It seems today that people are questioning the idea of church membership. People used to join without asking too many questions or wondering why they were doing it. Instead of just blindly accepting the practice of church membership, people are increasingly asking for a Biblical defense of the practice. This is more than just hesitancy to join. It is a desire to know the what of church membership (its Biblical defense) and the why of church membership (its purpose and use). For some pastors, this reticence to join can be frustrating, and for good reason. However, this actually gives us a great opportunity. It is never a bad thing when people ask for a Biblical defense and description of a point of doctrine or ecclesiology. Instead, it is an opportunity to teach afresh the great purpose and Biblical foundation for a practice like church membership.
Usually those who ask these questions are those who grew up in church and are familiar with church membership. Because of this, when we teach and talk about the subject, we must do it employing fresh terms and new imagery. Those who grew up in church have often built an immunity to the normal ways of describing things. I was reading a book the other day, and it briefly brushed on church membership. It used some terminology that I thought was helpful and insightful. The book is The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne. Below is the paragraph from pages 66 and 67 that I thought was helpful. Read it and respond with your thoughts.
The gospel itself demands that we stand with our leaders and preachers in profound unity, teamwork and solidarity—not because of their personalities or gifts, but because of our common partnership in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There aren’t two classes of Christians—the partners and the spectators. We’re all in it together. One church we have been involved in tried to express this by not having a ‘membership’ of the congregation, but a ‘partnership.’ In our society, when you join as a ‘member’ of something, it can have connotations of passivity and consumerism. I join a club, and expect certain benefits. The ‘partnership’ language, on the other hand, communicates immediately that we are signing up for active involvement—for being partners together in a great enterprise: the gospel mission of Christ.
Heh. I just finished this book two days ago. It was very…interesting. I don’t think anything the writers share is new, but just under new terms. I don’t disagree with what they are proposing. I do believe that many pastors preach discipleship, but don’t teach discipleship.
In turn we do have “consumer” members. “What’s in it for me?” is a common personal questions because 80% of the membership are just sitting there doing nothing letting the other 20% carry the load. Instead it should be “What’s in it for God?”
If I remember right, after the passage you quoted the writers do go on to say that some churches have dropped the term “membership” and they all call themselves “partners.” I think this may be too far. Everyone is a part of the body, but not everyone is a partner in the public limelight.
I want to be a “consumer” of the gospel and what God has for me through His Word and the church. At the same time, I want to help other people consume as well. The questions that they raise here, however, is should everyone be involved in the church?
Most people think of jobs in the church as being public, but some of the best “jobs” I’ve seen (and experienced) are the prayer warriors who are not in the limelight but making the bigger difference.
I don’t want to hijack this conversation because the topic caught my attention due to the fact that we are currently addressing church membership via baptism in our class on Baptist Identity. However, the above post caught my attention because of some things/issues I have been thinking about lately. Namely, “…preach discipleship, but don’t teach discipleship.” I would be interested in hearing the distinction being made here. However, my main concern is the practice of discipleship. My concern is that many churches place a great deal of emphasis on evangelism (and I realize the importance of this given the great commission etc), but very little is being done to ground believers in the truth so that they continue. In particular, what is the church doing to espeically ground young people in truth and then providing the support system they need when they are surrounded by those who oppose truth (maybe in school) or attempt to lead them astray from moral truth (via soical/peer sturctures). While this is somewhat off topic, I do see it as a valid concern within the membership of churches. And it has become a concern to me because it seems that, in at least some churches, we provide “things and stuff” for young people, but we do not have that strong, personal, person-to-person, and day-to-day support/safety net from mature, committed, and dedicated disciples that young people need. I realize this may start with the family, but what is the church’s role in this? Membership is vitally (or should be) to discipleship.
Gary,
You shared that your “concern is that many churches place a great deal of emphasis on evangelism (and I realize the importance of this given the great commission etc).”
As you are aware, the Great Commission is not “Go and evangelize”, nor is it “Go and make members” or even “Go and make believers” – it is “Go and make disciples”.
Until this, the core mission of the church, is clearly understood and implemented, members become members of something less than the Lord desires.
DB
@Gary—Just to stick with your comments on youth (and because it is my calling), I’ll lay down a few comments.
I think we’re starting to see a shift in teaching to young people (even down to ages 2-3) where doctrine is taught. Many churches are beginning to systematically teach it.
In our own church, I have a plan where we teach doctrine to the 7th-12th graders every 4.5 years. It takes 1.5 years on Wednesday nights (excluding summer) to get through it. This means that every young person who goes through the youth group from 7th-12th grades will have received doctrine teaching twice. We’ll just finish our first cycle this October. (We even did a “theology class this last year for 2-3 year olds. Now, THAT was interesting.)
The results? Amazing. I’ve seen more “depth” growth among our teens and even in the way they “talk” Scripture and spiritual things. They are like sponges and are sucking it up. We make no bones about it and tell them that we are teaching them this so they can be prepared to defend their beliefs and live the Christian life when they are on their own–and not siphoning their Christianity off of others.
As a result I’ve seen more kids reach out in discipleship to one another and encouraging each other to learn more about spiritual things. That sounds almost like a verse…
If you are the same Gary Kurfman I know (and I think you are), I grew up in the church you attend. I love it. It’s home to me. However, one of the things I regret as a young person is that there was no specific, focused teaching to us as children and teens regarding doctrine and discipleship. However, seeing and hearing that you are teaching classes like this is a blessing. Keep it up!
@Dale-Which is exactly my point. For close to 30 years, whenever I have had to opportunity to teach the Mt.28 passage, the point has been to make disciples(!) (the main verb in the sentence) while we are going, teaching, and baptizing (all participles). Which is why this is important to this post. As people become true disciples of Christ, the importance and necessity of church membership and all that entails (!) will become more clear. I fear that church membership is shuned because people do not want the accountability and responsibility of membership. Then again, does the church any longer teach and expect accountability (to each other) and responsibility. We do live in an individualistic age, but this may be a corporate concept that Baptists need to relearn.
@Nate-First, I am in fact the Gary Kurfman you are thinking of. Second, I was very encouraged to hear the direction and teaching you are providing to your young people. That was the very thing I was driving at. We need to develop young disciples of Christ because those young disciples need to be and need to become the support system and “safety net” for the other young people in the church. It is easy to be “christian” at church, but it is hard when they enter a different peer world at school etc. Adults, pastors, parents cannot be with them in these contexts, but they are with each other. Third, is my distress. What I seem to be seeing is that the churches have not developed (I don’t know if that is the term I am looking for) that strong core of young (people) disciples to come along side of each other for support and encouragement once they move outside of the context of the church and they are in another social setting. Core disciples of Christ need to be there to help less mature or struggling believers live and learn how to live as christians in the world. I think what you are doing is great. We need to figure this out in all the churches, however, because young people are leaving the church faster than they are coming in. And it is interesting to look at some of the social networking sites and see just what not only our young (church) people are putting up, but even some of the adults in our churches. But I don’t want this to become a rant.
In summary, church membership is vital to understanding, being, and developing our discipleship to Christ.