Wayne Mack has written a useful little book (75 pages) about the importance of church membership. In the first chapter he describes a common view of the local church held by many Christians today. Many Christians say, “I can be just as good a Christian without being a church member as I can by being one” (p. 14). Mack quotes William Hendricks as representative of this view. Hendricks says, “God is doing His marvelous work in someone’s life even apart from the church, believe it or not” (p. 15). Mack contrasts this “modern” view with an “historic” view. Mack quotes from St. Augustine (p. 16), Martin Luther (p. 16), John Bunyan (p. 17), R.B. Kuiper (p. 17), Timothy Dwight (p. 17), John Calvin (p.18), and Robert Saucy (p. 18) to show the historic view that every Christian must commit himself to a specific local church.
Though the Greek word for “church” (ekklesia) can refer to the local church or universal church, 93 of 110 are clear references to the local church. Mack goes on to list “ten biblical reasons for considering membership and church involvement to be an important issue for every believer” (p. 25). Here are Mack’s 10 reasons…
Reason 1: It is necessary in order to fulfill God-given “one another” commands (p. 26).
Reason 2: It is necessary in order to fulfill our God-given responsibilities to our elders (p. 34). Members, in relation to their elders, are to “remember” them, “imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7), “obey” and “submit to them” (Heb. 13:17), and others.
Reason 3: “Membership has always been regarded as a biblical way of clarifying the difference between believers and unbelievers” (p. 37). Acts 15:14 speaks new believes as “added to their number.”
Reason 4: It is necessary if we are to do all things “decently and in order” as described in 1 Corinthians 14:40 (p. 38). For example, elders must know their sheep, and they must come up with a way to distinguish their sheep from others.
Reason 5: It is important for making public the believer’s identification with Christ (p. 40).
Reason 6: It challenges believers to fulfill their God-given responsibilities to one another (p. 41). Believers are able to determine who they should minister to and focus on (p. 44).
Reason 7: It helps the church determine who should be given ministry responsibilities (p. 52). Membership ensures that people have heard and embraced the gospel and embraced the church’s philosophy of ministry.
Reason 8: It helps the members and leaders of the church to hold each other accountable (p. 57).
Reason 9: It helps the church to determine how it should use its time and resources (p. 64). Pastors may choose to offer counseling to members first since they won’t have enough time to counsel everyone who may ask (p. 65). The church family will seek to meet the financial needs of its members before meeting the financial needs of anyone who may have need. Obviously, not all financial needs of people can be met by one church (p. 66).
Reason 10: Accepting membership as a biblical practice is the only way to make sense of various passages of Scripture. First Corinthians 5:13 speaks of “remov[ing] the wicked man from among yourselves.” Matthew 18:15-17 speaks of church discipline. “The church” is involved in the process. Membership defines who is in the local church.
Conclusion
I am not convinced church membership is a “God-ordained” practice. I believe Mack’s reasons are better considered reasons for “committing yourself” (whether formally or informally) to a specific local church. “Committing yourself” is not the same as formal church membership in my mind. Formal church membership is not talked about in Scripture, especially the process that the modern day Christian has.
The local church is God’s plan and purpose for biblical ministry. Church membership is a great “tool” for all the reasons Mack articulated. However, formal membership is “helpful,” not “commanded.” I like it. I encourage it. Given this qualification, I think Mack’s book is spiritually healthy. I highly recommend it.
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