Membership in the Bible

There is no passage in the Bible that explains church membership. However, it is clearly implied in the Bible

Read Hebrews 13:7 and 1 Timothy 5:17 and answer these questions:

Without church membership, which leaders would an individual Christian obey and submit to?
Without church membership, which people would a pastor give an account to God for?

In Acts 2:41 and 47, it says people were "added to the church" - what does this assume? (That there was a list to be added to.)

Read Acts 6:1-6 and notice the following:

There was a number of disciples that was tracked.
There was an organized daily ministration.
There was an election of the first deacons.

(Blanks on bold words above)

Read 1 Corinthians 5 and answer the following questions:

What was going on in the church at Corinth?
What did Paul have against the church?
What was Paul's final advice in verse 13?
How would this be possible without a clear list of who is and isn't in a local church?

The church is a body from which you can be excluded and in which, therefore, you can clearly be included. (Mark Dever)

Membership in History

Throughout history, there are three prevailing models of church membership:

The Church-State Model

i.e. I'm a member of this church because I'm a citizen of this town or country.

The government sets up official churches.
Everyone is a member.
Your "tithes" are paid via taxes.
You have no say in who your pastor is.

The Covenantal Model

i.e. I'm a member of this church because I was born into it.

Babies are baptized into the church
Family members are church members by default.
The church has obvious non-saved members
The Lord's Supper is open to all.

The Baptist Model

i.e. I'm a part of this church because I joined it after salvation.

Baptists believe that you join a church a few ways: 1. By salvation and baptism. 2. By letter from your previous church and by vote of the congregation.

Read Ephesians 1;1 and Colossians 1:2 and answer the following:

Who was Paul writing to?
What did Paul call them?
Is it safe to assume that Paul believed that churches were made up of believers?

The Purposes of Membership

1. Accountability

Church membership brings you under the authority of the church and makes you accountable to the other church members.

As a church member, you can be disciplined by the church (1 Corinthians 5.)

As a church member, you have pastors to obey and follow. (Hebrews 13, 1 Tim 5)

2. Evangelism and Mission

The local church is by nature a missions organization. (Dever)

The mission is given to the church.

Read Matthew 28:16-20. - Who was Jesus speaking to? - Jesus mission included going, baptizing and teaching, what organization does those things? - Is it safe to assume that the great commission then, was given to churches?

The church sends out missionaries and evangelists

Read Acts 13:1-3 and answer the following questions: - Where were Paul and Barnabas at the beginning of this chapter (1) - What work did God have for Paul and Barnabas? - What do you think is meant by "laid their hands on them"? (3) - Who sent Paul and Barnabas away to do their work?

The local church trains missionaries

Read Ephesians 4:11-12 and answer the following questions: - Who gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers? - Who did He give them to? - What are the three purposes of these officers? (11) - Whose job is it to train the church "for the work of the ministry?"

What is the pattern for ministry training given to us in 2 Timothy 2:2?

The local church supports missionaries

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 together and answer the following questions:

What did the churches of Macedonia do for Paul and his missionary team? (look at verse 4)
Were these wealthy churches? (look at verse 2)
What did Paul expect the Corinthian church to do? (verse 7)

3. Edifying

The New Testament includes many "one another" commands.

Read the following verses and consider this question: "Without church membership, who is our 'one another?'"

Romans 12:10, 14:13, 14:19, 15:14
1 Corinthians 12:25
Galatians 5:13, 6:2
Colossians 3:13
1 Thessalonians 5:11

Joining a church gives you a group of people to obey the "one another" commands with.

4. The glory of God

Read Matthew 5:14-16 and answer the following questions: - Who is "the light of the world?" - What do you think Jesus had in mind when He called us "A city on an hill?" - How, according to verse 16, is God glorified in the lives of Christians?

Consider Ephesians 3:10, what is God using to "make known" His "manifold wisdom?"

The Practice of Church Membership

1. Maintain a list of everyone who is a church member.

You need to keep an official list of all active church members and keep it in a safe place.

2. Have the members vote on taking in new church members.

People join the church either by - letter from another church - by baptism

In both cases, the church members need to vote them in. When they are voted in, they need to be added to the list.

3. Have a church membership process.

Before a person is brought on as a member, they need to be instructed in all that that entails. Consider training for new members that includes:

A summary of our church's beliefs.
An overview of our church's history.
A summary of our church's expectations (our church covenant.)
A summary of how our church is governed.

After the family has gone through this membership class and had a meeting with the pastor - they will be brought before the church for membership.

4. Prune the church membership list of non-attenders.

In your church constitution you should have some kind of clear statement that says that if you don't attend the services for so long, then you will be removed as a member. It could be two months, it could be one month - you decide on that. Before you remove a person as a member, you need to let them know that they are in danger of being removed for nonattendance.

The reasons for doing this are: - Accountability for the member. - Protection for the church. (You don't want a bunch of "members" showing up for a meeting who haven't been to church in three years.)