“Why should I become a member of the church?”
“Why do we put so much emphasis on church membership?”
“Isn’t church membership just an invention, a tradition of man?”
“Requiring church membership is legalistic…and we’re Gospel-centered, right?”
These are questions that many pastors receive frequently from both those interested in becoming more active in a local church and from those who are already members of it. They are good questions, usually asked with thoughtfulness and sincerity. Good, thoughtful, and sincere questions deserve good, thoughtful, and sincere answers.
Here is how one pastor, Kevin DeYoung, recently addressed the question in a post on his blog at The Gospel Coalition. He offered the following “6 Reasons Why Membership Matters:”
- In joining a church you make visible your commitment to Christ and his people.
- Making a commitment makes a powerful statement in a low-commitment culture.
- We can be overly independent.
- Church membership keeps us accountable.
- Joining the church will help your pastor and elders be more faithful shepherds.
- Joining the church gives you an opportunity to make promises.
Visit this link to read his explanation of each point.
Another pastor, (our current Associate Pastor) Eric Schumacher, delivered two sermons at his former church in 2007, teaching “Why You Ought to be a Formal, Active Member of a Local Church.” These sermons addressed why formal church membership is a biblical concept, one that necessitates active participation.
In Part 1, he outlined the difference between the “universal church” and the “local church,” offered a definition of “formal, active membership,” and explained the following reasons for having formal church membership:
- Lists are commonly used by God and his people throughout the Bible to clarify who is “in.”
- The language used in the New Testament implies and requires a clearly defined and formal membership.
- The instruction on and practice of church discipline in the New Testament implies and requires a clearly defined and formal membership.
- Pastoral duties imply and require a clearly defined and formal membership.
In Part 2, he explained why church membership must be active:
- Because the Bibles commands—through example and by direct statement—your active devotion to a local church.
- The gifts of the Spirit cannot be rightly used without being active in a church.
- The “one another” commands of Scripture require it.
- Because wise and righteous people welcome and pursue accountability, while the stupid and self-seeking avoid and hate it.
- Because habitually meeting together for mutual encouragement is God’s means of keeping us in the faith.
- The meaning of the Lord’s Supper requires active love for the church.
You can read (or listen to) his explanations of each point through these links: Part 1 | Part 2