The question of whether Christians need to join a local church is timely and one that many ask today. Some ask with genuine curiosity, to know if church membership is biblical. And some ask with a degree of suspicion and discomfort, as if joining a church automatically signed them up to tithe by direct deposit. For these people, church membership seems mainly for the purpose of collecting money to run the “business” of the church as a religious organization.
It is true that giving tithes and offerings is commanded in the Scripture, for members of the local church to support the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Mal 3:10, 1 Cor 16:2). But giving to support the church’s spiritual work is not the ultimate purpose of church membership. Remember what the Lord God said in His Word: “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills; I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine” (Psalm 50:10-12).
This is God’s polite way of telling us that He doesn’t need our money and that He doesn’t rely on us for the furtherance of His kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel. God is self-sufficient. So why then does He require us to give our money to the church in the form of tithes and offerings? It is to give us opportunity to participate in the work of the Gospel and to include us in the circle of His spiritual and material blessings as we give part of what He gave us to the work of His kingdom in and through the church (Proverbs 11:24, Luke 6:38).
So what then is the primary purpose of church membership? That is a fair question. Some would even ask: Why box the Holy Spirit into member or non-member categories? Why bother joining a church when I’m already a member of Christ’s Universal Church? And why do I need to make a vow to the local church for membership?
What is the church?
To help answer these questions, we first need to ask one foundational question. What is the church?
The church is not a building where God’s people go to worship. The church is the people of God themselves. We don’t go to the church—we are the church. The church is the gathering of the redeemed who have been called out of the world to worship God and serve Christ by serving one another. When we come to the church building to worship God, the church comes to worship God. The church is the assembly of those who have been called out of darkness into light (1 Peter 2:9-10). It is the body of Christ, consisting of those who have made a common confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.
The New Testament lays this out for us in simple terms. In 1 Corinthians 1:1-3, the Church is described as “those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In Paul’s description, we see the body of Christ at large, the one true and invisible Universal Church, in this case assembling in one specific local church in Corinth.
In 2 Corinthians 1:1-2, Paul again makes a distinction between the local church in Corinth and the other local churches in Achaia. Paul is showing us that those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and joined in professing Him as their Lord were members of a local church. So there was the Universal Church and there were the local churches like that in Corinth and elsewhere throughout Achaia. In Romans 12:3-5, Paul again speaks of believers as members of Christ’s body, the church, and members of one another.
Why local membership is important
So why is church membership important, and why is it required by Scripture? Here are some biblical reasons why it matters:
- In joining the church as a member, you make your commitment to Christ visible: In Romans 10:9-10, the Apostle Paul calls true believers to confess and acknowledge Jesus Christ with their mouth as Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead. So when a believer stands before the congregation and the watching world and confesses that Christ is his Lord, that believer is making his faith and commitment to Christ public. Through the public profession of faith, the individual believer is raising the flag of faith in Christ before all people. He or she is saying, I am committed to this group of believers in this local church, and they are committed to me. I am here to give, more than to get.
Some who perhaps perceive the membership vow as being only to the church as a religious institution might resist such a commitment. But the church is Christ’s representative here on earth. The membership vow is made among God’s people, the church representing Christ and His spiritual authority over His church (Matt 16:18-19, Eph 1:22, Col 1:18). - Church membership keeps believers accountable: Sadly, many Christians today don’t want to join the church because they fear accountability. They say that Jesus Christ is their Lord but contradict themselves by their unwillingness to come under the accountability of Christ’s church, through which Jesus exercises spiritual authority over His people. Church membership brings believers to accountability under the Lordship of Christ through the under-shepherds in the church, namely pastors and elders (Heb 13:7, 1 Thess 5:12-13; 1 Peter 5:5). Accountability brings spiritual blessing, so indifference toward church membership means not just avoiding accountability but also forfeiting all the divine benefits reserved for those who become church members (Num 14:20-23, Matt 18:15-20, 2 Tim 2:20-21, Heb 12:16-17).
- Church membership brings believers under the direct and constant shepherding of the elders of the local church: When a person becomes a communicant/committed member of a local church, it means the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the church, has entrusted him/her to close, loving, and faithful spiritual care and oversight of the appointed pastor and elders of the local church.
It means that these representatives of the church will visit regularly to provide spiritual care, pray for and with them, and provide for their physical needs when necessary. The pastor will perform marriage rites when the Lord blesses them with a spouse and bury them when the Lord is pleased to take them to Glory. The individual member will be taken care of by the church, body and soul, from the time of membership to death (Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:2-3, 1 Tim 3:1-7, James 5:13-14).
- Church membership gives members an opportunity to serve God’s people: In Scripture, the church is called the household or family of God. When a person joins a local church, he belongs to a family where brothers and sisters in Christ provide love, support, and service (John 13:12-17, Romans 12:10, 1 Peter 4:10-11). When you become a member of your local church, it will be a place for you to use your God-given gifts to serve Him and His people in love and to follow the examples set for you by Christ. One of the great benefits of church membership is that you are not left to wonder where to serve God and His people. It is like belonging to an earthly family, in which you have parents and siblings, where you understand instinctively your priorities for love, care, and help. Your fellow church members become your siblings in Christ, and they become your priority to love, serve, and help in the name of Christ. That is indeed the beauty of church membership (Psalm 16:3, Psalm 133)
Join Christ’s church, and enjoy all its benefits!
Pastor Zecharias A. Weldeyesus