Why Membership Matters

In the first sermon I preached a few weeks back, Jesus gave Peter his new name. Before he was called Peter, he was called Simon. Jesus says, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” There is still a lot of debate surrounding the meaning of that statement, but we understand it to mean that Peter, who was representative of the church Christ was building, was given the authority to certify passports. Peter was given authority to certify church membership. The certification test was a right confession. The church could say, “Yep, we recognize you as one of us” or, “Nope, we don’t recognize you as one of us. We are the keepers of the keys. We are standing at the door to ensure those who would be members of the forever family are making the right confession about Jesus.

False teaching was a big problem in the early church. It had been a problem from almost day one. Nearly every New Testament book addresses it or warns against it in some way. One would hope that after 2,000 years the situation would have gotten better, but I think in many ways it’s gotten worse! Today there are about as many versions of Jesus as there are TikTok accounts. The church is responsible for guarding itself from false teaching by guarding entry into the fellowship.

1 John 4:1–6 NASB95

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

It is from this passage that we will talk today about why church membership matters. Did you know that there is no verse or passage that specifically outlines how to join a local church? Church membership is not outlined in the New Testament. It is assumed. It is simply a matter of fact. There were no Christians choosing to go it alone in the first century because to be Christian was to be alienated or outcast from the rest of society.

Church membership is not something a lot of churches talk about, but it is part of what makes us Baptist. Today we will talk about three reasons why church membership is important.

Membership matters because the church grounds us in truth.

John urges his readers to test every spirit. The word spirit doesn’t refer strictly to non-physical entities. But every person has a spirit and it is from that spirit in which one communicates. What John is getting at is that people make claims about Christ. Not every claim about Christ is true. Just because someone uses the name of Jesus does not make that person Christian. We are called to be prudent enough to test their “spirit” or the message they are speaking about Christ against the scriptures.

The world we live in today is rapidly blurring the lines between reality and fiction. AI is getting smarter and is producing more realistic pictures and videos every day. If all you do is pay attention to headlines it can be very difficult to distinguish between reality and media bias. So when people use the name Jesus and tell me they are Christians, I cannot simply take their word for it.

Have you ever been in a conversation where you and another person were using the same words but it became clear you weren’t talking about the same thing? Sometimes we use the same word but we mean something different by the way we use that word, so it becomes irreconcilable because we aren’t talking about the same thing. The same thing happens with Jesus. Sometimes we might be using the name Jesus, but it becomes apparent that we are not talking about the same Jesus. We are then commanded to guard ourselves against false representations of Jesus.

Every spirit that confesses Jesus has come in the flesh is from God. Every spirit that doesn’t is not from God. Strictly speaking, can someone claim that Jesus has come in the flesh and still not be Christian? Of course. So if someone walks in and says, “Oh, yes. I’m a Christian.” And you ask, “Well, did Jesus come in the flesh?” If they say, “Oh sure! Of course he came in the flesh!” are you going to welcome them in or probe deeper? The rest of the Bible adds more to the spiritual litmus test. 1 Corinthians 15:4-8 says,

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 NASB95

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

So at the very least for one to be a part of the family of God he must believe that Christ died, was buried, and raised from the dead on the third day to be saved. He also must believe that Christ is God, not a god or created by God, but is God himself. We must test these things.

The church grounds us in truth because we test these things. We don’t assume that everybody who says the name Jesus knows the biblical Jesus. This church is built on the Word of God and what it reveals about Christ. What we believe about Christ matters. Our confession matters, and we seek those who make a right confession.

Membership matters because the church protects us from error.

John says that the one who comes denying the incarnation, that is the coming of Christ in the flesh, is the spirit of the antichrist. Now don’t get too excited. This verse is probably not referencing the antichrist we think of from the book of Revelation. Why do I think this? Good question. I think this because this isn’t the first time John uses this term in this letter. In fact, this particular Greek word is only used five times in the New Testament and none of them are in the book of Revelation. Four of them are in this letter and the fifth is in 2 John 7. So let’s see how John is using the term antichrist.

1 John 2:18–22 NASB95

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

His readers had heard that antichrist is coming, but many antichrists (plural) have appeared. Now there is only one antichrist that is the beast of Revelation, but many have already appeared according to John. What John seems to be indicating here is not that the beast of Revelation has come multiple times but that antichrist in this letter is more about a movement than a person. Antichrist is a mindset or an attitude that is anti-Christ. It opposes the Jesus of the Bible.

False teaching sounds spiritual in nature, but is demonic in reality. There are only two sides to this battle. You either play on the side of the true biblical Christ, or you play for the devil. Those are the only two options. You are either joining the Christ movement, or the antichrist movement. There is no neutral territory in this fight. Being part of a local church family helps protect each other from the false teachings that might creep in and lead us astray.

When you isolate yourself and try to go it alone in your spiritual walk, it is like letting a sheep wander off on its own without the protection of the shepherd. Many of you have chickens. A chicken left outside the coop by itself is easy prey for the coyote. Now we aren’t sheep or chickens, but the idea is there is strength in numbers. It is much harder for the enemy pick you off or lead you astray if you are surrounded by brothers and sisters looking out for you. This is war friend. If you sign up to join this family, you are signaling to me that you are ready to do battle and you’re ready to do this together.

Membership lets me know who my battle buddies are. It keeps my ears open to strange claims that might come from your mouth. So when I hear someone say, “Follow your heart,” I can respond by reminding them feelings are fickle. We should follow God instead. When I hear someone say, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” I can remind them that if that were true, we wouldn’t need God. Instead, we should remember that when thing are unbearable, it is a call to depend on him as we were designed to do. Meaningful membership is walking closely with one another, knowing and applying God’s Word so we can protect one another from false teaching.

Membership matters because the church preserves faithful doctrine.

John tells his readers the antichrists, those who deny the biblical Jesus, are from the world. They speak from the world and the world listens to them. They, and by extension us, are from God. Verse 5-6 reminds me of John 10:27,

John 10:27 NASB95

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

Those who are from God listen to those sent by God. Those who refuse to listen are not from God. That’s the difference. I think there are three categories of people when it comes to this. There are the people of God who know his voice and follow it. There are the people of the world who are closed to hearing messages from God and instead listen to voices from the world. Then there are those who are still from the world but are spiritually open. We use scripture as our guide to discern messages that are worldly and that are godly.

The local church is committed to rightly preaching the Word of God, never compromising on its truth in the face of cultural pressures. The local church is about mutual submission and accountability as we seek to grow in our understanding of God’s Word and in its application. The church preserves faithful doctrine week by week as proclamation comes forth from the pulpit. We preserve faithful doctrine through statements of faith like the Baptist Faith & Message. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper communicate the gospel message visually, and we preserve faithful doctrine through generational discipleship. When we pass down our faith from one generation to the next, faithful doctrine continues.

Membership matters. Some churches make it a super formal thing and others are a bit more relaxed. We do have a process for joining the church and I want to outline that for you. First, you express interest in becoming a member of the church. A meeting will be set up between you and I where we are going to discuss your confession (I want to hear how you came to faith in Christ). We will discuss briefly the Baptist Faith & Message and how you understand its doctrinal statements. We will discuss spiritual gifts and how you expect to serve in the church, then the church will vote to affirm your membership in the church. If you have not walked through that process, and you want to, come see me during the invitation or any time after the service is over.

Church membership matters because we covenant together to look out for one another and sharpen one another so we can represent Christ to the best of our ability.

If you have not yet made Jesus the Lord of your life, that is the first step. IF you are on the fence about Jesus, I’d love to talk about that. Making Jesus Lord of our life entails we recognize our life is a mess. We have failed to meet his standards. But the good news is God sent his son Jesus to become one of us, to meet the standard on our behalf, and offer himself as a sacrifice for us. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Our failure to meet God’s standard costs us our life. Perfection cannot live amongst imperfection. So Christ died to be our substitute. He died the death we owed. But because he was innocent, God raised him from the dead three days later. He says if you believe in him you can have everlasting life and be a part of his family.

If you have already made Jesus Lord of your life, are you involved in the local church? Are you sitting on the sidelines? Have you committed yourself to this local body? We’re not perfect. But I read something recently that brought me some comfort. “Churches must not look for the people who are never jerks, but for the people who admit that they are jerks and are willing to fight it.” You don’t have to be perfect to belong here. You just have to admit your imperfections and be willing to do something about it. Are you ready to lock arms and do battle together? Come to the front during the song or come see me after.