Is Official/Formal Church Membership In A Local Church According To Scripture? – Part 3 Series

IS OFFICIAL/FORMAL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN A LOCAL CHURCH ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE? – PART 3

Part 3 (there are 4 parts) continues to look at various scriptures in this study of formal church membership over and above the one membership that unites all believers into one Body, and makes them all members one of another.

The purpose of this study is to open up the scriptures to show what I believe is a position against a formal/official local church membership that discriminates against those who don’t want to take that step. I challenge the notion put by some that this is all about lack of commitment, and I think it is wicked to say that those who don’t submit themselves to a church membership are not committed Christians. It is a wicked thing to say.

LOOKING AT A LOT OF SCRIPTURES

[A]. ONE PASSAGE FROM CORINTHIANS:

{{1 Corinthians 12:26 And IF ONE MEMBER SUFFERS, ALL THE MEMBERS SUFFER WITH IT; IF ONE MEMBER IS HONOURED, ALL THE MEMBERS REJOICE WITH IT.

1 Corinthians 12:27 NOW YOU ARE CHRIST’S BODY, AND INDIVIDUALLY MEMBERS OF IT.

1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.”}}

The text here (verse 26) continues the theme raised in the last paragraph of the last message which is the commonality of membership, one with another as the ONLY membership known in a local church. Paul knew of no special official membership in a local church. All his letters don’t even hint at it. Paul frames the language in a way that can only be understood as fellow Christians together = I Corinthians 12:27. There is nothing in this passage or in any other passage hinting at some exclusive individual membership ritual in a local church, over and above what the New Testament provides, but indeed, he emphasises the fact that we are individually members of Christ’s body.

I won’t be touching the teaching in verse 28 except to say that it excludes a pastor or minister or reverend in control as in a one man ministry. That notion carried on from the Roman Catholic Church and was never properly addressed by the Reformers but they kept the ideas of “priest” in charge of each church. God’s way is a plurality of teachers and spiritual eldership and you can’t deny it from these verses. Let’s be honest about this. I know there can be exceptions such as a leading teaching pastor in a situation where the church folk are very young in the faith.

For what it is worth, I think the reason why there is so much sectarianism apart from serious doctrinal differences is that this notion of, I am a MEMBER of this church and you are a MEMBER of that church, separates. We are dividing the Body of true believers. It ought not to be.

As I pen this, it is exactly one week after Resurrection Sunday at Easter. I have returned from an Easter Convention (a Keswick one) where we began with over 300 souls at the first meeting. These people come from a variety of churches up to 500 km away for the whole weekend. We all had fellowship as members of the ONE body with no issue with local church membership. It was not even remotely important. That is what it means to be members one of another.

[B]. ONE PASSAGE FROM EPHESIANS:

{{Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:14 FOR HE HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE, WHO MADE BOTH GROUPS INTO ONE, AND BROKE DOWN THE BARRIER OF THE DIVIDING WALL,

EPHESIANS 2:15 BY ABOLISHING IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY, WHICH IS THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES, THAT IN HIMSELF HE MIGHT MAKE THE TWO INTO ONE NEW MAN, THUS ESTABLISHING PEACE,

Ephesians 2:16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”}}

This most interesting passage talks of the reconciliation work of the Lord Jesus who destroyed the wall of sin that divided us from God, whether they be Jews who tried to keep the Law of commandments or Gentiles who were afar off. He then speaks of our reconciliation into one body, the fact of one body, and all members in it, being a strong point with Paul. Need I say it again, there are only two memberships and both are eternal – the membership of His Body and members of one another.

It is the hired servant that wants to formalise the sheep with official membership whereas the Good Shepherd knows His own sheep by name and all in His flock are on an equal basis as sheep in the Shepherd’s care. The sheep were not asked to sign some pastoral agreement to become official members of the Lord’s Flock (of which a local church is a tiny replica of the Flock), but were placed in His Flock (and flock) by the Lord Himself, all to be equal members in that flock.