Why do churches like Redemption City Church have membership? It’s a question I’ve heard a few times over the years. It’s a question I wrestled with at one point in my life too. To me, the idea of church membership, whatever you call it (stakeholders, partners, etc.) sounded weird and a bit scary. And as far as I’m concerned, if I don’t see it in the Bible, I’d just assume do without it. But after studying the Scriptures, I found several reasons why I think the Bible affirms church membership. Membership in a church is a formal recognition from a church that a particular Christian is a believer who will reign eternally with Christ and a formal commitment between Christians to help one another carry out the Great Commission in a particular church. I affirm this understanding of church membership because of the following three passages (taken in the order that they are given in the NT) and my understanding of them.
Matthew 18:15-20
“15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence 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, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
These words from Jesus seem to support the concept of church membership in a few ways. First, church membership makes the most sense when trying to figure out how to obey Jesus’ command to bring the “sinner” before the church. He says that if someone who is a part or a member of a church is caught in sin, that they should be brought before the church—if the first step doesn’t work. How do you know who to bring him before if there is no designated group of people like church membership? If there’s no membership, then who do you bring him before? Without membership, it seems like it’d be possible to bring him or her before strangers. It seems more likely that some kind of formal commitment between Christians to help each other carry out the Great Commission (i.e. church membership) exists.
Second, church membership makes the best sense of Jesus’ call to treat someone as an unbeliever. Jesus says that if the sinner doesn’t listen to the church and repent, “he should be treated like an unbeliever” (Matt. 18:17). How does a church treat unbeliever? They certainly want them to come to church right? So that’s not it. Perhaps it is removing him from a membership list? I think it makes the most sense that he’s saying unbelievers should be in our worship gatherings but not on our church member lists. So treating them as “unbelievers” means you remove them from your membership, while inviting them back onto it.
Third, church membership makes the best sense of Jesus’ “binding and loosing” language. After Jesus talks about removing a sinner from membership, he says “whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18). Since the “binding and loosing” corresponds to the removal or keeping of people in the church, it seems that it is pointing to both the reality of church membership and the responsibility of church members to steward this responsibility.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:15-20 indicate the need for something like church membership, whatever it is called (partnership, stakeholders, etc.).
1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 9-13
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.”
“ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
These passages from the Apostle Paul support the existence and importance of church membership. First, church membership makes the most sense of the Apostle Paul’s words to “remove” someone from among them in verse 2. While there is a lot we don’t know, it seems that someone in the Corinthian church is in the last stage of Jesus’ Matthew 18 process. So Paul tells them to “remove them.” Remove them from what? It seems most likely that Paul is having them removed from some type of membership. If it isn’t membership, what else would it be? Hard to come up with a good alternative. It’s most likely the removal from membership—the church’s public affirmation of their belief that this person is a citizen of Christ’s kingdom.
Second, church membership makes the most sense of the Apostle Paul’s words to “judge” those in the church. While there are a lot of bad connotations that come with “judging,” it seems that there is a type of judging Paul doesn’t want us to do (towards outsiders) and a kind he wants us to do (towards insiders). The first kind only wants to see condemnation. The second kind, which Paul advocates, wants to see restoration. In order to distinguish between the two types of “judging,” it seems like membership needs to exist. Otherwise, how would you know who the “insiders” are? Surely, the church at Corinth doesn’t have to judge every possible Christian. So it seems it is a Christian committed to their church as a member.
While more could be said, it seems that these passages from 1 Corinthians 5 supports church membership.
Hebrews 13:17
“17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
There are two main reasons why Hebrews 13:17 supports church membership. First, his call to “submit to your leaders” indicates the reality of a unique relationship, something like church membership, between a Christian and a specific church leader. How does a Christian know which church leader to submit too? Seems most likely that there is a church leader that a Christian commits to in a unique way—like membership. It would seem a bit odd for a Christian to have to commit to any leader, right?! There seems to be a way to know who “your” leaders are and who they aren’t.
Second, the writer’s emphasis on the account church leaders have to give for their “soul” supports church membership. This is a sobering passage for pastors. It’s overwhelming. If a church leader takes it seriously, how does he know for whom he’ll give an account? Membership is the most likely answer. I praise God I don’t have to give an account for every Christian. Heb 13:17 supports church membership because it assumes church leaders know which souls they will have to give an account for.
Whatever you call it, something like church membership needs to exist to make the most of these passages. We know that we don’t have it all figured out, but we are doing our best to base our church on the Bible. There are other Biblical passages, but these are a few key ones that are hard to make sense of without a concept like church membership. Hopefully, this made sense of where we think church membership comes from primarily in the Scripture.
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