I have heard countless times that “nowhere in the Bible (which often is code for ‘there is something that Christians have taught for generations that I don’t want to do’) is church membership taught.” This “chapter and verse” hermeneutic, while seeming to nobly give Scripture its rightful authoritative place, is actually, as we shall see, a bit misguided.
We also live in a world now where many evangelical churches do not even have official membership and so their people are wrongly (and dangerously) taught that church membership doesn’t matter. But to anyone reading this who may have said that themselves, I want to ask a question for you to reflect on as you (hopefully) finish reading this: Why don’t you want to become an official member of a church?
I don’t think the rise of cohabitation instead of marriage, and the fall of committed church membership are coincidences in modern society. Nor is the anti-institutional church mindset—especially in American evangelicalism—unrelated. We love our independence and autonomy. We love having at least the option to leave the party whenever we want.
But I want to show that church membership is not only a biblical principle, but the best way that you can receive the spiritual care that you need is by being a member of a local church, for it is the means by which God has ordained his sheep to be cared for, and to care for each other.
A Historical Reality
So why don’t we see Paul holding a membership class? In short, because it was assumed that you belonged to and submitted to the leaders in that local church. They did not live in a time where you had a Presbyterian church renting from a Methodist church right next to them and yet another Baptist church down the road to choose from. You had the Church at Antioch, the Church in Jerusalem, the Church in Ephesus, etc. (not exactly block-buddies).
That means when Paul gives us the qualifications for church officers (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1) and tells them what roles and authority they have (1 Peter 5), it’s within that context of those 1st-century churches.
In other words, it was not even a question that people in Paul’s time identified themselves as members of particular churches and submitted to the authority of those officers.
And I would argue that the believers in the Bible would have answered the question, “Should someone officially become a church member?” with a full-hearted yes, because they understood what it meant to be a covenant people.
Reading the Bible
That identity as a covenant people is the key, and it probably comes as no surprise that a Reformed pastor would say that covenant theology is the answer.
It is true that there is no chapter and verse in the Bible (no 11th commandment) that states “thou shalt sign on the dotted line.” But the Bible is not written as a series of proof texts. The Bible has an incredible amount of variety in its literature types, but because its ultimate author is the Triune God, they are to be read in a canonical way. Each of the 66 books can be read in a way that informs how to read and understand the others. When we do this, we see that God works through covenants.
God, beginning in the Old Testament, established a group of people for Himself. They were often called a congregation or the assembly, which is where we get our English translation of “church.” Believers are grafted into the vine of those who are the children of Abraham (Rom 11; Gal. 3:29), making us also the covenant assembly.
These covenant assemblies have signs of membership! The covenant of Abraham until Christ had circumcision as its “sign on the dotted line.” Now, we have baptism (Col. 2:11-12). These marks formally identify us as members of a specific covenant community.
So, by virtue of your faith in Christ and receiving the sign of baptism, you have, in one sense, become a formal member of the church. This is what the Reformed have often called the “visible church” (WCF 25).
However, this doesn’t yet answer the question about local church membership. But if we can agree that the people of God are a covenant community, and these covenant communities have initiatory signs (WLC Q.165), then it is very easy to see that when it comes to the New Covenant and the church, our modern-day question would not have even crossed the minds of a Jew in the Old Testament or a Christian in the 1st century. Once they were baptized, they understood themselves to be members of the covenant people, and that church membership is a covenantal commitment.
Covenanting Together
But we live in a very different time. So how are elders to do their jobs of shepherding the flock? Is it merely enough that someone just be a regular attender? What happens when an elder needs to offer discipleship or discipline? That person, who has not formally brought themselves under the oversight of that particular body, has no real obligation to obey. This is actually one of the strongest biblical cases for local church membership because Paul gives clear instruction on how we are to handle those who apostatize: they are to be excommunicated (1 Cor. 5; Titus 3). You cannot exercise formal discipline if there is no formal membership.
So I again want to ask the question: “What is keeping you from becoming an official member?”
Church membership is not only a biblical principle; it is the way in which, in our modern smorgasbord of church offerings, one can bring themselves into a covenant relationship with a particular group of called and ordained leaders to care for their souls.
When you take membership vows, so are the leaders of that church. They are vowing to guard, protect, and aid you in your sanctification. That is their job. Your job is to: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account…” (Heb. 13:17).
“We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation apart from it…all who withdraw from the church or do not join it act contrary to God’s ordinance.” (Belgic Confession, Art. 28)
You may object by saying you have been going to the same church for years and have submitted to the pastor’s authority and have been a part of aiding others at that church in their faith, and I would say: that’s great! You are functionally living out what church membership looks like…but without making a formal commitment.
Maybe you are faithful and will never make use of the backdoor that’s been left wide open, but on the whole, it is not only an inconsistency, it actually goes against biblical principles of being in a covenant relationship as the people of God. As Landry Cruse says, “Church Membership is fundamentally about how we relate to God and how he relates to us.”
Membership Vows
(All of) you being here present to make a public profession of faith, are to assent to the following declarations and promises, by which you enter into a solemn covenant with God and His Church.
- Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
- Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
- Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
- Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
- Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
(BCO 57-5)
“To those to whom he is a Father, the Church must also be a mother.”
— John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV.1.4 (Beveridge)
Ready to live this out? Join a faithful Reformed church today and receive the shepherding Christ has provided for His people.
