not been interactive. I have written about things and you have read and hopefully been edified. This post is intended to be a discussion and an interaction. If you want to comment but don't have a blogger account, you can get one here. Its easy and painless.

Why do I insist on church membership? It is probably one of the few things I believe strongly in that does not have explicit Scriptural support. That's right. I admit that there is no explicit Scriptural evidence for church membership. There are some related passages we will get to shortly, but nothing explicit. So why do I believe in it so strongly? Well, I can sum it up in one word: accountability. The biblical picture of the New Testament church shows a strong interrelationship between the members of the body of Christ. This bond is intended to create a mutual accountability between believers that will encourage personal holiness (Heb. 10:24). So why the need for church membership? Let's take a look.

Key Passages that seem to indicate church membership:

• 1 Corinthians 5:1-13--this passage speaks of the removal of the incestuous brother from the church. Paul makes some interesting statements that give us the impression that the church in Corinth had a specific list of members.
  
• "Let him who has done this be removed from among you" (5:2)
• "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?" (5:12)
• "God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you." (5:13)
• 2 Corinthians 2:6-7--this passage speaks of the comfort that comes from the majority of the church. This would imply that there was a way of determining a majority in the congregation.
• 1 John 2:18-19 -- the Apostle John mentions those who have "gone out from us" because they "were not of us" this implies that there was a clearly definable group that John could refer to as "us."
• 1 Timothy 5:9 -- Paul instructs Timothy to enroll widows who were indeed widows. The fact that there was a specific list concerning widows gives us some indication that there was a list of the church body at large.

Now you might be thinking, "That's not exactly the strongest biblical basis I've ever seen." To which I would answer, "Yep, it sure isn't." That is why I called them passages that seem to indicate membership not passages that require church membership. So then the question is, "If there is no specific biblical evidence for it, why have church membership at all?" To answer that question, we must consider what it is we are talking about? What is church membership? Or perhaps a better question is, "What is it that we are agreeing to when we become members?" Well, many churches have a covenant that new members must sign or agree to. This is our church covenant. But more generally, what are we agreeing to when we become church members. Let me suggest a couple of things:

• Church membership signifies a church's corporate endorsement of a person's salvation. That is when a church places someone in the membership rolls they are testifying to the fact that as far as they can observe from a human perspective, this person is regenerate. This is an important differentiation between the type of church membership that has been practiced at other times in church history. We are talking about striving for a regenerate church membership.
  
• Church membership signifies an individual commitment to grasp hold of one another in mutual love and discipleship. What we are suggesting here is that church membership is more than just a way to keep track of financial records. There is a purposeful accountability that takes place between members. We each promise, or covenant, as a body to help each other grow in Christ-likeness.
  
• Church membership signifies a regular responsibility that involves people in each other's lives for the purposes of the gospel. I think the two key words here are involves. Naturally we do not want other people to be involved in our lives. We'd much rather prefer them to butt out. But church membership makes that different. The other key word here is gospel. Church leadership does not promote membership merely to send themselves on a power trip. They are trying to promote the saving and sanctifying work of the gospel in everyone's lives.
  
• Church membership signifies an inward love for God and His people. Trust me, you won't go through the previous steps if you don't have this inward love for God and His church.
  

So what I am suggesting is not some loose affiliation like you would find at the local rotary club. I am not talking about a social club that meets occasionally for the personal enjoyment of its members. I am talking about fellow believers joining together and covenanting with each other to provide mutual accountability for one another. The encouragement is uplifting, the fellowship is sweet, the accountability is sanctifying, the correction can be painful, but the result, by God's magnificent grace, is transformation into the image of Christ.

Church Membership has a purpose, and it is a good one. Anybody want in?

Note: I must give some other people credit for some of these ideas. They are not all mine. You should check out what Mark Dever has to say about membership at his website. It is dynamite stuff. You will most likely notice some similarities.