Why Does Church Membership Matter?

Okay. Now, devotion to the church. What does scripture say about how much or how little Christians should devote themselves to the church? And is that, should we devote ourselves to a local church? Or is it just we need to be devoted to all Christians everywhere in the universal church? One of the most common questions here is, is church membership necessary?

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.” This guy said, “I’m a follower of Christ, but not a member of a church because that’s just a manmade thing, this membership thing.” And this is where I would grant, clearly the membership in a local church is not biblically commanded. You won’t find anywhere in the Bible where the word membership, church membership is even mentioned. And you won’t find a command for believers to become a member of a local church. And so for many people, that just seals the deal.

Four Ways The Bible Implies Church Membership

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 scripture, in the 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. Now 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. Now people say, “Well, yes. We’re just members of the universal body of Christ.” But I want you to think about four ways that the Bible implies church membership in a local church and why it’s important.

It Is Implied by Church Gatherings

Number one, membership is implied by church gatherings. When we see this word, ecclesia, the Church of God in Corinth, the church, it meets in Aquila and Priscilla’s house 1 Corinthians 16. That’s where 90 of the 114 references to ecclesia come in the New Testament to a gathering in a place, and 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 implication’s there in scripture and therefore all of us. But this was a letter written to a local church at a specific time in 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 so I could get all the different letters and it’s all the better. I mean, this church and this church and this church.”

It Is Implied by Church Discipline

Well, okay, second. Membership is implied by church discipline. Now we’re going to talk about church discipline later on, but when Jesus talks about confronting a brother and 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? A 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 1 Corinthians 5, which we’ll also talk about with church discipline. And basically Paul talks about excommunicating someone from the church. And 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. And 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, Paul are talking about here if you weren’t defined as a member of a church in the first place? Identified with a gathering.

Church Membership Is Implied by Church Leadership

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.” That’s a command for Christians in the Bible. Now, again, this is something we’re going to talk about later, but think about this for a second. Leaders, they will give an account. So leaders in a church will give an account for those whom they lead. So 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’m responsible for the church that I pastor. The gathering, the people. Now obey your leaders. Submit to them. That’s a command. So followers of Christ in this room are commanded to obey the leaders in the church.

Now, who does that mean that you obey? Every single Christian that’s out there? Turn on TV, you got somebody. “Bro, 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, 1 Peter 5. 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. And I’m not supposed to be accountable for every single person in the universal body of Christ. That totally implies a local church.

It Is Implied by Church 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 6, they’re supposed to choose leaders among them. The church is accountable for preaching the gospel in Galatians 1. If they’re not, somebody’s not preaching the gospel.

The church is accountable for shutting them up. The church is accountable for identifying members. That’s picture in 1 Corinthians 5. It’s interesting. The church is the one who defines who’s a member in 1 Corinthians 5, not the individual. The church defines that.

The church is accountable for sending missionaries in Acts 13. And so 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? And I’m not just 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 10, who were the leaders that your life is in submission to who are accountable for your spiritual growth? And 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. So my encouragement is if you’re 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. And 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.