Membership Matters

It's become trendy in recent years to downplay the value of church membership. Some churches have all but done away with official membership while others have contributed to the negative connotation of membership by making it little more than filling out a card & getting your name on a list. Still other churches have tried to dodge some of the negativity by using different terminology that allows them to communicate the value of being meaningfully connected with a congregation & particularly a small group of believers while using a set of terms that don't carry quite so much baggage. There is even a movement in some churches to combat the apathy concerning church membership by raising the bar of expectation by requiring members to renew their membership every year & by actually holding members accountable for the biblical standards of what it means to be a part of a local congregation of Christ followers. The important thing for us to see here is that we shouldn't deal with the negative issues surrounding church membership by throwing the entire concept out, but instead we should lift up the biblical standard & call people to it. Membership matters. 

In fact, I would be so bold as to say you cannot fulfill New Testament instructions concerning following Christ together without it. When you read passages like Hebrews 10:19-25 or Colossians 3:12-14, you have to ask yourself, "How can I really do this apart from being meaningfully engaged with, devoted to, & invested in a community of believers who are following Christ together?" In other words, "How can I really do this without a church family that I'm responsible for & accountable to." The answer is you can't. The church needs you, & you need the church. Most of the conversations I've had over the years with people whose faith is drying up or who feel distant from God begin by recognizing that they drifted away from the people of God before they drifted away from God. As a result they've robbed themselves of other believers ministering to them, & they've robbed others of the encouragement that they might have to offer their brothers & sisters. Even more tragically, they rob the lost of the opportunity to hear the Gospel & see the Gospel at work. After all, I don't have a whole lot of interaction with people who are disconnected from their church family who are also leading a lot of people to faith in Christ. Being deeply invested in a congregation matters.

"Church Membership & Ministry Are Essential Because 

They Equip Us To Deny Self As We Submit To & Serve One Another."

Think about it. Our human nature is pretty self-centered. In addition to that, our culture reinforces that mentality. Meanwhile, Jesus tells us that to follow Him, we have to deny self. Since that goes against our own nature, it stands to reason that we might just need a training ground to help us grow in our willingness to put others ahead of ourselves. We need other disciples of Jesus who can encourage us & hold us accountable. We also need someone that we're investing in in the same way. We see this selfishness pop up when we listen to ourselves talk about why we leave churches.

"I wasn't being fed."

"I didn't like the music."

"The church didn't meet my needs."

If you'll notice most folks don't leave churches because they don't take the Gospel or the Great Commission seriously enough. They usually hop from one place to another because "their needs" aren't being met. Here's a newsflash: No church can meet your needs. Only Jesus does that. To expect a church to fill that void is to make it a false god. The church is where redeemed, imperfect people imperfectly follow Jesus together. You need it. I need it. Membership matters. Devote yourself to a local congregation. Get engaged with the people & the mission. Declare your devotion to that congregation, & invest your life in it.