Church Membership
Notes
Transcript
Handout
As this is the third weekend of the month, I will preach a sermon from the question box. Thank you for submitting your questions.
The question asked is: What is the biblical principle for voting on membership in a church? Why do we do it?
These are good, practical questions that we, as a church, should know and understand. To answer these questions, we need to have an understanding of three things.
The first thing is: What is the Church?
The second thing is: What is a church member?
The third thing is: How does the church determine who is a member?
These three questions will introduce us to the concept of church membership and the biblical principles behind why we encourage every believer to be an active member in their local church.
What is the Church?
The Church is those who believe in the work of Jesus, the Messiah, in his death and resurrection. These individuals make up the universal Church. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 16:13-19.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Jesus is going to build His Church on the confession of Peter. This is a confession that all believers make: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is awesome to be a part of the Kingdom of God, for it has been imparted with power to represent Jesus to the world and to the communities in which we live. The church is the expression of God's kingdom now.
For many of us, though, there is a disconnect between the universal Church and the local church. Yet, local churches everywhere are the boots on the ground for the Kingdom of God.
In the first century, this disconnect did not exist. When you confessed Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you were saved. You were then baptized as a public statement of your faith, becoming part of the universal and local church. Acts 2:38-47 demonstrates this.
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
We see the universal Church and the local functioning as one. Membership was a given to those who believed. This belief was demonstrated by the outward sign of baptism. Those who did not believe did not belong.
This brings us to the second question. What is a church member?
A church member is a person who believes and publicly commits to being devoted to a local church for the building of God’s kingdom.
This devotion is expressed through submission to the Apostle's teaching.
This devotion is expressed through fellowship.
This devotion is expressed through partaking of Communion together.
This devotion is expressed through praying together.
This devotion is expressed through bearing one another's burdens.
This devotion is expressed through generosity.
This devotion is expressed through praising God together.
This passage in Acts 2 is just one passage among many. The New Testament is full of these kinds of actions and commands.
For the early church, it was easy and organic to identify those who believed and were thus members of the local body in Jerusalem. We see that they were devoted to one another around the message of Jesus.
As we read through the New Testament, we see this continued theme of committed devotion to the local church. Most of the New Testament is written to local churches in cities, towns, and villages.
As the kingdom of God spreads through the growth of the believers, we get local churches such as the church of Corinth or the church of Galatia, or the church of Jerusalem. Each of these churches has elders and deacons, and believers who belong to them.
With the spread of the church also came persecution from the Jews and the Romans. From very early on, it was costly to believe. This made membership easy to determine and more natural to create a devotion to the fellow believers. Though we do not have to read far in the NT to see that this devotion did not always work out. That is why there are so many exhortations in Scripture for us to get along.
The church has continued to grow through the work of God. As it grew, it became necessary to determine to which local church a Christian was devoted to help facilitate care of believers and the furthering of the Kingdom of God. We are finite creatures and cannot be devoted to every believer in the world.
This brings us to the question: How does a church determine who can be a church member?
This process is determined by how the church governs itself. Paw Paw Bible Church bases its church governance on Acts 6:1-6.
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
In this passage, the whole church is involved in determining who the deacons will be to serve tables, while the Apostles devote themselves to the ministry of the Word. The apostles give their approval through the laying on of hands and prayer.
We do not have Apostles, but we do have a Pastor, Elders, Deacons, and a Sunday School Superintendent. These make up our Official Board, which moderates any business that will be brought to the congregation for a ministry meeting. This includes church membership.
Now, because of the guarding charge given to elders in Acts 20:28-31 the elders interview potential church members to determine if the church can affirm that they are Christians and are willing to be devoted to Paw Paw Bible Church.
Based on that interview, they make a recommendation to the congregation for membership. Since our government is vested in its members, as modeled after Acts 6, the church members participate in the affirmation that the person is a believer and willing to be devoted to Paw Paw BIble Church.
This process safeguards the church from making people members when they do not believe in Jesus, or making people members who are not willing to be devoted to this local church. It also helps safeguard false teachers and prophets from creeping into the church unnoticed, like in Jude 4.
This also gives the church reason for celebration, for another person has joined us in furthering the Kingdom of God.
So, if you have never considered church membership before, I encourage you to do so. It is God's way of growing you and his kingdom. You can talk to me or fill out the membership form on the website. We would love to affirm that you are a Christian and devoted to Paw Paw Bible Church.
