I remember being in grade school and one of my bus drivers picking me up at our house (a church parsonage) and telling me that he was a Christian, but had disassociated himself with the Church. I’m almost positive his reasoning was something about hypocrisy, but I may have been too young to understand such a word. I’m not quite sure why that conversation has stayed with me all of these years, but I have continued to hear of others who have explained away their church involvement (or lack of) due to being ‘disenchanted’ with church due to various reasons.
This morning I read through a terrific article by Pastor Matt Chandler (pastors The Village Church near Dallas, TX) that I think gives some great biblical insight into the subject – and I think you should read it.
Is Church Membership Biblical? by Matt Chandler
One quote to grab your attention –
“When church is just a place you attend without ever joining, like an ecclesiological buffet, you just might consider whether you’re always leaving whenever your heart begins to be exposed by the Spirit, and the real work is beginning to happen.”
The article rightly sets the foundation that church membership IS biblical and that encourages further conversation about what membership requirements look like – encouraging us to look at them through a biblical lens!
What do you think?
Wow! This resonates with me. Sure, I am a pastor’s wife so I may be viewed as one “bound” to the church my husband leads, but I wasn’t always married. I was more apt to be involved in a place I had membership in than when I just attended, like in the first years of college. In return, I had a sense of family and sought to be mentored by those in the church I chose to become a member of. Feeling convicted changed when I went from a college attender to a member, as well. I’m interested to know what others think of this article. I think too many times we only look at membership as a ‘signing on” of what rules we’ve decided to abide by, but membership is simply not that.
I’ve heard it said that the sole purpose of church membership is for church discipline. Here’s a great resource…https://secure2.convio.net/ccnmm/site/Ecommerce/1511575264?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1361&store_id=1301