Is Church Membership Necessary?

One of the most common questions here is, is church membership necessary? I was on a plane the other day with a guy who said, “Church membership, nowhere in the Bible. I’m not a member of a church. I’m a follower of Christ, but not a member of a church because that’s just a man-made thing, this membership thing.” This is where I would grant clearly that membership at a local church is not biblically commanded. You won’t find anywhere in the Bible where the word “church membership” is even mentioned. You won’t find a command for believers to become a member of a local church.

For many people, that just seals the deal. But we need to be careful. There’s also not a place where Jesus explicitly says the words, “I am God.” There’s also not a place where we see the Trinity specifically outlined in the scripture in the kind of terms that we’re looking for here. So, let’s not throw it out the window just yet. I would put before us tonight that membership in a local church is biblically implied, understood. I want to be careful here. Even with this word “membership”, I think it’s the best word. I don’t know of a better word to describe because what we’re talking about is as a body, and there are parts and there are members of a body. People say, “Well yes, we’re just members of the universal body of Christ.”

Four Ways the Bible Implies That Church Membership Necessary

I want you to think about four ways that the Bible implies church membership in a local church and why it’s important. Number one, membership is implied by church gatherings. When we see this word ecclesia, the church of God in Corinth, the church that meets in Aquila and Priscilla’s house, I Corinthians 16.

That’s where 90 of the 114 references to ecclesia come in the New Testament, to a gathering in a place. Followers of Christ belong to one of those gatherings. When Paul writes to the church in Corinth, that’s a certain defined people. He’s not writing, although obviously the implications there are in scripture and they’re for all of us, but this was a letter written to a local church at a specific time and a specific place, a specific gathering of believers.

And so it begs the question, as a Christian, what gathering are you a part of? With what church do you gather? Membership is implied here that you are a part, member, whatever you want to call it. You are identified with a gathering of believers. Some people say, “Well, I gather with all kinds of churches. I go to a different one every Sunday. I could get all the different letters and it’s all the better. I’m in this church, and this church, and this church.” Well okay, second, membership is implied by church discipline. We’re going to talk about church discipline later on. When Jesus talks about confronting a brother in sin, listen to how he relates it to the church.

He says in verse 17, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.” So, you confront a brother in his sin. That doesn’t work, you take two or three others along. And then if that doesn’t work, if he refuses to listen, tell it to the church. So, who is the church there? The universal body of Christ. “Bro over here is unrepentant in his sin, so announce it to the entire universal body of Christ that this guy is unrepentant.” No. This is clearly tell it to the gathering of believers, the local church. You get to I Corinthians five, which will also talk about church discipline, and basically Paul talks about excommunicating someone from the church.

We’ll talk about what’s going on there in a little bit, but the reality is, in order to be excommunicated, taken out of the church, you got to be what first? In the church. You got to be a member of the church. Apparently, it was a big deal to not be a member of the church, to be basically kicked out of the church, sent out from among them. How would it be possible to do what Jesus and Paul are talking about here if you were defined as a member of a church in the first place? Identify it with a gathering. Third, membership is implied by church leadership. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.”

The Bible Teaches Us to Obey the Leaders of the Church

That’s a command for Christians in the Bible. Again, this is something we’re going to talk about later, but think about this for a second. Leaders, they will give an account. Leaders in a church will give an account for those whom they lead. I’m a pastor of a church. Who do I give an account for? Who will I give an account for? Every person in the universal body of Christ? Am I responsible for pastoring, shepherding and accounting to God for every single Christian on the face of the planet? Or in all time? No. I am responsible for the church that I pastor, the gathering, the people. Now, obey your leaders. Submit to them. That’s a command. Followers of Christ in this room are commanded to obey the leaders in the church.

Who does that mean that you obey? Every single Christian that’s out there? Turn on the TV and you’ve got somebody, “Well, whatever he says I got to do it.” No. No, you obey the leaders of the church that you are identified with. This whole accounting language, being shepherd over a flock, Acts 20, I Peter chapter five. The reality is, you’re not supposed to obey just any Christian leader. We’re going to talk about what this means, obeying leaders, submitting to leaders. I’m not supposed to be accountable for every single person in the universal body of Christ. That totally implies a local church.

Church Membership Is Implied By Accountability

Next, last implication, church membership is implied by church accountability. You look at these passages below and you see God holding the church accountable for choosing leaders in Acts chapter six. They’re supposed to choose leaders among them. The church is accountable for preaching the gospel in Galatians chapter one. If somebody’s not preaching the gospel, the church is accountable for shutting them up. The church is accountable for identifying members. Let’s picture in I Corinthians five. It’s interesting. The church is the one who defines whose a member in I Corinthians five, not the individual. The church defines that. The church is accountable for sending missionaries in Acts chapter 13.

All these passages, you put them together, they beg the question from every follower of Christ in this room. Are you accountable? Are you an accountable member of a local church? I’m not jus saying, is your name somewhere on a role? Do you attend somewhere? I’m saying, who is your life committed to? What body, what gathering of believers are you committed to being with, spurring on, holding fast to the hope of God with, Hebrews chapter 10? Who are the leaders that your life is in submission to who are accountable for your spiritual growth? If you can’t answer that question, the reality is, you are living contrary to the pattern of the New Testament.

I know that’s not particularly popular today, but it’s what’s in scripture. Guys, this is important. Local church for all these different reasons, God’s designed it this way for our good and for his glory. We don’t shop and just hop around from church to church, and we certainly don’t ignore the church altogether. That’s not an option. There’s no New Testament believers, there’s no believers in the New Testament who are not associated with a church, with a local gathering of believers.

My encouragement is, if you are here tonight and you are not committed to a local gathering of believers, that you would walk out of here tonight with a firm commitment to make that a priority in your Christian life, to leave your ways behind and follow his ways. Terminology, whether it’s called membership, or this or that, it’s much bigger than that. This is a commitment of your life to a gathering of believers.