Church Membership - Why does it matter? (Part 3)

We pick up where we left off in the last post ...

I saved these next three for last as they bring up secondary issues some will struggle with more than the membership issue. I won't have space to fully address each of the issues raised, but welcome questions.

[#'s 1 and 2 are in the previous post]

Biblical reasons for church membership ...

3. Membership is implied by the way a church is supposed to implement church discipline.
Now, there's a subject you don't see brought up in many churches ... church discipline. In Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus gives clear instructions on handling conflict as christians. The final court of appeal, as seen in v.17, is "the church". So, the question is, how do you define who makes up this group called "the church"? Any issue that would reach this level of attention would be considered a very sensitive issue. Do you then allow just anyone that calls themselves a christian become a part of this process. To place someone in the position of an unbeliever as v.17 indicates is a very serious matter. Church membership becomes the tool that defines who is to be involved in such a situation.

4. By virtue of the fact that excommunication even exists assumes the existence of church membership. In 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 Paul instructs the Corinthian church in matters of dealing with one in the church that refused to walk away from his blatantly public sin. He tells them to "put them away" (v.13). How can you tell someone they are no longer "part of the church / body" if the church / body is not clearly defined? Formal removal is impossible without some way to define who is already in.

5. Membership is implied by the instruction that a group of Christians are to be submissive to church leaders. I spoke to the impact this has on church leaders in the previous post. Clearly there is heavy responsibility placed on the shoulders of church leaders. The leaders will one day stand before The Judge and answer for how they have handled their responsibilities in such matters. But Hebrews 13:17 clearly instructs a group of Christians to allow themselves to be held accountable to church leaders. Question: What group is placing themselves under the authority of what group of leaders? How do you obey this command? The only way I know is by having a clearly defined group of people following a clearly defined group of leaders. And the only tool I know to do this is formal membership.

Again, I realize the concepts of church discipline, authority, submission to leaders, etc. present their own challenges in the minds of some. The purpose of this post is not to argue for those concepts (I'll let the Scripture stand on those as it clearly does). The purpose of this post is to give further insight into why membership is a biblical concept.

Stay tuned for posts on such matters as baptism, Lord's Supper, Spiritual Gifts, and other matters pertaining to church membership. I will include some light posts between these weightier ones to keep this blog from becoming too heavy ... I promise :-).