What The Bible Says About Church Membership
(Text: Acts 2:41-47)
By: Barry L. Cameron
The local church is the most important institution on the face of the earth because it was begun by Jesus (Matthew 16:18), purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28), and it, alone, can meet the deepest needs of the human heart. God ordained the church to be the vessel through which and by which the world would come to know Christ.
We all need the local church.
In the New Testament, there’s not one example of a believer or believers refusing to become a part of a local church. Or of someone saying they were only a part of the “invisible” church . . . whatever that is . . . Scripture never mentions it.
In fact, believers in the New Testament found their identity through the local church. The church at Ephesus, the church at Philippi, the church at Philemon’s house—it didn’t matter where you were, if you were a believer, you were a part of a local church.
The Apostle Paul went on missionary journeys to visit the churches. When he returned, he went to the church at Jerusalem. When he was in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla and people started getting saved, they started a church to help with the birth, care, feeding, nurturing and maturing of these believers.
As believers in Christ, we are admonished in Scripture to submit to spiritual leaders (I Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17), to place ourselves in a position of mutual accountability with other believers (Acts 2:42; Ephesians 4:11-16; Galatians 6:1-2; James 5:16, 19-20) and to meet together regularly for worship and instruction in the Word so we can encourage and build one another up in the faith (Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:46-47; 20:7). The only way to do that is to be an active, viable member of a local church.
Let me share with you Seven Things Every Christian Ought To Know About Church Membership:
1. Church Membership Is Biblical
In Acts 2:41, it says, “the Lord added to their number.” In Acts 2:47, it says, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” In Acts 6:1-2 and I Timothy 5:9, we see the early church keeping lists of their widows. We see in Philippians 4:3 and Revelation 13:8, that even the Lord keeps a record of names. All the churches in the New Testament were organized entities with leaders, patterns of worship and ordinances they followed. (See Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 20:7)
2. Church Membership Is A Symbol
Joining a church is similar to being baptized. It’s a tangible symbol of a spiritual reality. Our baptism identifies us with Christ. Becoming a member identifies us with His Church. This should be visible, too. (Matthew 10:32-33)
3. Church Membership Means We Are Accountable
We are accountable first of all to God. Then, to our spiritual leaders and our fellow members in the local church.
Dr. John MacArthur, in his book The Body Dynamic, writes: “When people join an organization, they subscribe to its goals and agree to live by its rules and standards. Membership in the Body of Christ also demands certain conduct. When we join God’s Family, we belong to the Heavenly Father and receive rights, privileges and honors (Eph. 1-3). Our obedience shows that we share the goals of the Body and want to conform to what God requires. This is a conformity of love. If Christians fail to conform to the pattern of the Body, it’s not because they lack guidelines; rather they lack love, for love fulfills the Law (see Romans 13:10).”
4. Church Membership Means We Are Responsible
We are responsible to be active, viable, contributing members, building up the body of Christ. (See Ephesians 4:11-16) The body can only function and grow properly when every part is healthy and functioning. Too many churches resemble a person’s physical body when they’ve had a stroke. (Part of them is dead and the other part has to compensate, which drastically limits and reduces the effectiveness of the body.)
5. Church Membership Should Be Purposeful
Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” They were purposeful and intentional. They devoted themselves to the church. Acts 2:43-47 describes their unrelenting devotion.
When we join a local church, we are purposefully and intentionally saying, “I am going to join this fellowship and give my time, talent and resources to help make it everything God wants it to be until I die or Jesus comes to get me.”
6. Church Membership Makes You Invulnerable
Literally, the word means: “incapable of being wounded, injured or damaged.” When we join a local church, we come under the umbrella of the spiritual protection of that fellowship. Paul spoke about “handing over to Satan” certain followers of Christ (I Corinthians 5:5; I Timothy 1:20). This is done by putting them out of the local church. Therefore, to not be a formal part of a local church body puts a person in dangerous territory—outside of the authority and protection of the local church. Without the covering of a local church, you’re a sitting duck for Satan.
7. Church Membership Should Be Eternal
When you join a church, you should be an active, contributing member there until you die, the Lord returns, or you have to move to another city too far away for you to continue to be actively and productively involved in your church’s ministry.
The way some people jump from church to church is a horrible testimony to a watching world, and a visible expression of their own immaturity. Every one of us who claims to be a follower of Christ should be an active, viable, contributing member of His church, and our membership should be durable and continual.
Dr. Adrian Rogers said, “the only valid reasons for leaving a church are (a) they are preaching heresy and no longer preaching the truth or, (b) no one is getting saved there anymore. Usually, the two go hand in hand. And if that happens, you are free to go.”
So who needs Church Membership? We all do! If you’re already a church member, renew your commitment to make your church the best church we can possibly be for the Lord. And if you’re not a member yet . . .
. . . what are you waiting for?
