Closely related to this. And you want to experience the interconnectivity of his body, the spiritual fullness of his temple, and the safety and intimacy and shared identity of his family. Membership helps you to know which Christians on planet Earth you are specifically responsible to love, serve, warn, and encourage.
Membership helps you to know which Christian leaders on planet Earth you are called to obey and follow. Again, it allows you to fulfill your biblical responsibility to them see Heb. It gives you the biblically prescribed place to participate in the work of church discipline responsibly, wisely, and lovingly 1 Cor. Membership puts the alternative rule of Christ on display for the watching universe see Matt.
The very boundaries which are drawn around the membership of a church yields a society of people which invites the nations to something better. And in 1 Timothy —16, we see a clear teaching on how to handle widows in the church. If we are to take these commands seriously, we have to be joined to a local body to know who our leaders are.
In my experience, many people resist joining the church because they approach the church with a consumer mindset. They want to receive something.
It may be a good something—biblical teaching, for instance—but the overall approach is consumeristic. But apply that kind of thinking to relationships like your marriage or your children, and you will create major problems.
The church is not a consumer relationship. The church is a family. And families are committed to each other. How do you use your gifts and experience the gifts of others if not in the local community? So, where is membership in the Bible? Well, first of all, search for any discussion of those metaphors. Well, the short answer to that is no. Hebrews tells you to submit to your leaders. Which leaders are those? All Christian leaders everywhere? Or even just the leaders in your city?
And Ephesians 5, in the context of addressing one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, says we do this as we submit to one another. Which Christians are we to both build up and submit to with our words? All the Christians in a city? No, the Christians who have committed to regularly gathering together in one place—a local church.
When we baptize, we baptize someone into the name of Father, Son and Spirit. And in so doing, we make their profession and discipleship public. To reject the value of membership is to deny what God has already established in fact. So Scripture teaches that we can be a part of the body, and we can be apart from the body. It is difficult to get around Scripture when it talks about being brought into the body and also being put out of it.
While there seems to be flexibility according to various bodies, there is no such thing in the New Testament as a church without some recognition of belonging—of membership in community. Finally, we recognize biblical membership matters because people need it. People need membership commitment because they need to be connected to a Christian community. This is not just for the sake of the faith community, but also for the sake of the individual. Individualist Christianity is a myth and a damaging pursuit.
The Bible specifically says he has redeemed us. He has transferred us, Colossians 1 says, from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
A kingdom has a king.
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