Why is Local Church Membership Important?

Since our FLOCK (small group Bible Study) has been talking about the importance of church membership, in conjunction with our study of “Life in the Father’s House”, I want to give a coherent biblical defense for the importance and necessity of local church membership. Biblically, the requirement of membership in the local church is part and parcel of keeping God’s everlasting covenant. When we refuse to join ourselves in the vows of membership, submitting publicly to the authority of the Elders, we are in effect breaking the covenant God established with us his people.

God has always required his people to be identified with the covenant community by visible outward sign. In the Old Testament, all converts who sought to join Israel were required to be circumcised. Refusal to be circumcised, that is refusal to publicly join the covenant community in submission to the authority of the Elders, was equivalent to denying God, consider Exodus 4:24-26,

“At a lodging place on the way the LORD met [Moses] and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’ So [God] let him alone. It was then that she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood,’ because of the circumcision.” (ESV)

Moses, because of pressure from his wife, had not circumcised his son, as was God’s command of his covenant people; because of this, his own life was forfeit for breaking the covenant. To fully understand this, we need the context of Genesis 17:9-14:

“And God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’ (ESV)

There is God’s view of his covenant, and it’s attendant sign, “Any uncircumcised male… shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” Now in those days, there was only one visible church in the world, it was the nation of Israel. Joining Israel meant becoming circumcised; and made one a member of the visible church. Thus, the penalty for breaking the covenant was being cut off from the church. The whole of the Old Testament Law makes sense only in the context of church membership!

Now, in the New Testament, God’s covenant with Abraham is still in effect (cf. Gal. 3:23-29; 4:21-31). This has not changed, in fact the only changes to the covenant have been in its administration, and there are only two of these. First, circumcision has been replaced by baptism as the initiatory sign of membership in the covenant community. It is for this reason, that it is imperative that all believers and their children be baptized upon the conversion of the un-baptized person. This then makes it essential that baptism and church membership be inseparably linked. Second, there is no longer only one manifestation of Israel. Since the diaspora, there have been many local churches, that means that all believers are now bound to become members of the local church by rite of baptism, for this is publicly joining the covenant community. Refusing to do so is a breach of the covenant equivalent to rejecting circumcision in the Old Testament. It also means that leaving the local church is equivalent to cutting oneself off from the covenant community, thus upon moving, a believer must be joined by outward public sign to a new local church. Now, since there is no biblical precedent for re-baptism, this means that there must be a different means for a baptized believer to visibly identify with a new local church. In the first century, this meant proclaiming the name of Christ publicly, which could have meant certain imminent death. Today, this is best understood by the taking of membership vows (which in some places might mean certain imminent death).

The vows of membership in a local church today, are really nothing more than a public profession of faith, and a public promise to submit to the authority of the Elders. The very things God commands of his covenant people. Thus, refusing to become a member of the local church is tantamount to refusing to obey the command of God to his covenant people, and is in essence a breaking of the covenant. Remember God’s command through the apostle Peter:

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.” (1 Peter 5: 1-2, 5a ESV)

Hopefully, I’ve made a clear case, or at least prompted thought.

Soli Deo Gloria (To the Glory of God Alone)

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