Why Church Membership?
For many people membership sounds stiff, something you have at your bank or the country club, but too formal for the church. Even if it is agreed that Christianity is not a lone ranger religion, that we need community and fellowship with other Christians, sometimes we still bristle at the thought of officially joining a church. Why all the hoops and classification? Why box the Holy Spirit into member/non-member categories?
Well, believe it or not, membership matters. In addition to some very tangible benefits to membership (for example, only members can hold church office), here are four good reasons why Christians should join a church.
1. In joining a church you make visible your commitment to Christ and His people.
Membership is one way to raise the flag of faith. You state before God and others that you are part of this local body of believers. It is easy to talk in glowing terms about the invisible church–the body of all believers near and far, living and dead–but it is in the visible church that God expects you to live out your faith. Real fellowship happens within this visible church. Of course, real fellowship is hard work, because most people are a lot like us–selfish, petty, proud, and imperfect. But that is the kind of group God calls us to.
How many of Paul’s letters were written to individuals? Only a handful, and these were mostly to pastors. The majority of his letters were written to a local body of believers. We see the same thing in Revelation. Jesus spoke to individual congregations in places such as Smyrna, Sardis, and Laodicea. The New Testament knows no Christians floating around in “just me and Jesus” land. Believers belong to churches.
2. Church membership keeps us accountable to each other.
When we join a church we are offering ourselves to one another to be encouraged, rebuked, corrected, and served. We are placing ourselves under leaders and submitting to their authority (Heb. 13:7). We are saying, “I am here to stay. I want to help you grow in godliness. Will you help me to do the same?”
Mark Dever, in his book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, writes, “Church membership is our opportunity to grasp hold of each other in responsibility and love. By identifying ourselves with a particular church, we let the pastors and other members of that local church know that we intend to be committed in attendance, giving, prayer, and service. We allow fellow believers to have great expectations of us in these areas, and we make it known that we are the responsibility of this local church. We assure the church of our commitment to Christ in serving with them, and we call for their commitment to serve and encourage as well.”
3. Joining the church will help your pastor and elders be more faithful shepherds.
Hebrews 13:7 says “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.” That is your part. Here is ours: “They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.” We take seriously our responsibility before God to watch over your souls. This is hard enough to do in a church like ours with lots of people, but it is even harder when we don’t know who is really a part of this flock. To give just one example, we are trying to be more diligent in following up with people who haven’t been at our church for a while. But if you never became a member, it is difficult to tell if you are really gone, because we might not be sure if you were ever here! It’s nearly impossible to shepherd the flock when we do not know who really considers this their flock and really considers us their shepherds.
4. Joining the church gives you an opportunity to make promises.
When you become a member here, you make promises to pray, give, serve, attend worship, accept the spiritual guidance of the church, obey its teachings, and seek the things that make for unity, purity, and peace. We ought not to make these promises lightly. They are solemn vows. And we must hold each other to them. If you do not join the church, you may miss an opportunity to publicly make these promises, and, in so doing, invite the elders and the rest of the body to hold you to these promises–which would be missing out on great spiritual benefit, for you and for us.
Think about why membership might matter more than you thought. And if you are looking to invite more accountability and responsibility into your life, here are the three steps to becoming a member at New Life Mission Church.
How do I become a member?
Step One: Attend our “New Life 101” class. The class meets for two Sundays, and is offered several times throughout the year. The class reviews basic biblical teachings on the character and attributes of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, the nature of revelation, sin and salvation, the sacraments, and spiritual gifts. The class also reviews the responsibilities as well as the privileges that come along with church membership. The materials also cover some of the theological distinctives of the Reformed faith and our church in particular. To find out when this class meets, please contact Pastor Will (willchang77@gmail.com).
Step Two: Meet with the elders. The Elders are charged with oversight of church membership. After attending our “New Life 101” class, a few of the elders will meet with you to hear how you became a Christian, ask a few questions, and respond to any questions you may have. The meeting takes about 30 minutes.
Step Three: Be publicly received before the congregation. Several times throughout the year we have membership Sundays. All new members will make membership vows before the congregation and be publicly and formally received as the newest members of the New Life Mission Church family.
*edited from materials written by Keven DeYoung.
