Spiritual Disciplines of a Healthy Church – Meaningful Membership

A healthy church understands the importance of, and practices, meaningful church membership. It is through active, meaningful membership in a local church that Christians live out the commands of Scripture. The preaching ministry of the elders is the primary means by which God saves and grows His people in the local church. Through the preaching and teaching ministry the church is equipped to serve and do ministry.

To understand why meaningful membership in a local church is so important, we must begin with…
What Does Scripture Mean by Church ?   Universal and Local

Church – ekklesia; “called-out ones”; assembly, congregation; used 114 times in NT.
There are two primary uses for the word.

The Universal Church
The universal church is a term used for all Christians, regardless of location or time.
The earliest use of the word church in the NT is found in Matt. 16:13-19,

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus is clearly talking about the establishment of the universal church. He is giving Peter insight into what is coming. Jesus is building a church, His church.

Ephesians 1:22-23 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

In ancient writings it is also known as the “catholic” church, long before the Roman Catholic church. It is one of the things we affirm in the Apostle’s Creed, that we read hear from time to time. The last stanza reads:

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

We’re not saying we bow to the Roman Catholic Pope and carry a rosary. No, we affirm that we believe the church of Christ is huge, universal, encompassing many believers, in many places and in many times. It helps to remind us that God is at work all around the world, not just in our little community, or in our association or convention. God is at work everywhere creating a people to worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Local Church
Then there is the concept of the local church. Believe it or not, the truth is that the vast majority of the uses of the word “church” refer to the local church. In referring to a local church, the Scriptures always have in mind a specific group of believers.

Philippians1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

The church is the people, the assembly, the congregation. And in those churches it is the normal  expectation to have both biblical offices of Elders and deacons.

The second reference to church in the New Testament is the passage on church discipline in which a believer sins against another and refuses to repent.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Jesus clearly has in mind a particular, limited, group of people as the court of appeal for the brother who has been sinned against. We can’t take unrepentant people before the worldwide church, can we? No, Jesus had in mind the group of believers in which that believer is known.
The New Testament letters are very specific as to who they’re written to…

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those 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, both their Lord and ours:

Galatians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle–not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead– (2)  and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus is very specific as to who He is addressing…

Revelation 2:1-2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

Revelation 2:12-14 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

To each of these churches He says repent.
To the Ephesians He says,

Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

To the Pergamians

Revelation 2:15-16 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

The local church is the gathering of believers in a specific location. But it is more than that, as we’ll see. The local church is the key to expanding the universal church. The universal church manifests itself in the local church. The local church is to be an expression of the universal church.
God is doing something great and wonderful in His people. Each expression of His people, in each local church, is to display the glory of God. We are to reflect His holiness and His love. We live in the world, but not of it. We are His and He is ours. We are to love Him, and we show our love for Him by loving others.

So, it is vital that each and every local congregation of believers understand that we each must answer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

MEMBERSHIP IN THE BIBLE
Pertaining to membership, is there any place in Scripture where I can go and say, here is the definitive teaching on church membership? The answer is no. It doesn’t mean the Bible doesn’t teach it, it’s just not plainly evident. It’s like the Trinity. It’s there, but you have to do your work.

Simply put, there are a great number of commands, a great number of passages that make no sense, and are unenforceable, except in the context of local church membership.

1. Pastoral Oversight and Instruction.

Acts 20:17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church…
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

James 5:14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

None of these commands make any sense unless there is a particular group of people in mind.
Elders have charge over a specific group of believers who submit to their spiritual authority. The Elders have a responsibility to oversee (bishop) and shepherd (pastor) the believers under their care, i.e. in their church.
Members are to be under the care of their Elders, submitting to their authority and following their lead.

2. Discipline: Who is In and Who is Outside the Church
The Importance of Membership
Meaningful church membership marks a clear delineation between God’s people and the world. We are to be in the world, but not of the world.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

The church is called to be distinct, separate, different, holy.
Our distinct nature gives credibility to our witness of the Gospel.
Gospel community life, as seen where church membership is meaningful, is a powerful evangelistic tool. The life of the local church, lived together, is a visual display of the Gospel.

The sad truth is this: there are people around us, possibly even on our membership roles who are not God’s people. I say that because many churches have done such a poor job of presenting the Gospel, and an even poorer job of living the Gospel and helping others to to the same.

There are those who are God’s people, and those who are not.
- Adam and Eve taught us that there was life in the garden, and life outside the garden.
- There was salvation found in the ark, and there was death outside the ark.
- There were blessings being a part of God’s people Israel, but there was fear and dread of ever being cut off, without God.
- There was life in the Promised Land, and there was wandering, hardship and misery outside of it.
- There is life in Christ and there is death outside of Christ.

There are those who are in, and those who are out.
Here’s one of the ways we have blown it.
- We have allowed people to call themselves Christians who are worldly and don’t care about Christ and His church.
- We have allowed people to call themselves church members, who never even attend our churches.
- We have allowed people to call themselves Christians and church members who continue in unrepentant sin, who crucify the Son of God again and again. Who claim forgiveness for their sins, but continue to wallow in them.

When we do that, the distinct nature of the church, it’s Christ-earned holiness, is obliterated.
The world looks at us preaching the Gospel, they hear us proclaiming the excellencies of Christ, and about the power of the Holy Spirit, they hear us warning them to flee from the wrath to come.
We talk about marriage between a man and a woman, we talk about pro-life, and yet they see no difference between the church and the world; between Christ and the world.

Paul commanded the church of Corinth to address sin in their midst. In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul addresses the church’s tolerance of member publicly sinning in sexual immorality. They thought they were being loving by allowing it to go on. Paul says, don’t think so highly of yourselves, put him out. You who are in, put him out. Why?
Unrepentant people are deceivers
First, he is self-deceived. By calling himself a Christian, he claims to represent Christ. We aid him in this self-deception if we do not call him to repentance. We should not let him think he represents Jesus living in unrepentant sin.

Second, he is deceiving unbelievers. By calling himself a Christian, he says to the world, “I represent Christ.” We are accomplices in deceiving the world when do not call him to repentance. Do not let the world think he represents Jesus.
That’s the key to meaningful church membership. It’s really very simple.
Receiving someone into Church Membership is our affirmation to that person, and to the world, that the person has given testimony and there is evidence of genuine repentance and Christian conversion. He represents Christ and he represents us.

Retaining someone in Church Membership is our public affirmation that the member continues to give evidence of genuine repentance and Christian conversion. We are not expecting perfection, we are not expecting everyone to always get along, and to always agree. We are talking about clear violations of Scripture that bring reproach of the Person of Christ.

Unfortunately, we have made church membership a sentimental thing. We have allowed it to become their choice; a unilateral decision.
They can lay out of church for 50 years, but they have decided to remain a member. And when they want something you better give it to them or your name is mud in the street.

They can talk bad about your pastor, about your deacons and about the color of the carpet. Since it’s their choice to remain a member, there are no consequences.
They can move away, never darken the doors, never send support, never read a newsletter, but it’s their choice to remain a member.
They can move from relationship to relationship. They can hide from the church when they’re in sin. They can come back whenever they please because it’s their choice to remain a member.

I submit to you, that is not the way Jesus Christ envisioned His church. Jesus says to those churches, “Repent, or I will remove the lampstand.” He says to pastors, “Preach the Word.” He says to churches, “Put away the immoral brother.”

We find that hard to swallow, but it’s important, and necessary. Membership in this church should mean something. Isn’t Christ’s blood valuable enough to you, to us?

3. Fellowship of the Saints

Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The expectation is real commitment to love one another. This isn’t a sentimentality, it’s love in action.
The purpose of meeting together is to stir one another up to love and good works. To encourage one another.
We do this in commitment to one another, commitment to a particular group of people, knowing judgment is approaching.

We affirm one another’s faith.

Receiving someone into membership says to them, “You’re living like a biblical Christian lives.”
We say to the world, “We can say they are living like a Christian lives.”

This is covenant love, holy love.

Gospel community in the local church teaches us the nature of love; love for God and love for each other. That’s why we celebrate our Membership Covenant today.

The Covenant is us saying to each other, and to the world, this is how we’re going to live.
We commit to one another to live this out. To dwell with one another in a way that pleases God; in a way that shows the Gospel is living and active in our lives.

I want to leave you with these 4 points:
1. Meaningful Church Membership begins with humble submission to Jesus Christ.
2. Meaningful Church Membership is an active commitment to the people for whom Jesus died.
3. Meaningful Church Membership is taking loving responsibility for Jesus’ people.
4. Meaningful Church Membership means being living representatives of Jesus Christ.

How Should We Respond to This?
1. Ask yourself, am I fully committed to this local church, this expression of the Body of Christ?
2. Do we as a church place enough emphasis on meaningful church membership.
3. If all of our church members were deeply committed to one another, how would that change how the community sees us?
4. Ask yourself, is this church stronger in faith and love because of me and my commitment to this church?
5. Ask yourself, What would this church look like if my pastor and deacons showed the same level of commitment that I do, in my attendance, my giving, my witnessing, my encouragement and love for my church family?

You need to make the commitment, this very day, to express Christian love, committed love toward other Christians; which is best done in the context of a local church.
Basic Requirements for Meaningful Church Membership
- Attend regularly for instruction, fellowship and accountability.
- Seek to uphold truth, maintain peace, and seek unity in our church.
- Seek to build others up. Don’t come to be served, come to serve.
- Warn others that judgment is coming and encourage them to holiness.
- Bear with one another.
- Support the work of the ministry with your gifts, talents, energy, time and resources.