Does Church Membership Matter?

We live in a self centered society. Everything must revolve around man’s preferences and live up to his self imposed expectations. Mankind sees itself as the measure of what is and what should be in all things. And if something or someone does not meet man’s expectations, it’s become acceptable to bail and seek out greener pastures. 

We see this lack of commitment commonly in marriages, where when the going gets tough, it’s time to push the eject button and call it quits. The old saying, ‘My way or the highway’ sums it up quite well. We live in a generation that has a serious problem with commitment of any kind. And this is lack of commitment mentality is beginning to bleed into the church. 

In the last few years, statistics show that many churches are increasing in their Sunday morning attendance, but decreasing in members. Many people attend churches for years without officially joining the church as members. Others make a practice of church hopping, or floating from one church to another. Sadly we have begun to look at church through the lens of consumerism rather than seeing it as the bride of Christ on earth that we are to commit our lives to.

And the excuses are many when some are pressed as to why they do not commit to a local church. Some people cite problems with a church that keeps them from fully committing. However, unless the full council of God’s word is not being preached or gross instances of heresy are being committed, many of these problems fall under the category of personal preferences or secondary issues. No church is perfect, and there is not a church on earth that is going to please everyone. 

Others will attempt to sound very pious and state that they are part of God’s ‘Universal Church’ and that local church membership is not found in scripture. This is a good place to start listing the reasons why this lack of commitment to the local church is so dangerous and worldly minded. Commitment to a local church is not only biblical, but it is necessary for us to experience the fullness of God’s blessings to believers.

To begin with, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we are to submit ourselves to the spiritual oversight of church elders. These are men that the Lord has appointed to guard and watch over the souls of the flock. However if someone has not committed themselves to a local church in membership, then they are not really part of that flock. They have not submitted their lives to any spiritual authority. Rather, they are just sideline spectators.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Hebrews 13:17.

Committing yourself to a Christ centered local church is submitting your soul to the watch of spiritual leaders that can come along side of you and speak into your life.  If you never join and commit your life to a local body of believers, then you neglect the clear command from scripture to place yourself under spiritual authority. 

Secondly, if you never commit to a local church, you rob yourself of the joy in doing life with other believers. It is a fine thing to date your someone. But the joy found in the commitment of a lifetime of marriage far outweighs the courtship phase. In the commitment of marriage, man and woman become a family. They grow deeper in their relationship and intimacy with one another. And they learn to trust each other as they journey through the joys and trials of life together.

Church membership is a way of saying to others in that local assembly, “I am committing myself to do life and ministry with you.’ It is a way of saying that through the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, I am going to walk with this body of believers as a spiritual family. And that commitment is not contingent upon us getting our way, or having or personal preferences met. 

And for those that are waiting until they find a church that meets all of their personal expectations, I would say this. Aren’t you glad Christ did not wait until you were perfect before extending His grace and mercy to you? It takes no effort at all to sit in a church as a sideline critic. 

It takes no effort to grumble and complain about every little thing that we don’t agree with. But it takes the love of Christ in a person to overlook secondary differences of opinion, and to join together unified in the primaries of the Gospel. We can so easily become like the pharisees and place ourselves in the seat of judgement over others who do not conform to our preferences and opinions. Instead of realizing that we are all fallen, imperfect sinners in need of grace. Doing life joined together with our eyes not on ourselves, but on Christ is one of the great blessings of church membership.

No church is perfect. And granted, if you are in a church that is not focused on Christ or faulty in proclaiming the full council of the truth of His word, then you should absolutely not join that local body. But there are many churches in our nation that are boldly proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And though they do it imperfectly, as Charles Spurgeon said, these churches are to believers the dearest place on earth. If you have not done so already, find a church where the truth of scripture is being proclaimed and where believers unite together in love and fellowship with their eyes fixed on Christ and His Word. And don’t just observe the church as a spectator. Commit your life to that body of believers. Don’t look for a church that will serve you. Look for a church where you can serve others.