Understanding Church Membership

I remember sitting at a pastors’ breakfast a couple of years ago, when an interim pastor told me that the church he had been serving was calling a new pastor. He asked me to pray for that new pastor and went on to say that he had a big job stepping into a church of 1,200 members. I knew the church he was speaking of and I was taken back by his comment. The interim pastor must have seen it in my eyes; because his next statement was, “Truth be known, even the CIA couldn’t find 200 of those members.” I personally thought, “Truth be known, the CIA couldn’t find 1,000 of them.”

Since that breakfast dialogue, I’ve been intrigued by listening to pastors talk about this thing we call “church membership.” I go to pastors’ meetings and hear pastors bragging about the size of their church membership. The numbers sound impressive, but the actual Sunday attendance is one-third or less. Associations, conventions, and denominational boards use this same manipulation of “membership” numbers for positioning against other denominations or even as leverage to persuade politicians.

Conversations among church-goers regarding membership also intrigue me. Some people don’t want to “join” any church, others join without even knowing what a church believes, and others desire to leave their membership at one church while attending another. Wouldn’t that be similar to maintaining a marriage certificate with one wife, while moving in with another woman? I guess the answer is left to be determined by one’s personal interpretation or definition of church membership.

Speaking for Baptist churches, most require those desiring to teach, work with children, or hold any positions of leadership to become members for the sake of maintaining accountability. The requirements for membership in a Baptist church are simply salvation and baptism. The practice comes from Acts 2:41 as it describes they that gladly (a) received his word, were (b) baptized: and the same day they were (c) added to the church. Denominations differ regarding the requirements for church membership and some require membership candidates to complete indoctrination classes before they can be accepted into the church. While the requirements differ, the basic concept of membership is the same.

As we know, many churches mindlessly practice the traditions they have acquired through the centuries. In an effort to be “biblical, not traditional,” we must examine what the Bible says regarding church membership. As we study the Bible, we find that those who were saved were immediately part of Christ’s body - the Church. While there is much theological debate over whether or not baptism was a requirement for Church membership; it is certain that those who were completely and fully denouncing their pagan lifestyle chose to identify publicly with Christ through the act of baptism after salvation.

So, did the church at Corinth, Ephesus, or Sardis practice local church membership? In Bible times, all of the believers in a city were part of that local church. They assembled and worshiped together. They didn’t fight, split, or consider themselves competitors as many churches do today. They saw themselves as members of Christ’s body. Through the years, the Church has adopted many practices from the business world, including the concept of membership. Pastors want commitment and members want to know who’s on their team, who is going to help pay the bills, who is going to help do ministry, and who should have voting rights.

I would have a hard time proving that local church membership, as it is practiced today, is completely biblical; but I do think it is important for the reasons stated above. While I believe that every person who comes to Christ the Savior for forgiveness of sin is part of Christ’s body, I also believe every Christ-follower should be part of a local congregation. Let me close by encouraging all believers to be part of a local church family, to serve in and through that local church family, and to remain committed to that local church family. We all need a place to belong, until Christ calls us home!