“Joining The Work”

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Where in Scripture are we told to "place membership" with a church?

Sincerely,
Not A Member

Dear Not A Member,

Church membership is shown through the commands to not forsake assembling with the saints and the numerous examples that being members of a local church is what early Christians did.  Even the apostle Paul, with all of his traveling, was a member of the church in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26).  God tells us that part of the purpose of the church assembly is to stimulate and encourage one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24-25).  If the only purpose of church attendance is to hear the Word, then we wouldn’t need to have a home congregation that we worshipped with – just hop from sermon to sermon week after week.  Instead though, God intended for Christians to be a part of a local congregation with elders to help shepherd them (1 Pet 5:2)… you don’t get the blessings of elders without membership somewhere.  God knows what is best for us, and it is in our best interest to assemble with other Christians in a local church.  We are all different, and our differences help to strengthen us, protect us, and better serve Christ (Eph 4:14-16).  If all we do is “church hop”, then we don’t have the blessings of the local eldership, interwoven lives with other local saints, and participating fully in the growth of the church’s work.

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