Nothing could be more biblical than church membership, right? Churches disagree with one another on a great many things, but there are a few things they all agree on. One of those is that attendees should officially and formally join the congregation by placing membership. This is such a common and accepted practice that almost no one questions it.
Would it surprise you to learn that the New Testament says nothing about formal church membership? The Bible paints a very different picture of what belonging to a church looks like than what most of us envision. In fact, most Christians have a conceptual framework about church membership that has more in common with corporate legal entities than with the New Testament Scriptures.
What’s wrong with modern church membership practices?
Almost everything about the way we do “membership” reveals that we think of it as joining a club or institution. We “place membership,” “move membership,” “resign membership,” etc. Members can engage in church life in a way that visitors can’t. Members can participate in church business meetings, teach classes, hold church office, use the church facilities for private gatherings, etc.
Some churches have an elaborate and lengthy process one must complete to become a member. Others require new members to sign a church covenant which, in some cases, amounts to a legally binding contract. Most churches have a short and simple membership process. Regardless of the method, they all send a signal that it is a club or organization that people are joining.
Some churches allow you to be a member of more than one congregation at a time. It’s called associate membership and is primarily designed for people who live out of state for part of the year. This way, one can still be a member at their primary church while being an associate member at their secondary church. Associate members get most of the “rights and privileges” of full membership.
There is only one thing wrong with all of these ideas and practices; none of them are found in the New Testament.
What does the Bible say about church membership?
The Bible says nothing about church membership. On the other hand, it describes the church in detail. The church is not a building, an organization, club, nor institution. The church is composed of individuals. It is a group of Christians who are in partnership with one another working together toward common objectives. When the Bible uses the word church, the emphasis is always on the people, upon a group of individual Christians.
Joined to a family
One of the most commonly used metaphors in the New Testament to describe our relationship to God, and to each other, is that of a family. The New Testament describes God as our Father. It uses terms like “son,” “sister,” and “brother” to characterize our relationship with each other.
Galatians 4:4-7 teaches us that God has adopted us as sons and that our hearts cry out to Him “Abba! Father!” (v. 6). Jesus taught us to pray to our “Father in heaven” (Mt 6:9). John wrote that through Christ, a way has been made for us to become God’s children (Jn 1:12-13).
The New Testament uses other metaphors to describe our relationship, but the image of being a family is heavily emphasized. When one becomes a Christian, it is the Lord who adds the person to the church (Acts 2:47). We are all children of God and therefore siblings in the same family. God expects us to seek out and unite with our brothers and sisters in whatever location we find ourselves (Heb 10:24-25).
Joined to the body of Christ
A healthy family loves one another and enjoys being in each other’s company. This is what God wants for the church as well. The Lord envisions the church being so close knit that the apostle Paul likened it to a body.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul used the analogy of the human body to describe the people of God and the different roles they play. He spoke of “members” of the body (differing body parts) to describe how the church is composed of individuals with different functions and gifts. Each one contributes to the work of the church in unique ways. This “body” functions as a single organism guided by its “head” which is Jesus Christ.
When Paul used the word “member” he wasn’t speaking about church membership. He used the term to refer to the constituent parts of a human body. The different parts (members) of our human bodies are integral components and all work together. We do not “hold membership” in the body of Christ any more than our hand or foot “holds membership” in our physical body.
Is church membership wrong?
It is not wrong or sinful to have an official record of those in a church family. There are practical reasons for doing so. These reasons mainly have to do with the legalities of a church owning property, being incorporated, obtaining loans, etc. However, these practicalities should never be allowed to eclipse the biblical concept of membership!
God expects us to keep company with fellow Christians.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another… (Heb. 10:24–25 ESV).
We need the mutual support, encouragement, and edification that a local church family can give us. The problem is that modern church membership practices undermine the idea of uniting with spiritual relatives, replacing it with something closer to buying a fitness club membership.
When we unite with a local church, we are committing ourselves to our siblings in Christ in a given locale. If we forget the New Testament’s view of “church membership,” we aren’t respecting God’s intention for the local church. If we view church as a social club where good Christians must attend each week, there will not be a true commitment to the family of Christ in that place. We’ll be fickle and the moment something doesn’t suit us we’ll just move our membership elsewhere. This is not what God intended.
Joining a family not an organization
A number of years ago my family started attending a different church. After we’d been there for several months, the elders started to strongly encourage us to place membership. I spoke with one of them and stated that we’d be happy to be members of the church family in that place, but that we had no interest in joining an organization. My response was a source of confusion to him; it was written all over his face. Like most everyone else, his concept of church membership was deeply institutionalized.
Christian thought about church membership is in a state of cognitive dissonance. Most church members would deny that they think of the church as an institution, but actions and attitudes speak louder than words. We say one thing and mean another all the while sending an inconsistent message that we aren’t even conscious of.
We’ve built an entire system of church polity on something that is, at most, only implied in the New Testament. In the following blog posts we’ll consider some symptoms of this institutionalized thinking.