Is Church Membership Optional? – Another in a series on essential doctrines for a proposed book.
When God adopts us into his heavenly family, he expects us to become members of a visible church on earth. At a time when many seem to be buying into a spirit of independence and self-reliance, we should affirm both the importance of local churches and the one universal Church.
Jesus came to establish one universal, invisible church containing all believers of all time. That invisible church is represented on earth by multitudes of local visible churches. He declared; “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18). Before he ascended to heaven, he commissioned us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Those who respond are to be taught to obey all he commanded and gathered into fellowship groups. (See Matt. 28:19-20.) At Pentecost, Peter preached and “those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts. 2:41,42). A local church is a gathered entity of baptized believers that is given to teaching, prayer, the fostering of fellowship and ensuring that believers remember the Lord through regularly celebrating the Lord’s table.
The New Testament nowhere conceives of believers living solitary lives, trifling with membership in a local church as if such membership is simply a matter of personal preference. The church is not a casual organization that one can join as if it is a social club. The word church in Greek is, ekklesia, meaning “called out.” Christians are “called out ones” from the world at large who gather with others in fellowship, worship, and service. Believers are “baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13)—that is, the body of Christ. (See also Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:11,18,27.) In that sense it is a hallowed entity that we are insolubly connected to from our spiritual birth. It is the temple of God; (See 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:21,22; 1 Pet. 2:5.) and the bride of Christ. (See Eph. 5:25-32; 2 Cor. 11:2.).
The New Testament identifies churches by their geographic location. “The church in Jerusalem” (Acts 11:22,26). “The church in Antioch” (Acts. 13:1). “The church in Cenchrea” (Rom. 16:1). “The church of God in Corinth” (1Cor. 1:2). The church in Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, etc. While the choices in the west, in many locations are multiple, the implication is that upon conversion we join a nearby church that maintains a faithful commitment to biblical truth.
Neither a pope nor a pastor have ultimate authority in a church. Whether local or universal there exists only one ultimate authority, Jesus Christ. In the Great Commission he stated. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). He began his ministry preaching—“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 4:17). There can be no heavenly kingdom without King Jesus. While his disciples mistakenly thought of his rule in terms of an earthly empire, Jesus explained, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). And thus, his disciples are those in whose hearts Jesus reigns as King. No local church can function probably unless it is recognizes and repeatedly reiterates that Christ is Lord and King. All believers must crown Christ as Lord of their life and walk in obedience to his commands. To the extent that he is not Lord, to that extent, neither our Christian lives nor our local church can function biblically. We must beware of giving to human leaders undue adulation.
Just as Christ trained apostles and delegated the extension of his kingdom on earth to them, so in each local church he appoints representatives to guide that church in the fulfillment of his purposes. The disciples who receive this delegated responsibility to organize, serve and lead the church are elders and deacons. The authority they receive from Christ to fulfill their tasks is always limited and subject to the principles he has laid out in Holy Scripture. Humility and submission to Christ must characterize their lives.
At first only deacons were chosen by the apostles to help in caring for the great number who had begun to gather. (See Acts 7.) As the churches matured, elders were also appointed. The New Testament uses three terms to describe these servants; elders (wise, mature men), overseers (administrators, leaders), and shepherds or pastors (to build up the church through teaching and encouraging). In choosing them, care should be given to their moral life and to their spiritual gifts. They are to be “above reproach, temperate, gentle,” and not novices. They are also to exhibit the gifts of hospitality, management, teaching, and preaching and “be able to encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9). (See 1 Tim. 3:1-7, 5:17-20; Titus 1:5-9) It is wise to ensure that each church has multiple elders/pastors.
Deacons likewise are to exhibit Christian maturity in their families and in the community, and have an understanding of the “deep truths of the faith” (1 Tim. 3:8-10,12,13). Women with similar qualities should be chosen as deaconesses to work with women, but not to teach men. (Note how many women listed in Romans 16 aided Paul in his ministry.) Following the pattern in Acts 7 where the first deacons were chosen to serve tables, deacons and deaconesses are responsible for the general care of the church, such as dealing with the upkeep of buildings, finances, benevolences, etc. Since all of us are to grow in ministry ability, deacons are not precluded from developing gifts in other areas.
Every Christian has been given a spiritual gift or gifts by the Holy Spirit to use in building up the church and extending its witness into all the world. It is helpful to list the gifts under the categories of speaking gifts, serving gifts, and charismatic gifts. The speaking gifts are; apostleship (missionary church-planting), prophetic preaching, evangelism, teaching, shepherding (pastoring), encouragement, knowledge, and wisdom. The serving gifts are; general helpfulness, hospitality, giving, mercy, faith, discernment, and leadership (administration). The charismatic gifts are; healing, miracles, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These charismatic gifts, in the view of this writer, confirmed the work of the Spirit in the church’s infancy, but are now of rare appearance. (For an explanation of my reasons for this conclusion see chapter 4 in Church -No Spectator Sport.) (For general material on spiritual gifts see Romans 12:4; 1 Cor 12:4-6,7-11,27-30; Eph. 4:11-16 and the aforementioned book.)
The purpose of gifts is, “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ…no longer infants, tossed back and forth…by the cunning and craftiness of men…instead speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is , Christ…as each part does its work” (Eph. 4:12-16). As Paul describes in his comparison of the church to a body in First Corinthians twelve, every single believer—using his or her gifts—is necessary to the proper functioning of a church. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts.”
Every local church is responsible to administer two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Table. Baptism by immersion in water is to be administered to those who are converted through the Holy Spirit producing in them repentance toward sin and faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. Baptism has no saving function but is rather a visible testimony of the saved person to his or her internal belief in Christ. By gathering around the Lord’s Table, where believers eat bread in memory of Christ’s body and drink wine in memory of Jesus’s shed blood, the church is regularly refreshed and brought back to its central belief in the atoning sacrifice of Christ
Local churches are responsible to encourage the fulfillment of Christ’s mission both in their own community and to the ends of the earth, especially among the unreached. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded” (Matt. 28:19,20). It should be kept in mind that in contributing to the advance of the gospel we participate in hastening the return of Christ. “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).
It should be clear from the New Testament record of churches such as those in Galatia and Corinth that no local church is without defects. While our goal at all times should be to work toward “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12), yet we need love and patience to deal with imperfections. Our goal should always be to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Jesus prayed for unity among believers; so must we. We must ensure that there are no divisions or prejudices related to differences in race, class, gender, or wealth. We should also seek fellowship with churches that may not subscribe to all the details of our own denomination but maintain the essential truths of the gospel.
The discovery of grievous sins that threaten the unity and holiness of local churches require church discipline. Mathew 18 describes a four-step process aiming at restoration of the sinning brother or sister. First, the person immediately concerned is to approach the brother or sister privately using tact, humility and compassion. Secondly, if initial efforts are rebuffed, then one or two other mature Christians should join the first person in an effort to lead the offender to repentance. If the person remains adamant, then the matter should be brought to church leadership and then the whole church. If the sinning brother rejects even the urging of the whole church, discipline will need to be implemented including exclusion from the Lord’s Table. (For further discussion of this matter and a list of offenses that require church discipline see chapter ten in my book, Revolutionary Forgiveness.)
Local churches are meant to be spiritual communities, really families where we experience the love, fellowship, and encouragement we need as individuals. This is especially important in our day when society at large influences us to embrace a hyper-individualistic, ultra-busy lifestyle. Joe Hellerman wrote, “the New Testament picture of the church as a family flies in the face of our individualistic cultural orientation. God’s vision of the church as our first family offers a powerful antidote to the social ills of today.”
As members of God’s heavenly family, we are all meant to contribute to the creation of local churches that are dynamic, inspiring, and supportive communities. That means we will attend a local church, get to know its people, listen to their challenges, and use our gifts to build up each other.
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