Church Membership, part 2

Let’s revisit this quote from The Trellis and the Vine: "One church we have been involved in tried to express this by not having 'membership' of the congregation, but 'partnership'. In our society, when you join as a 'member' of something, it can have connotations of passivity and consumerism. I join a club, and expect certain benefits. The 'partnership' language, on the other hand, communicates immediately that we are signing up for active involvement--for being partners together in a great enterprise: the gospel mission of Christ."

Partnering with (joining) a local congregation is an expression of being part of the universal church. It is something that is patterned in the New Testament. For example, everyone who became a Christian in the NT joined themselves with other Christians--it just happened. It was the natural outflow of the Holy Spirit working in that person’s life. Whenever Paul wrote a letter to a congregation, he had a particular group of Christians in mind when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For example, Colossians 1:2 says, “to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae”. Paul was writing to the specific congregation there in the city of Colossae. This practice gives some indication that the congregation in Colossae knew the people who were “part” of their congregation and those who were not---our normal terminology for this would be “members” and “non-members”. Unfortunately, these words are loaded with baggage from outside the church that give them connotations that do not resemble what scripture teaches or patterns for us today.

Church membership is less about rights and more about responsibility, covenant, mission, and fellowship. These four things manifest themselves in the “one another” passages of the bible. Everyone who is covenanted together as a congregation is responsible for caring for, serving, loving, building up, looking after, speaking the truth in love, and admonishing everyone else. It is a partnership with other believers under the Lordship of Jesus and His Word. One of the best pictures for what “church membership” looks like is Acts 2:40-47. We can also discern other practices and principles from the letters of the Apostle Paul.

Here are a few questions we will tackle over the next couple of weeks:

• Why one should join a congregation?
• How does one join a congregation?
• What does joining a congregation mean?
• What are biblical expectations of “members”?

Church Membership, part 1

In this second detour from the book of Nehemiah, we are looking at the NT to find patterns, principles, commands, and instruction about what a healthy church looks like. Last week we defined church and then defined a “local congregation”. We defined local congregation as the following: A local congregation is a group of believers (Christians) in a particular geographical location who are committed to Jesus as Lord & to one another by covenant for mutual love & accountability for the purpose of displaying the glory of God and fulfilling the Great Commission.

In the forerunner articles over the next several weeks, we will examine three different aspects of church life that flow out of this definition. We will examine: church membership, church leadership, and decision making in a local congregation.

The New Testament speaks to each of these aspects. We will be using these articles to examine the scripture, find out what it says, and then seek to bring our church in line with what the scripture teaches by putting systems and structures in place that will flow from the biblical definition of church and support the primary purpose and mission of the church.

First up is church membership. Let’s begin with the following quote that I found helpful in re-orienting our thinking about what “membership” means in a congregation. This quote is from the book The Trellis and The Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.

"One church we have been involved in tried to express this by not having 'membership' of the congregation, but 'partnership'. In our society, when you join as a 'member' of something, it can have connotations of passivity and consumerism. I join a club, and expect certain benefits. The 'partnership' language, on the other hand, communicates immediately that we are signing up for active involvement--for being partners together in a great enterprise: the gospel mission of Christ."

What is church membership all about? Does the New Testament even speak to the issue of church membership? If so, what does it means for us today?

On the Blogs for August 20, 2012

Are you drifting from God? (good thoughts here)

Clergy vs. Laity - (interesting article)

Radical Sacrifice (Oh my goodness! Powerful!)

Is the God of Calvinism a moral monster? (interesting if you are interested)

On the Blogs for August 16, 2012

Transcendence

Pride - Elite Athletes (our own chase for glory...interesting)

10 Signs your Christianity Has Become Too Comfortable (good word)

10 Tips for Counseling Your Children in Conflict (good stuff)

Things I've Learned along the way (good one for pastors - and church members)

Amish Communities (very interesting)

Membership or Partnership?

I thought this was very insightful from the book The Trellis and the Vine:

"One church we have been involved in tried to express this by not having 'membership' of the congregation, but 'partnership'. In our society, when you join as a 'member' of something, it can have connotations of passivity and consumerism. I join a club, and expect certain benefits. The 'partnership' language, on the other hand, communicates immediately that we are signing up for active involvement--for being partners together in a great enterprise: the gospel mission of Christ."

While there are "benefits" to belonging to a local congregation for mutual love, edification, and accountability, that is not usually the way most people think of benefits. Regardless, this is a great quote and worth thinking about.