Membership

Why is meaningful membership important for evangelism?

9Marks

Meaningful membership is important because the church is God’s evangelism plan for the world. A church is like a radio transmitter, sending out messages about God twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

What is “meaningful membership”?

9Marks

“Meaningful membership” means four things:

What are some other reasons to join a church?

9Marks

In addition to the New Testament’s teaching that every Christian should submit to a local church and its leaders (see Matt. 18:15-20, Heb. 13:17), there are many other good reasons to join a church:

According to Scripture, why should every Christian join a church?

9Marks

Every Christian should join a church because Scripture requires it. Granted, there is no direct command in Scripture that says, “Every Christian must join a local church,” but two factors in Scripture indicate that every Christian should be a member of a local church.

Where do we see church membership in the New Testament?

9Marks
Matthew 18:15-17: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you…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.” The ability to exclude someone from “the church” presupposes that it’s known who belongs to “the church” as a member in the first place.

Is church membership biblical?

9Marks

The highest moral laws in the secular west today are toleration and non-judgmentalism. The very ideas of inclusion and exclusion in any context make people think of elitism, xenophobia, or racism.

Still, church membership is an idea with deep biblical roots:

Book Review: What to Do When You Don’t Want to Go to Church, by Peggy Palau and Peggy Sue Wells

Review by Mike McKinley | 03.05.2010

We need more than a call to just go back to church; we need to give ourselves to understanding what the church is, and then commit to building such a body.

Book Review: Membership Matters, by Chuck Lawless

Review by Owen Strachan | 03.05.2010

For its focus on membership and involvement, Lawless’s book is a significant help in directing a church toward a more biblical polity.

Book Review: Stealing Sheep, by William Chadwick

Review by Greg Gilbert | 03.05.2010

Chadwick’s book is a marvelous challenge to the widespread problem of Christian mobility.

Book Review: Houses That Change the World, by Wolfgang Simson

Review by Greg Gilbert | 03.02.2010

Like so many before and beside him, Simson believes we need a major reformulation of the church’s life and structure.

Should you use the 1689 London Confession in your church?

By Shawn Wright | 03.01.2010

Should you use the 1689 London Confession as your church’s statement of faith? No, for at least three reasons . . .

Are brief, general statements of faith harmful or helpful?

By Shawn Wright | 03.01.2010

A statement of faith must be complete enough to mark out the doctrinal parameters of the church, without being so precise that it excludes persons unnecessarily.

Church Membership and the N.C.L.H.G.A.

By Mike McKinley | 9Marks Journal: The Church's Mission | 03.01.2010

Was church membership practiced by churches in the New Testament? Scripture gives us indications that the answer to this question is “yes.”

How to Make Membership Matter

By Paul Alexander | 03.01.2010

Feel free to reproduce it without our expressed permission. You don’t even need to acknowledge our authorship.

Membership Matters – What is Our Church Covenant?

By Matt Schmucker | 03.01.2010

INTRODUCTION

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