Membership
If the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you" (1 Cor. 12:21) how much more can it not say this to a whole local body?
If the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you" (1 Cor. 12:21) how much more can it not say this to a whole local body?
What is church membership? It’s a declaration of citizenship in Christ’s kingdom.
Church membership is an office, too. It’s a job that comes with authority and responsibility.
The Christian life in the New Testament is church life. Christians today should expect and desire the same.
Elders are important, but the church, made up of its members, is far more important.
Pastors committed to the importance of church membership need to be cautious. In our righteous zeal to address deficient views of the church, we may be tempted to an unrighteous zeal.
If you want the church to feel like a family, commit to formal church membership.
If you’re looking for the words “thou shalt be a church member” in Scripture, you won’t find them. But if that troubles you, let me encourage you to think a little differently about how to arrive at biblical conclusions.
A church should not baptize young people apart from church membership. To do so is unbiblical, unhelpful, and unloving.
One thing we can assume about the Christian who regularly attends church but does not join is that his or her view of the Christian life is defective somewhere.
As a new pastor, there’s a type of triage required of you. Not a triage of what’s urgent (like the triage unit at your local emergency room), but a triage of what’s wise.
How should we evaluate different prescriptions for a successful church? How can we tell what’s good advice and what’s worthy of the so-called circular file?
Was church membership practiced by churches in the New Testament? Scripture gives us indications that the answer to this question is "yes."
Even with the Christian church’s spotty record, we ignore the past at our own peril.
Bad records and outdated rolls trouble any faithful pastor’s existence. Yet before you sweep things clean, consider both why and how this should be done.
Why go to all this trouble? Too many times, we had seen Satan exploit the newness or suddenness of a motion for discipline in our meetings.
When church members vote on new members, they’re deciding on those with whom they’ll share the highest authority in the church.
What does definite atonement have to do with church membership?
For Christians, the biblical case for church membership should always be first and foremost. But it’s good to know that complying with biblical best practices also has practical legal benefits.
Personal relationships were never meant to serve as the foundation for our sense of church commitment.
Besides the Bible, a membership directory is a pastor’s most important book. But why?
Surely we know that we’re saved because our hearts are stirred and we’re moved to tears as we sing “Amazing Grace,” right? No, says John. We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.
