Calvary Road Baptist Church
“TO JOIN A CHURCH”
The Bible is a vast repository of truth that no individual will ever master. Established by God from eternity past, the Bible was gradually revealed to humanity over centuries by various means.[1] Though God’s design was to give to the human race the Word of God piecemeal, it was not written piecemeal. It was transmitted piecemeal, what is referred to as progressive revelation.
One of the delightful features of the Bible is that there are nuances of truth for individual Christians to discover by prayerful and diligent study and meditation that have not been found by our teachers because the illumination the Spirit of God grants He grants graciously, sovereignly, and never wholly this side of eternity.[2] However, there is a downside. Sometimes doctrinal truths that are not appropriately emphasized can be thought by some to be unimportant, and then by many to be insignificant, and then by most to be inconsequential.
It has come to that point in the twenty-first century that, among several truths that are important but not recognized by most, Church membership is important. Unless their practices have changed over the last few decades, the great majority of Assembly of God and Calvary Chapel congregations are not, in fact, subscribers to the Biblical truth that membership is even a thing. That being the case, such assemblies do not believe in or even receive members.
Baptist Churches, on the other hand, have always subscribed to Church membership being a thing, with solid biblical reasons for our belief and practice. That said, it is becoming increasingly common for even Baptist Churches to pay little attention to matters of Church membership. And when it comes to the ethics of members transferring their membership from one Church to another, all but a small minority of Baptist pastors go into rapid eye-blinking mode when the topic is introduced.
Therefore, for various reasons, this evening, I want to rehearse with you some of the practicalities of Church membership in a message I have titled “To Join A Church.”
I have three main points to serve as conversation starters in your discussions with visitors and friends who attended Vacation Bible School or our recent Friends Day.
First, RELUCTANCE TO JOIN A CHURCH
Most professing to be Christians give little or no thought to joining a Church. It is just not a thing with them. But if you take into account that the Greek term translated church, ἐkklesίa, is found 121 times in the New Testament, with 117 of those times referring to congregations like ours, the importance of a Church, and membership in a Church, might seem to be greater than you had realized.
Dr. Peter Masters is the longtime pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England, and the author of this fine book, Church Membership In The Bible.[3] I mention the book should you be interested in reading it, without further consideration in tonight’s message. Why might some Christians be reluctant to join a Church? Of the many possible reasons, I will mention four:
First, not knowing what a Church is. So many people who attend Churches do so with various unverified assumptions neatly tucked into their understanding. Among those assumptions is the notion that Church membership is optional, is a man-made contrivance, and that Church membership is neither very important or vital. That assumption reflects a profound misunderstanding of the Church, that the Lord Jesus Christ established and that the Lord Jesus Christ promised to build.[4] What is the Church? It is the body of Christ, Colossians 1.18, and the temple of God, First Corinthians 3.16-17.
Next, not knowing a Church’s importance. I am sure some are already a bit startled by the significance of the Church, after hearing me declare the Greek term for church occurring 121 times in the New Testament. You might not have known that before. Here is another fact. Christ died for the Church. The Apostle Paul declared that to the Ephesian congregation in Ephesians 5.25. If Christ gave Himself for the Church, the Church is therefore profoundly important. The value of a thing is established by the price paid for it. Also not realized by so many is the Church’s role in glorifying God. We know that we all exist to glorify God. Revelation 4.11 shows that to us. But few are aware that the purpose for which Christ established the Church was to use the Church to glorify God! Ephesians 3.21 reveals to us that Christ uses His Church as the means for Him to glorify His heavenly Father! Do you think the informed Christian wants to be a part of that enterprise? I do.
Third, not knowing what joining a Church entails. Churches are supposed to be a community of individuals whose membership is predicated on their relationship with Christ first and their submission to believer baptism following their conversion to Christ. Thus, it falls on each congregation to do their best to verify that the individual who seeks to join is a believer in Christ, #1 and that he has been Scripturally baptized after his conversion, #2. So important is this process that the Church of Jerusalem initially rejected the Apostle Paul’s attempt to join them until they were persuaded he was a believer, #1, and that he had been baptized, #2.[5] The great theologian Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust, but verify.” That reflects a principle found throughout the Bible[6] and is supported by the Apostle Peter, who wrote,
“and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear,”
First Peter 3.15. When my newly converted Aunt Pat asked my mom why she thought she was a Christian, my mom was offended. But since I came to Christ almost a decade later, I have always been thrilled with the opportunity to tell anyone who asks why I think I am a Christian. Our goal as a congregation is not to decide who is and who is not a Christian. That is God’s business. Our goal is to discover if who claims to be a Christian and wants to join our Church is credibly persuasive that they are a Christian. And we do not claim being infallible.
Fourth, not knowing what a Church ministry is all about. A person reluctant to join a Church self-identifies as someone mystified by a Church’s ministry. There is no hint of Christian ministry in the New Testament that is not Church ministry. Early Christians suffered persecution and scattered from Jerusalem outward, witnessing as they went. But they were never referred to by Luke as a Church until they were organized by Barnabas and subject to the ministry of gifted men who trained them to serve God effectively, Acts 11.21-26. What is Church ministry all about? It is about glorifying God in Christ’s body, brought into existence by Him and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live for Him, love Him, and serve Him in a community that is a body, that is a Temple, and that is accountable.[7] The notion of a free-lance Christian who is not a Church member is accepted throughout our modern world but is foreign to the New Testament.
Next, REASONS TO JOIN A CHURCH
I mention only a few reasons:
First, a Christian joins a Church to submit to Jesus Christ. He brought the Church into existence. He provided gifted men in His Church to equip Christians for service. And it is only when a Christian is a member of a Church that he is subject to Christ tangibly and practically.
Second, a Christian joins a Church to fulfill the Great Commission. It is when Christians band together in a New Testament-authorized fashion that they are most helped to love, live for, and serve God. Hebrews 5.12-14 shows the correlation between Bible knowledge and spiritual maturity. Those who are not Church members do not enjoy a meaningful pastoral relationship with Bible teachers to bring them to maturity, sadly remaining childish Christians when they might have blossomed into fruitful maturity.
Third, a Christian joins a Church as the basis on which the Savior judges and rewards Christians. This shocks many people, who think the Judgment Seat of Christ will reward those who are all-around good guys. But no, as First Corinthians 3.9-16 is explicit. The Church membership comprises God’s building (a spiritual edifice consisting of members, not an auditorium), and members will be judged based on their service. High-quality ministry in the Temple of God, the Church, and you will be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Low-quality effort will result in work that does not endure the test of scrutiny and a corresponding lack of rewards. Check the passage out yourself. Try hard to avoid imposing on the text what most people imagine. You will see that, although trusting Christ is all you need to get to heaven, you must serve God in your Church to receive rewards for service to Christ rendered in this life.
Finally, RESULTS OF JOINING A CHURCH
Several results are owing to a Christian joining a Church:
First, you are a part of the most authoritative institution anywhere in the world. Name an institution in existence that wields such authority as a Church. According to the Savior, in Matthew 18.18, only a Church congregation has the authority to bind on earth what will be bound in heaven and to loose on earth what will be loosed in heaven. And if you imagine the promise that where two or three on earth agree regarding a prayer request, Matthew 18.19 is not within the context of Church members praying together, you do not know how to study the Bible. I did not say the Church is the most powerful institution on earth, but that the Church is the most authoritative institution on earth. What right-minded Christian, schooled in the Scriptures and wise with maturity and understanding, would forsake the benefits of such membership?
Second, you are a part of one of the only two institutions on earth authorized to impart truth and wisdom to others. I am not suggesting government does not provide some ancillary training to a governed population as they are performing their function under God. But government schools are not authorized by God to teach children. Who is authorized to teach and train not only children but also adults? Two institutions, family and Church. There are numerous places in Scripture where parents and families are directed to tend to the rearing, training, and teaching of children. Proverbs 1.8 is but one of many verses:
“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.”
Besides the family, what is the only institution with divine authority and enablement to teach and train individuals and collaborate with parents in raising their children? Only the Church of Jesus Christ, with such activities being an integral part of the Great Commission to make disciples for Jesus Christ.
I find it interesting that so many will enter into marriage bereft of the training needed for success in marriage, not having been trained by mothers and fathers, not having been trained in a Church ministry, and imagining that they can successfully reinvent the wheel of spousal wisdom without the need of input from spiritually mature and seasoned saints in a Church. And those same people, who play fast and loose with their own lives, proceed along their merry way by putting at risk the children they claim to love. But they confuse sentimentality and strong feelings for the reality of love, which is only expressed by providing for the object of your love what that person needs from you. Where is a young man trained to be a Christian husband? Where is a young man trained to be a Christian father? Where is a young woman trained to be a Christian wife? Where is a young woman trained to be a Christian mom? Church. And not just any Church. So many people think that by checking the box of regular Church attendance or checking the box of regular giving to the cause of Christ, they have done their due diligence. Not so!
Third, availing yourself of the means of grace. Let me put you at ease by pointing out that by attending Church, praying, reading your Bible, and such as that, you are availing yourself of the means of grace. Understand grace as something akin to divine favor and divine enablement. It is by God’s grace that sinners are saved. It is by God’s grace that Christians grow and mature. But Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians shows what happens when someone fails to avail themselves of God’s grace. Catastrophe! And they were an example of what happens to Church members who do not avail themselves of the grace of God. They were Church members! They were assembled. They were already in the place of correction and construction. Had they not been Church members, Paul could have done much less than he did to rescue them.
Evangelism is profoundly important, and we should do our dead level best to reach the lost, invite the lost, encourage the lost to consider the claims of Christ and all that. But the Great Commission is not limited to evangelism. The Great Commission is disciple-making, and it is integral to making a disciple of Jesus Christ by bringing them to Christ, baptizing them subsequent to their conversion, and teaching them how to live for, love, and serve Christ for the rest of their lives ... as a Church member.
Sadly, so many Churches pay little attention to Church membership. I hope we are not such a Church. Church membership is essential, and the benefits for our families, beginning with our marriage and concluding with our children, are incalculable.
Church is important. Church membership is important. Our priorities are to reach the lost with the Gospel and encourage believers to join our Church.
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[1] Psalm 119.89; 2 Timothy 3.16; 2 Peter 1.21
[2] Psalm 119.99
[3] Peter Masters, Church Membership In The Bible, (London: The Wakeman Trust, 2008)
[4] Matthew 16.18
[5] Acts 9.26
[6] Numbers 35.30; Deuteronomy 17.6-7; Joshua 24.22; Ruth 4.9-11; Job 10.17; Isaiah 8.2; 43.9-12; 44.8-9; Jeremiah 32.10, 12, 25, 44; Matthew 18.15-20; Luke 24.46-48; John 5.31; Acts 1.8; 2.32; 3.15; 5.32; 10.39-40; 13.31; 2 Corinthians 13.1; 1 Thessalonians 2.10; 1 Timothy 5.19; 6.12; Hebrews 10.28; 1 John 4.1; 5.7-9; Revelation 1.1; 2.2
[7] Matthew 18.15-22
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