Sermon Illustrations on Church Membership

Heaven Cannot Be Bought

Luke 19:1

A Texan who had made a fortune (in oil?) but neglected God all his life visited a pastor and told him of his spiritual neglect, then offered a $100,000 contribution. The pastor immediately offered him the "right hand of fellowship." However, heaven cannot be bought.

New Member Assimilation Key To 'Closing the Back Door'

John 6:66

Losing new members because of a lack of follow-up is "the greatest epidemic facing churches today," according to a prominent Southern Baptist evangelist.

Billie Hanks Jr. told more than 200 central California church leaders the Bible contains a clear prescription for solving the problem.

"The Scripture has a great deal to say about follow-up, once we understand that follow-up is a ministry of example," Hanks said. Citing the example of Jesus, he said the biblical pattern of follow-up involved new Christians learning by observation.

"Jesus didn't give a class on fishing; he said, 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.' It was instruction by observation," Hanks said.

"This principle, so common to life, was the cornerstone of early Christian education because spiritual instruction took place in an environment where relationships were the primary means for gaining personal growth," he said.

"Love, integrity, truth and even ministry skills were best transmitted in the caring context of a personal friendship. The environment was one of trust and mutual encouragement," Hanks explained. "Spiritual discipline was first observed then emulated by the original generation of new believers."

And helping new believers develop relationships remains the most important key for retaining them as church members today, Hanks said.

"Many people come to our churches aching, hurting, lonely. When they find the redeeming love of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're looking for friendship."

Still, Hanks said, 40 percent of new members will become inactive in about 18 months. He said many likely "will be picked up by a cult or a sect or one of many groups that are feeding on the poor follow-up of evangelical denominations."

"This is a global problem," Hanks told the interdenominational gathering. "If we do not deal with this, it's like not dealing with the greatest epidemic in our churches today."

Addressing a large number of Southern Baptist ministers present at the conference, Hanks noted only "2 to 3 percent of Southern Baptists win someone to Christ" in a given year. "Why? Because we didn't do a good job training them when they were teachable.

"The greatest witnesses are new believers," Hanks noted. Properly training new believers is vital for helping them "respond to evangelistic opportunity," he said.

The Feb. 1 conference in Fresno was the largest in a series of meetings Hanks held across California promoting "A Call to Joy," his new process for new member assimilation published by Word Ministry Resources of Waco, Texas. The series was co-sponsored by Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, whose president, William O. Crews, was on hand to introduce Hanks.

Crews told the group, "The issue for the next century will be to develop believers who are godly in character, competent in skills and who have the kind of influence our Lord has." He said Hanks' process for new member follow-up is one way to do that.

But Hanks stressed conserving the results of evangelism is more important than whose method is used to do it.

"If you've got tools that are better, use them," he said. "The desire is to close the back door."

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In Search of the Visible Church

Acts 5:13

Evangelicals have de-emphasized the concept of the church. It is not discussed and people are not as often encouraged to join. Some churches have abandoned the concept of membership altogether. Baptism and the Lord's Supper have also lost their distinctiveness for bonding a church's identity. Churches have taken over society's emphasis on individualism.

Christianity Statistics

Acts 2:41

According to statistician David Barrett (USA), the world population grew to 5.804 billion in 1996; 1.843 billion of those are under 15 years old. There are 1.715 billion poor people living in cities, with an additional 970 million living in slums. The church continues to grow rapidly: of the 1.782 billion church members, 1.302 billion are "practising Christians", numbers which have grown from 1.159 billion and 905 million in 1970.

According to Barrett, the number of missionary Christians (Great Commission Christians) has grown from 300 million in 1970 to 786 million in 1996.

Charismatic and Pentecostal churches have by far the greatest rate of growth: in 1900, they had 3.7 million members; in 1970, 74.4 million; today, the number 479.8 million. The number of Christian service groups has grown from 14,100 in 1970 to 23,200 in 1996; the number of mission agencies has grown from 2,200 to 4,500. Churches have a total income of $94 billion per year, and mission agencies and independent organisations $100 billion.

Source: David B. Barrett, GEM Research, Status of Global Mission 1996

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Some updated statistics:

About 33% of the world's people are Christians (at least in name), American missions statistician David Barrett says. The Global Evangelization Movement reported 2.0 billion of the earth's 6.0 billion people believe in some form of Christianity. Church members total 1.898 billion, and 1.3 billion attend services. Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity is growing fastest; 482 million belong to such movements and 680 million can be described as "Great Commission Christians," Barrett said.

Muslims comprise the second-largest faith group. Followers of Islam number 1.215 billion, followed by 786 million Hindus, 362 million Buddhists, 225 million members of tribal religions, and 102 million members of "new religions."

The world also has a large number of unbelievers. A total of 774 million consider themselves "non-religious" and 151 million say they are atheists, Barrett said.

An estimated 165,000 Christians will be martyred for their faith in Christ this year, according to Barrett.

[ReligionToday, January 10, 2000; www.religiontoday.crosswalk.com]

Church Membership Essential To Christian Life

Acts 2:1

One of the essential aspects of the Christian life is membership in and faithful commitment to a local church, says Mark Dever. Dever serves as pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., as well as senior fellow of the Center for Church Reform (CCR) there.

Church membership, Dever said, is the clear mandate of Scripture.

"You can have all the wonderful, thought-through stances on everything from the complete foreknowledge of God of future events to abortion," he said. "But if your church doesn't know what it means to be a church, you're like a great mass of muscles with no skeleton.

"What do you do if you have a wonderful stance on abortion and you pray for pro-life issues, that people respect God's great gift of life, [but] then you say nothing when members work in abortion clinics?"

A biblical understanding of one's responsibilities and duties as a church member requires more than merely sitting in the pew, Dever said. It requires glorification of God by ministering to others. While ministry is important for laypersons, Dever said, it is a necessity for pastors as well.

"We live in a consumer-driven culture where we are called by everything around us to be consumers," he said. "[God] calls you to become a provider for others as he entrusts the gospel with you. I fear many treat the seminary and even their church as consumers."

Dever added that too many members ask: "What can [the church] provide for me?"

In holding that Christians are called to be more than consumers, Dever noted, "Even as Abraham was called to be blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others -- so God has provided for us ... so that we will turn and provide for others."

Dever said Christians should join a church as a witness to non-Christians in order to demonstrate what it means to live as a sinner whose heart has been redeemed by the grace of God.

One facet of this is excluding from the membership those who live in deliberate, open and unrepentant sin, Dever said. By this, he added, they will perhaps be awakened to the fact that they might be lost.

"It may seem counter-intuitive to our modern ears," Dever said. "But being willing to exclude individuals from our fellowship for the purpose of clarifying in their hearts and minds what God has not done is a great act of love. As best we can, we want to insure that each person who unites with our church believes and obeys Jesus Christ.

"So we want to take action when someone says he is a Christian but lives like a non-Christian. And what is the most loving thing to do? Encourage an unbeliever in his sin? Or to make that sin known and encourage that person to trust in Christ?"

Believers also should join a church for the sake of both weaker and stronger Christians in order to encourage and strengthen both, he said. Christians should also join a local church to help leaders in that body better minister to them.

"Commit yourself for the sake of those leaders that God raises up -- the elders, the pastors in local churches -- that you may be blessed by their ministry and also be a blessing to them."

Believers should join a church also for God, whose idea it was to bring the church into existence, Dever said. He pointed out that in Scripture, in places such as Acts 2 and 2 Corinthians 2:6, the local church is usually spoken of as having a definable number of people. In Paul's conversion on the Damascus road, Jesus set forth the church as his body by asking Paul, "Why do you persecute me?"

"This is where Paul got this image of the body as the church. Christ has so identified himself with the church that he is at work building it. It is his work, it is his body. And this is a largely forgotten idea today -- even among seminarians."

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[previous illustration at this ID was a duplicate of HolwickID #19221]

Unchurched Or Unsaved?

Acts 2:47

In 1914, Ernest Henry Shackleton led an expedition to cross the entire continent of Antarctica, but wound up shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. To rescue his team, Shackleton and a few of the men sailed a tiny boat across more than 800 miles of rough seas to South Georgia Island. Despite the cold choppy waters and gray skies, Shackleton was able to safely navigate the boat to their destination. If his coordinates had been off by even one half of one degree, his team would have missed their destination and likely would have perished.

Ship captains, airplane pilots and astronauts will be the first to tell you that the tiniest navigational error can have disastrous consequences. The same is true for those of us who have been commissioned to lead our churches. A seemingly insignificant shift in direction can have major implications.

In recent years, leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention have bemoaned the falling number of baptisms. Pastors, missionaries, professors and analysts all have offered a variety of reasons for why our numbers are declining, along with advice for how we might get back on track. But I wonder if one of the main reasons for the dwindling number of baptisms is represented by a subtle shift in vocabulary -- so subtle that we might overlook it.

There was a time when we spoke of unsaved people as “lost and dying and on their way to hell” -- a phrase that painted a vivid picture of the stakes of being outside of Christ. We spoke of unsaved people in this way for so long that such terminology became something of a cliché.

Today, it seems that many pastors and church members tend to shy away from terms like “lost,” “unsaved,” and “unbeliever.” Instead, we speak of the people we are trying to reach as “unchurched.”

I believe that this change in terminology betrays two mistaken beliefs:

1. First, it indicates that our people believe the goal of the church is to grow the church. Thus, evangelism becomes less about reaching the unsaved in order to see them get saved, and more about reaching unchurched people in order to get them churched (or even worse, reaching other-churched people in order to get them to our church). Outreach becomes little more than an attempt to sell people on the benefits of coming to church.

Church-focused outreach is easier than Christ-focused outreach. In many places in the South, church attendance is still woven into the fabric of the culture. Many unchurched people already assume that they should go to church. So our outreach merely reinforces the cultural assumption that church attendance is important.

Furthermore, we are more comfortable reaching out to people with a Christian background than we are witnessing to Muslims and Hindus. In our increasingly multi-cultural world, it is much easier to reach the nominally “Christian” who already share our assumptions than the foreigners who are moving into our neighborhoods.

2. Secondly, our shift in vocabulary indicates a lessening of the eternal stakes of salvation.

I am thankful for the Conservative Resurgence in our denomination that has brought a renewed emphasis on orthodox theology. But I wonder how much of that orthodox theology is truly believed by the people in our churches.

Do we truly believe that Jesus is the only way to God? Do we truly believe that people outside of faith in Christ will perish eternally in hell? Do we truly believe that people who claim to be Christians and yet show no fruits of repentance have a false assurance of salvation? Do we truly believe that people of other faiths are “lost and dying and on their way to hell”?

If so, why do we lessen the stakes of evangelism by speaking in a way that emphasizes church attendance over salvation in Christ?

Of course, evangelism includes inviting people into our churches. But inviting people to church is not the goal; it is only one means whereby God may accomplish His mission of seeking and saving the lost.

So yes -- we believe that people need what the church has to offer. But we are not called to sell others on the greatness of our church, but to proclaim the greatness of our Savior.

In the choppy waters of our postmodern, increasingly post-Christian society, staying on course is no easy task. Jesus told us the way is narrow. God commanded the Israelites: “You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32).

If we need a course correction, let’s do it now. Let’s remind our people of the Christ-centeredness of the Great Commission. Let’s plead with lost people to flee to Jesus and escape the wrath to come. Let’s focus evangelism and outreach on Jesus. Maybe then, we will see lost people be found, unsaved people get saved, condemned people be pardoned, and then (and only then) unchurched people be churched.

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Trevin Wax is minister of education and missions at First Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Tennessee

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5530]

Loving Correction: Why We Need Church Discipline

Ezra 10:1

Some argue that it doesn’t pay to exercise church discipline these days. Why? People outside the Church get too upset.

Consider the case of Catholic Archbishop George Pell of Sydney, Australia. Pell denies Holy Communion to Catholic homosexuals who don’t accept church teachings on homosexuality. A biblical approach to sexuality is “essential for human well-being [and] for the continuity of the human race,” he notes.

Now, Pell has sponsored AIDS hospices and shown compassion to those infected with this deadly disease. Nevertheless, homosexual activists are outraged over his views and loudly protested his appointment as Archbishop in 2001.

Then there’s Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani of Lima, Peru. Eighteen months ago, Cipriani announced that politicians who oppose church teachings on abortion would be denied communion. Who became outraged over this? Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

And when the Southern Baptist Convention took steps to cut ties with churches that allow homosexuals to serve as pastors, critics couldn’t wait to wrap the “narrow-minded bigot” label around them.

But aren’t these churches simply upholding their standards? As Chuck Colson and Ellen Vaughn point out in their new book, BEING THE BODY, churches have never portrayed themselves as democracies. “The church is hierarchical and authoritarian and ultimately answerable only to God,” they write.

So why should anyone join a church and then expect to be permitted to flout its authority? After all, for failing to attend enough meetings, you can be thrown out of the Rotary Club. Violate the dress code, and you’ll be tossed out of many country clubs. And if you don’t perform community service, you can be kicked out of the Junior League. Yet the minute churches impose discipline on their members, they’re charged with everything up to and including fascism.

Shouldn’t the Church have at least the same right to set its own standards as a country club? If people don’t like them, they’re free to leave — assuming they’re members in the first place.

Whether church members like it or not, the Church MUST discipline its members. As Colson and Vaughn warn, “When we fail to discipline, the church does not become more ‘relevant’ to the world around us. It simply loses its moral authority.”

Discipline should be applied not only to enforce right doctrine, but also to uphold right behavior. Sermons on holy living are meaningless unless the Church is willing to back them up with action — even if doing so is unpleasant, which it often is. As theologian Greg Bahnsen put it: “Discipline guards the purity of the Church, preserves the Church by removing evil, and provides severe but loving correction for one who is in danger of falling into perdition.”

Without effective discipline, there can be no accountability and, thus, no spiritual growth.

We’ve heard a lot lately about politicians being told by their churches to toe the line, theologically speaking — or face the consequences. When we read stories like these, we need to remember why church discipline is vitally important. It’s a mark, not of intolerance and repression, as critics claim, but of faithful obedience to God and loving pastoral care for Christians.

No Neutral Ground

Brother, let me say this to you: you are on one side or the other. I recollect once at a county camp meeting, a gentleman approached me and said: “I'm mighty glad to see this grand work going on here. I hope this whole community will be saved.” “Well,” I said, “thank you, brother. What church do you belong to?” He said, “I don't belong to the church, but I'm a Christian.” I said: “You a Christian, and not belong to any church? Why, you are the man I've been looking for, too, these many years I've offered a reward, a large reward, for one of your sort. Christians are sort of scarce in the church, and the Lord knows I didn't know there was one out of the church. I've found an anomaly in the moral universe of God -- a Christian out of the Church!”

And I said to him: “I am mighty glad to meet you, sir. Now this afternoon, when I call up the penitents, I want to call on you to pray for them.” “Oh, no,” he says, “I can't pray in public.” “Why?” “Because I am not a member of the church.” “Well,” said I, “when the service is over this afternoon, take one of the boys, one of the penitents, out from the altar and go out into the woods and pray with him.” “Oh, no, I can't do that.” “Why?” “Because I'm not a member of the church, Mr. Jones.”

“Well,” said I, “can't you just take one of the boys by the arm and carry him off in the woods and talk with him about Christ?” “No,” he said, “My trouble is, I'm not a member of the church.” “No sir,” said I, “that ain't your trouble. Your trouble is, you belong to the devil from your head to your heels! That's your trouble.”

He that is not with Me, is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth abroad.” -- Sam Jones

Why Baptize?

1 Corinthians 1:11

Questions People Ask sermon series 1 Corinthians 1:11-17

WHY BAPTIZE?

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I. Our baptism tank is full this morning...

II. Baptism can be a divisive issue.

III. What is required for salvation.

A. Believe on the Lord Jesus.

B. Baptism not required for salvation.

C. Should we ask for more?

IV. What happens at baptism.

A. Difference between sacrament and ordinance.

B. It's more than a rite of passage.

C. Maybe we need to be more serious about conversion.

V. The power of baptism.

A. It's a witness to other believers, and to community.

B. It's a witness to ourselves.

VI. What baptism doesn't do for you.

A. Bible stresses that the water itself has no magical power.

B. It doesn't make you a perfect Christian.

VII. What do YOU need to do?

Advice On Church Membership Classes

Luke 2:37

I believe the most important class in your church is the membership class. It sets the tone and expectation level for everything else that follows. The very best time to elicit a strong commitment from your members is at the very moment they join. If little is required to join, very little can be expected from your members later on.

A strong membership class will build a strong congregation. A weak membership class will build a weak congregation. A “strong” class doesn’t necessarily mean a “long” class. The membership class here at Saddleback Valley Community Church (Class 101) is only four hours long and is taught all on one day, but it produces a high level of commitment in our membership. Those who chose to join our church know exactly what will be expected of them as members. The strength of a membership class is determined by its content and call for commitment, not its length.

For a number of reasons, I believe the senior pastor should teach this class, or at least teach a portion of it. The opportunity to see the pastor’s vision for the church, feel his love for the members and hear his personal commitment to care, feed and lead them is very important to new members.

Some churches have a membership class but they cover the wrong material. They fill the class with material on spiritual growth or basic doctrine. These subjects are vitally important, but they are more appropriately covered in your new believer’s class and Christian doctrine class.

These are both essential classes that should be separate from the membership class. Don’t confuse them with your membership class. Your membership class should answer the following questions:

• What is a church?

• What are the purposes of the church?

• What are the benefits of being a member?

• What are the requirements for membership?

• What are the responsibilities of membership?

• What is the vision and strategy of this church?

• How is the church organized?

• How can I get involved in ministry?

• What do I do next now that I am a member?

If you are a church that targets the unchurched, you need to include a clear explanation of salvation in your membership class because you will have many people who want to join your church who aren’t even believers yet! We always explain that trusting Christ is the first requirement for membership and we see people saved in every membership class.

There are many elements you can use in your membership class to keep it interesting and interactive: video clips; a notebook with fill-in curriculum; small group interaction; and a good meal together. Be sure to include a lot of stories that personalize the history, values and direction of your church. At [our church], we even include a quiz at the end of each class, testing the new members on how well they can state the purposes of our church and other important concepts.

Here’s the basic outline we follow:

Discovering [Our Church] Membership (Class 101)

OUR SALVATION

• Making Sure You Are A Christian

• The Symbols of Salvation (Baptism & Communion)

OUR STATEMENTS

• Our Purpose Statement: Why we exist

• Our Vision Statement: What we intend to do

• Our Faith Statement: What we believe

• Our Values Statement: What we practice

OUR STRATEGY

• A Brief History of [Our Church]

• Who We Are Trying To Reach (Our Target)

• Our Life Development Process To Help You Grow

OUR STRUCTURE

• How Our Church Is Organized For Growth

• Our Affiliation

• What It Means To Be a Member

• What Is My Next Step After Joining?

I believe completion of a membership class should be required for membership. People who are uninterested or unwilling to learn your church’s purposes, strategy and the meaning of membership are failing to demonstrate the kind of commitment membership implies. If they don’t even care enough to understand the responsibilities of membership, they cannot be expected to fulfill them after joining. They should not be allowed to join. There are plenty of other congregations to join that offer a meaningless membership.

You Don't Want To Be Fanatical About It

Luke 2:42

I was a supply preacher for a small town Texas church, coming in early Sunday, preaching a sermon to the congregation, and then leaving after lunch. Arriving early one Sunday I sat down at a local donut shop, opened my Bible and went over my sermon notes. A man was sitting down the counter from me and he said, “You a preacher or something?”

I replied, “Yes I preach at the Christian Church here in town.”

He got excited and said, “Hey, I'm a member of that church.”

The church was small and I knew all the regulars so I said, “I've been preaching there for about three months and I've never seen you there.”

He looked at me kinda strange and answered, “I said I was a member of that church. I never said that I was fanatical about it!”

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Submitted by Charles “Sandy” Ridenour, Clovis, New Mexico

Leaving the Church

Luke 15:13

"72% of the youth that grow up in the church or enter the church during their adolescence leave the church before the age of 18."

-- American Baptist missionary David Reed, on the need to retain young people in the church.

Some Who Leave the Church Don't Leave Their Faith

People who leave the church aren't necessarily abandoning God, according to a pastor and sociologist studying what he calls "post-congregational" Christians.

Rather than being marginal churchgoers, Alan Jamieson found in research for his book, "A Churchless Faith," that 94 percent had been leaders -- such as deacons, elders or Sunday school teachers -- and 32 percent had been full-time ministers.

To Jamieson's surprise, he also found that for many the break came not because they lost their faith, but because they wanted to save it.

Rather than writing off those who leave the church due to burnout, spiritual abuse or frustration at not being allowed to ask hard questions, Jamieson believes congregations should listen to those who opt to go their faith journey alone. Ironically, he says, they might be the Christians best equipped to reach postmoderns.

Twice a month, 30 or more people gather at Jamieson's church, First Baptist Church in Wellington, New Zealand. Seated at cafe-like tables and sipping tea in the subdued light of the basement, they talk freely. No topic is off limits -- the nature of God, homosexuality, spiritual abuse, the role of women.

The focus, Jamieson told FaithWorks magazine, is "on where we are going instead of what we have left."

"Spirited Exchanges is not designed to be church," Jamieson says. "It is a place where people can talk about anything they want to talk about, without any sense of being 'out of line' or being told their thoughts are inappropriate."

Jamieson says he is aware of about 50 other groups like Spirited Exchanges.

Not surprisingly, the three-year-old program has brought Jamieson criticism from all directions. "Some people insist I am encouraging people to leave the church, and others are just as indignant that I am scheming to lure people back into the church."

But Jamieson is unshaken in his commitment to teach churches to become "leaver sensitive." The reasons: (1) Leavers need the church, (2) the church needs leavers, (3) leavers take their time, skills, efforts and wallets with them, (4) leavers tell their stories to others, and (5) leavers take their children with them.

Other researchers back up Jamieson's findings that many of the unchurched are still spiritually inclined.

"Relatively few unchurched people are atheists. Most of them call themselves Christian and have had a serious dose of church life in the past," pollster George Barna said in "Re-Churching the Unchurched."

David Barrett, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, estimates there are about 112 million "churchless Christians" worldwide, about 5 percent of all adherents, and he projects that number will double by 2025.

Jamieson isn't the only recent author to focus on reaching out to these churchless pilgrims.

American pastor and student worker Mary Tuomi Hammond, in "The Church and the Dechurched," turns her attention to those battling emotional, spiritual or mental scars they associate with their church experience.

Included among that population, she identifies "rabid atheists, silent agnostics, committed humanists, practitioners of distinctly non-Christian spiritualities." But she also finds believers who still cling weakly to a faith they carried with them when they fled.

Hammond's wounded souls "are among the church's strongest critics, because they are outsiders who were once insiders."

Hammond has been chastised for "attacking the faith" by recounting stories of spiritual abuse, but she denies that charge.

"My love for the church compels me to challenge the church to hear and attend to the cries of its own wounded," Hammond replies. "I love the church and I wrestle with it. I love the Lord and I wrestle with my faith as well. In that visceral relationship between loving and wrestling, I find strength, hope and life that cannot be extinguished."

She challenges congregations to become "church for the dechurched." She points out that Jesus spent most of his ministry reaching out to the "de-synagogued." But she warns it can be a long and difficult effort, as her own journey attests.

When her husband, Steve, was called to be pastor of a Baptist church in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1979, it had 12 members. Mary and Steve, who eventually became co-pastors, prayed for the church to grow but with little success. Then one morning in 1998, Mary said, she felt a definite call of God: "I have sent you to the one and not the 99."

They have since rearranged their ministry to address needs of the dechurched. Mary admits that ministering to the "one" is time-consuming and filled with contradictions. The "one" is "off the beaten trail, perhaps too unorthodox for the 99, too needy, too confused or even too cynical."

But, she insists, "As Christians we must face the issues we would rather not address, ask the questions we cannot always clearly answer, and listen to the voices that are most difficult to hear."

Jamieson, meanwhile, asks the larger question of why so many people with a deep longing for God are coming to the conclusion that they must abandon their congregational homes in order to continue growing spiritually.

Adapting the work of sociologist James Fowler's landmark "Stages of Faith," Jamieson divides "leavers" into four types: disillusioned followers, reflexive exiles, transitional explorers and integrated wayfinders.

Jamieson says many churches are unaware -- and unconcerned -- about those who have left. The overwhelming majority of 108 leavers he interviewed in his study said no one from their church ever talked with them about why they left.

Jamieson recalls one successful pastor's declaration that Jesus' parable of the lost sheep doesn't apply to those "who know where the paddock is and intentionally wander away."

Jamieson feels differently, and he uses a different analogy to make his point. He envisions a non-swimmer attracted to the beach. Befriended by a swimming club, he enters the water and takes lessons. A quick study, he soon is going to the beach at every opportunity and inviting his non-swimming friends to do likewise.

But eventually, perhaps after years, he senses a faint inner stirring to swim beyond the flags that mark the "safe" area. His old coach advises him such thoughts are dangerous. Gradually he becomes uncomfortable at the beach and begins staying at home. But the call of the deep haunts him. Eventually he plunges back into the ocean, this time to swim beyond the flags, totally alone if necessary.

Rather than abandon such swimmers, Jamieson says, the church should accompany them.

Recently someone sent Jamieson a copy of a water-safety poster that pictured a fish swimming toward the left as the rest of the school swam to the right. The caption read: "Don't swim alone."

Although he works with a lot of lone swimmers, Jamieson admits the poster is "a pretty good reflection of my feelings. That's why we need to go out beyond the flags ourselves. It's dangerous for anyone to swim dark spiritual waters alone."

_______________

Craig Bird is a free-lance writer living in San Antonio, Texas.

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What's Right With the Church?

Matthew 28:6

What's Right With The Church?

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THE MASTER OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

It is Christ's Church. He bought it with His own blood. The Church is the Body of Christ.

THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

Christ said of them, “They follow me.” You don't have to beg this crowd to go to Church every Sunday. You don't have to visit, beg, plead, prime, pump these. They love the Church, they love the Saviour. There is a kindred spirit. I am afraid that we have many members in churches around the world who have never met Christ as their personal Saviour. How about you? Are you just a church member, or are you a member of His Church? There's a vast difference. There are many, many poor lost church members. If you have to be begged, and pleaded with to come to church, perhaps you should ask yourself, “Am I really Born again?” Remember, Born again believers love His Church. Do YOU? “ We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren” (the church).

YES, THE MEMBERSHIP IS RIGHT. Not yet perfect, but made Right. Today, many strange doctrines are preached. The winds of doctrines blow. Many today are being deceived... As a pastor, I have had problems with church members, but very few problems with members of The Church. If you happen to be a lost church member, why not, right now, receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Personal Saviour, ask Him to come into your heart. He is there, where you are ready to come into your heart at your invitation. “ But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name.” Your salvation is in Him, not in you church membership.

THE MANDATE OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

What is our mandate? Our mission? The MANDATE of the Church is to evangelize the world. We are to preach the Gospel of Christ... Some have gotten side-tracked. Some are trying to reform society. Only when man's heart is changed will the world be changed.

THE MESSAGE OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

It is a message of LOOK and LIVE. The message is simple, it is never complicated. It is for all people everywhere, and it always meets the need... He was lifted high upon a cross. We are sinners, we are dying... But, look to the cross and live. That's the MESSAGE. Let's don't complicate it by adding baptisms, joining, and a thousand other things. It is simple. A child can understand.

THE METHOD OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

In (Mt. 28:6-7) the angel said, “Come see... go and tell” It's that simple...tell others what Christ has done for you. Jesus said to the maniac of Gadara after he was healed, “Go home to thy friends and tell...” The disciples went out two by two and told the world about Christ. (Acts 20:20), “...have taught you publicly and from house to house.” That's the method. One tells another, then another. If everyone joins in, the job gets done, the whole world will hear the Gospel. The best advertisement is one satisfied customer telling another about their product. That's the METHOD of the Church... It's RIGHT... Get in on it. Tell others about our Lord.

THE MUSIC OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

Music reflects the mood of the times. Listen to the music of any society and it will tell you all you need to know. Listen to the music of our time. Have you ever heard anything so hopeless? Listen to Rock and Roll, to Heavy Metal. The beat hypnotizes the mind while the WORDS of the “music” fill the heart. If you want to know what's wrong with our young people, just listen to their music. Today's music glorifies drugs, rebellion, and attacks anything Godly. Listen to the BOOM BOOM, BANG BANG, CRASH, BOP BOP of today's pop music. Hillbilly and country music is not any better. It sings of bar rooms, bed rooms, cheating, sleeping around. Many churches are adopting the BOOM BOOM, BOP BOP beat of some of these rock groups. They have the same sound stage, same lights, same beat. Let's not compromise with the world with our music. EVERY CHURCH SHOULD GUARD ITS MUSICAL PROGRAM.

God's people are a singing people. The Book of Psalms is a Hymn Book. The Church have given to the world the most beautiful music. Read the titles of your hymnal songs. These are songs of comfort, of peace, of assurance, of hope, of faith, of love. The words are beautiful, and the melodies are glorious.

THE MOTIVE OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

Actually, there is a two-fold motive of the Church... THAT THE DESTINY OF MEN MAY BE CHANGED. What is man's destiny? Just read passages like Rev. 20:11-15, Luke 16:19-31. Many passages teach clearly that the person who dies without Christ will go to a devil's hell. That's not popular, but it is true. You hear more about hell from the mouth of sinners than from some pulpits today, but the truth is: the unsaved man goes to hell when he dies. Jesus came to this earth and gave His life so that man's destiny may be changed. He made the way, He paid the price. His motive is our motive. We want to see people saved, saved from the penalty and power of sin.

THAT LIVES MAY BE TRANSFORMED. The second motive of the Church is the transforming of lives. Sin abounds everywhere, engulfing, deceiving. Millions of lives are ruined by sin. But in Christ, THERE IS HOPE. The Bible says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new. The Bible says, “Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God... and such WERE SOME OF YOU, but you are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus” TRANSFORMED LIVES. Try reforming, stopping, quitting, changing, nothing works like faith in the Lord Jesus. He can do what no one can do. Oh the millions of TRANSFORMED LIVES the world over. The helpless, the hopeless have trusted Christ and found that their lives were TRANSFORMED by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank God for what He did in my life, and He can do in your life.

THE MANUAL OF THE CHURCH IS RIGHT

Thank God for the Bible (KJV). The Bible is the best Gift of God. It was given as God breathed upon Holy men of old. The Bible is God's HAND-BOOK, or HOW-TO Book. I can recall countless times when I have wasted much time and energy in not consulting the instruction book on a product. I have tried in vain, to put a child's toy together with only a passing glance at the instructions. Finally, in embarrassment, and humiliation, I turned to the instructions. That has happened to me time and time again. The Great Creator of heaven, earth, and man gave us an instruction book, a How-to Book, or Manual. When we follow the MANUAL, the product is right. In America we have tossed out the Manual, and look at the product. Things are not working. It's time to pick up the instructions again. Many churches have laid the MANUAL aside and adopted the world's way. They have painted “GOD” on the world and brought this into the church and things are not working out very good.

The Old Book is not out-dated. It is final, complete, without error or omission. The Bible (KJV) has endured the ages. Don't try to change it, or find fault with it. Just believe it. The Word of God will do the Work of God.

The Church is right. It is not yet perfect, but it will be one day. Christ is coming one day to receive the Church unto Himself. He knows each member by name. He walks among the churches. You can invest yourself, your time, talent, and money in His Church. Give Him your heart and become active in a Bible believing, soul winning Church.

__________

Pastor George Mills - TheWilderness.org, February 2001 issue

*

Trying To Get Into This Church

When young and just converted, D. L. Moody used to fill up a pew in a rather aristocratic Boston(*) church with street urchins. Many of the upper-crust church members resented this intrusion.

When Moody tried to join the church, the board discouraged him. “Think it over for a month,” they advised. “And pray about it, too.” They thought that would be the last they would see Moody. But they failed to take into account his indomitable drive.

The next month he appeared before the board again. Rather taken back, they asked, “Did you do what we suggested? Did you pray about it?”

“I did,” Moody quietly replied.

“And did the Lord give you any encouragement?”

“Yes,” said Moody, “He told me not to feel bad because He has been trying to get in this same church for the last twenty-five years, too.”

_________

(*) Holwick: I think Moody began his street urchin work in Chicago.

From: Serve Him With Mirth by Leslie B Flynn http://www.gospelcom.net/guide/resources/mirth.php

Presidents and Religious Affiliation

American Presidents And Religious Affiliation

Number of Percent of Percent of Ratio of % of

Denomination Presidents Presidents Population Pres. To % Pop.

Episcopalian 11 26.2% 1.7% 15.4

Presbyterian 9 21.0% 2.8% 5.1

Methodist 4 9.5% 8.0% 1.5

Baptist 4 9.5% 18.0% 0.5

Unitarian 4 9.5% 0.2% 47.5

Disciples of Christ 3 7.1% 0.4% 18.7

Dutch Reformed 2 4.8% 0.1% 48.0

Quaker 2 4.8% 0.7% 6.9

Catholic 1 2.4% 26.0% 0.1

Congregationalist/

United Church of Christ 1 2.4% 0.6% 4.0

Keep in mind that in the table above, the percentage of the U.S. population for religious groups are current figures. Religious groups have had much different proportions at various time in U.S. history.

One of the most over-represented religious groups among U.S. presidents is Unitarianism. Despite merging with Universalism in the 1960s, the combined proportion of Unitarian Universalists in the U.S. population is just 0.2% of the population (one in every 500 Americans). Yet there have been 4 Unitarian presidents.

Another over-represented religious group among U.S. presidents is Dutch Reformed, by virtue of having two U.S. presidents, yet having only a small number of people left in the country who identify themselves as Reformed. The contemporary heir to the Dutch Reformed churches is the "Reformed Church in America," which has about 300,000 members in the U.S. and Canada. Alternatively, one might count only a single president as Dutch Reformed, if Theodore Roosevelt is counted as an Episcopalian -- sources differ on this subject. Even only one Dutch Reformed president would constitute statistical over-representation.)

After that, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalians, and Quakers have also had representation in the White House far outstripping their proportion of the U.S. population.

On the other end of the scale, the most under-represented religious group is Catholicism, which has had only one U.S. president (John F. Kennedy), despite making up 26% of the current U.S. population. Also under-represented are Baptists, whose proportion of the U.S. population (18%) is twice their proportion of U.S. presidents (9.5%).

Major religious groups in the U.S. which have never had a U.S. president include: Lutherans (about 5% of the U.S. population); Jews (about 2% of the U.S. population); Latter-day Saints (2%); Pentecostals (about 1.8%); Muslims (approx. 1 to 1.5%); Eastern Orthodox (approx. 1%); and Churches of Christ (1%).

Decline In Church Attendance By Generation

Consider these facts:

• The GI or Builder Generation is 9.7% of the U.S. population. Some 60% are members of a church.

• Boomers (born between 1946 and 1966) are 29% of the U.S. population. About 40% are affiliated with a church.

• Survivors or GenXers (born between 1967 and 1981) comprise 27.5% of the population. Only 18% are affiliated with a church.

• Millennials (born 1982 and after) are 21.4% of the population. Less than 10% affiliate with a church.

If nothing changes the current trends...

• By 2010 many of the Builder Generation will no longer be with us.

• By 2010 church membership will drop from 42% today to about 23%, and 15% or lower by 2020 - a decline of 65% in just 18 years!

I shudder when I think about the kind of nation the United States of America may become for our children and grandchildren if you and I fail to make the gospel real and relevant to this and future generations. Currently, the United States is the 3rd largest un-churched and un-discipled mission field in the world!

God Doesn't Love the Cheerless Receiver

Mark 12:40

The Living Word Tabernacle in Waverly, Ohio, terminated the membership of Loretta Davis recently, according to a July report by WCMH-TV in Columbus, because she had stopped paying her tithe. Davis' contributions ended in January after she was hospitalized the first of 15 times this year for congestive heart failure. The church's founder said non-member Davis could still attend, but Davis' daughter said, “In the time of (her) need, (the church) should be caring, supporting, asking what she needs, help her if she needed help.”

(When healthier, Davis was donating $60 a month out of her $592 Social Security check.)

________

WCMH-TV, 7/15/05

Serial Killer Leads City To Grapple With Faith

Luke 13:25

Amid the torment Wichita, Kansas, residents have weathered in sordid public proceedings against “BTK” serial killer Dennis Rader, the community also has learned some lessons about Christianity, a leading pastor noted.

“The BTK situation has opened a door for ministry like I have never seen,” said Terry Fox, pastor of Wichita’s Immanuel Baptist Church and organizer of a prayer vigil in mid-January to pray for BTK’s capture. Rader, who called himself BTK for “bind, torture, kill,” was arrested in late February. He was sentenced Aug. 18 to 10 consecutive life terms in prison for the murder of 10 people since the mid-1970s.

“The opportunity for dialog has been unbelievable, with BTK claiming to be a Christian and yet being a convicted serial killer,” Fox said of Rader who, at the time of his arrest, was president of the church council of a local Lutheran congregation where he had held various leadership positions during his 30 years as a member.

“Our community is asking a lot of questions about salvation,” Fox told Baptist Press Aug. 22. From the media to people on the street, the questions arise: “Who can go to heaven? And, how do you get there?”

“It may be politically correct to say that all people are children of God; however, this is not true,” Fox said. “Dennis Rader is an example of a person who ... was an active church member -- even a leader in a Lutheran church and claiming to be a Christian.

“Just being a church member does not make you a Christian,” Fox continued, noting that “all kinds of people attend church.”

“When Dennis Rader commented about his dark side” during the two days of court proceedings prior to his sentencing and in an earlier 92-page affidavit, “it reminds us that we are all sinners,” Fox said, “and without Christ we are capable of committing horrific acts.”

“Many have asked in our community how could anyone -– a human being -- do something so terrible? Dennis Rader is an example of how far a person’s behavior can go without Christ,” Fox said.

“This event,” he said, “is forcing our community to discover what true Christianity really is.”

Many people in Wichita have developed a wariness in the months since Rader’s arrest “when they realized this man was a normal citizen that we would see at restaurants, movies and even church. How many more Dennis Raders are there in the world?” Fox asked.

The antidote to fear is faith in Christ, he added, citing a passage from Scripture, 2 Timothy 1:7, which states, “...God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Although Rader’s sentencing has provided “a relief and a comfort that justice has been served,” Fox said he has reminded the community in various interviews “that Dennis Rader has another court date with a different Judge -– with eternal ramifications.”

The 60-year-old father of two addressed the court for about 20 minutes Aug. 18 -– in what the Wichita Eagle described as “a rambling, at times incoherent, statement” -- after victims’ families pointedly and tearfully had vented to Rader their years of anguish. The prosecution also presented an array of evidence about how Rader had documented details of his murders as well as deviant sexual fantasies, including photos he had taken of his victims. Rader had hidden the materials in his home and in his office in the Wichita suburb of Park City where he worked as a compliance officer.

Among Rader’s revelations in the court affidavit: his plans for a “grand finale” killing, having stalked a local woman and her daughter, planning a bondage and strangling murder.

Turning Attendees Into A Part of the Family

Ephesians 2:19

“Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian” (Ephesians 2:19).

Today, a lot of Christians are what I call “floating believers.” It is an expression of America’s rampant individualism. Anywhere else in the world, being a believer is synonymous with being connected to a local body of believers. You rarely find a lone ranger Christian in other countries.

Many American Christians, however, hop from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment. They have not been taught that the Christian life involves more than just believing -– it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship to other Christians.

C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay on church membership, reminding us that the word “membership” is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all its original meaning.

Today, most people associate the term “membership” with paying dues, meaningless rituals, silly rules and handshakes, and having your name on some dusty roll.

Paul, however, had a very different image of membership. To Paul, being a “member” of the church did not refer to some cold induction into an institution but rather it meant becoming a vital organ of a living body (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 6:15, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27). We need to reclaim this image!

THE MEANING OF MEMBERSHIP

Joining a church used to be an act of conformity in our society. You joined a church because everybody else did. Now the rules have changed and conformity is no longer a motivating factor. In fact, George Gallup has found that the vast majority of Americans believe it is possible to be a “good Christian” without joining (or even attending) a local church.

Membership is now an act of commitment. The way you motivate people to join today is to show them value-for-value what benefits are in return for their commitment.

At Saddleback, we’ve found that when people understand the meaning and value of membership, they get excited about it.

There are numerous benefits to membership:

1. It identifies me as a genuine believer (Ephesians 2:19, Romans 12:5).

2. It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage me in my walk with Christ (Galatians 6:1-2, Hebrews 10:24-25).

3. It gives me a place to discover and use my gifts in ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4-27).

4. It places me under the spiritual protection of godly leaders (Hebrews 13:17, Acts 20:28-29).

5. It gives me the accountability I need to grow (Ephesians 5:21).

Nothing helps this picture come into focus like personalizing the purposes of the church. This is especially important when convincing attendees in your crowd to join your congregation.

You need to emphasize the fact that the church provides them with benefits they cannot find anywhere else in the world:

• Worship helps me focus on God. It prepares me spiritually and emotionally for the week ahead.

• Fellowship helps me face life’s problems by providing the support and encouragement of other Christians.

• Discipleship helps me fortify my faith by learning the truth of God’s Word and applying biblical principles to my lifestyle.

• Ministry helps me find and develop my talents and use them in serving others.

• Evangelism helps me fulfill my mission of reaching my friends and family for Christ.

YOUR CHURCH IS A FAMILY

There are many analogies for a Christian disconnected from a church: A football player without a team; a soldier without a platoon; a tuba player without an orchestra; and a sheep without a flock.

But the most understandable (and biblical) picture is that of a child without a family.

1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the church as “... the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.”

God does not want his children growing up in isolation from each other, so he created a spiritual family on earth for us. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:19, “...you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian.”

A Christian without a church family is an orphan.

I believe it is important today to position the church as a family, rather than as an institution. Since the 1960s, Americans have become increasingly anti-institutional. They use the phrase “organized religion” with contempt.

On the other hand, people are longing for a sense of family and community.

Today, there are a number of factors that have fragmented the nuclear family in our culture: The high divorce rate, delayed marriages, the emphasis on individuality, alternative lifestyles, women working outside the home and the high rate of mobility.

In our mobile society, people have few roots. People are no longer surrounded by the extended family of aunts and uncles, grandparents and brothers and sisters that provided a safety net for previous generations.

THE LONGING TO BELONG

Today, we have a record number of single adults in America. Vance Packard called America “a nation of strangers.” As a result, we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness in society. One Gallup poll reported that four in 10 Americans admit to frequent feelings of “intense loneliness.” Americans are, in fact, the loneliest people in the world.

Everywhere you look there are signs that people have a deep hunger for fellowship, community and a sense of family. Independent-minded baby boomers are suddenly longing to be connected as they enter middle age.

This longing for belonging provides the church with a timely opportunity. Positioning the church as an extended family -– and as “a place where you are cared for” -– will strike a sensitive chord in many lonely hearts.

We Are One In the Spirit

Hebrews 8:8

Sermon series on the Church Covenant. Hebrews 8:8-12

WE ARE ONE IN THE SPIRIT

========================

I. What's heard, and not heard.

II. We start with Jesus.

A. Our salvation comes from receiving Jesus as our Savior.

B. Our faith is a personal relationship with God.

C. Regenerate membership.

III. How can we know who is really born again?

A. We cannot know someone else's heart, for certain.

B. We can have confidence in ourselves.

IV. Entering into covenant.

A. What is a covenant?

B. Qualities of the commitment.

C. One body in Christ.

V. God must be at the center.

A. He leads us to salvation.

B. He watches over everything we do. (angels watch, too)

C. Is he at the center of your life and faith?

Total Abstinence and Church Membership

Joel 1:5

There are two questions I want to discuss tonight. One is: Should Christians in America today abstain from the use of alcoholic drink as a beverage? The other is: Should such abstinence be a requirement for church membership? My answer to the first question is Yes and my answer to the second question is No. Total abstinence is the best way to treat alcohol today, but total abstinence should not be a requirement for membership in the local church. I'll try to show from Scripture why I have these convictions. My assumption is that we should desire to bring all our personal and church life into conformity to Scripture.

Article III of our church constitution says:

The membership of this Church shall consist of persons who confess faith on the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior, who give evidence of regeneration by a living consistent with their profession and with the views of faith, doctrine and practice of this Church, who have been baptized by immersion and who have been received into its membership according to the By-Laws of this church.

It says that members should give evidence of living consistent with “the practice of this church.” The “practice” toward which the church agrees to aim is found in Article II, “Our Church Covenant.”

1) Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, angels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

2) We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this Church in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the Church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.

3) We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to educate our children in the Christian faith; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment, to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.

4) We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

5) We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will, if possible, unite with a church where we can carry out the articles of this confession and the spirit of this covenant.

That is a beautiful, Biblical summary of what the church should expect all of its members to pursue. With the exception of one sentence, the requirements are Biblical and general in nature. For example, it says we will “strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge,” but it does not say we will read a certain number of books or attend a certain number of classes. It says we will “contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry,” but it does not make tithing a requirement (even though there is Biblical warrant for urging the tithe as a minimum). It says we will “educate our children in the Christian faith,” but it does not prescribe a lesson plan or curriculum. It says we will contribute to “the relief of the poor,” but it does not endorse any particular social program. In every case but one, we are called to general Biblical principles of attitude and behavior, while latitude is allowed for how the principles are applied in our particular case. Only one sentence departs from this pattern, namely, “We engage ... to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage.” Here there is no Biblical principle with latitude for application. A definite action is singled out and it is forbidden. This means that every member of the church must, according to the constitution, be committed to total abstinence and that prospective members who are not teetotalers will be excluded from membership.

The sentence on abstinence in the Church Covenant seemed so out of keeping with the other parts that I did some research to see if it were part of the original. Here's what I found. For 75 years Bethlehem lived without a formal constitution. But in 1945, the church approved its first constitution which took effect January 1946. That document contains our present Church Covenant with everything exactly the same except that the words “to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage” are missing. The present constitutional revision happened in 1965 and I presume that is when the sentence on total abstinence was inserted. I don't know how many times the Covenant has been read by the congregation in the last 16 years, but one person told me that he could not recall its being read anytime in the last eight years. Some of the deacons also recalled that when the vote on total abstinence was taken there was a split vote. That probably is why the Covenant has fallen into disuse. It prohibits behavior on which there is real difference of conscience among believers and therefore, it divides rather than unites the congregation. I would like to see the Covenant revived and to that end amended in keeping with its original spirit and Biblical breadth.

But before we talk about a specific amendment let's return to the first question: Should a Christian in America today abstain from alcoholic drink as a beverage? We will start by just getting an overview of the Biblical attitude toward alcoholic beverages and the problems associated with them. There is no reason to think that Jesus was a teetotaler since he made wine for a wedding in John 2 and said in Luke 7:33-34, “John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, 'He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”' The people in Jesus' day were doubly guilty because they took offense both at John's abstinence and Jesus' drinking. They slandered one as a demon and the other as a drunkard. In Psalm 104:15 wine is pictured as a gift from God to gladden man's heart, and in Deuteronomy 33:28 the hope of Israel is described as a bountiful land of corn and wine. And in Deuteronomy 14:26 God gave permission to enjoy wine at certain feasts.

But on the other side priests were prohibited from drinking wine or strong drink while serving the tent of God (Lev. 10:9). Part of the Nazarite vow was total abstinence (Num. 6:3). The Proverbs warn against the dangers of strong drink: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; and whoever is led astray by it is not wise”(20:1). “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of the eyes? Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. 'They struck me,' you will say, 'but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink” (23:29-35). “It is not for kings, O Lemuel it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink; lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted (31:4,5). The prophets also attacked the abuse of strong drink: “Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening till wine inflames them” (Is. 5:11). And in the New Testament Paul repeatedly denounces drunkenness as a work of the flesh (Eph. 5:18; Rom. 13:13; Gal. 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:7). And it appears that Timothy had committed himself to total abstinence for a while because Paul had to urge him, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach” (1 Tim. 5:23).

The least we can infer from all this is that while drinking is not always viewed as wrong, its dangers and harmfulness were such as to call forth numerous warnings and in some cases (priestly service, Nazarite vow, Timothy's apostolic efforts) abstinence was seen as commendable. Drunkenness is always wrong.

The implication of this for our lives today is that we must look at the fundamental ethical principle of Scripture, take stock of our own personal and societal situation and decide whether total abstinence or moderate use is the best way to go. For myself and my family the way I have decided to go is total abstinence. I also believe, in general, that this is the best way for all believers in America today to go. There are four basic reasons. As I describe them I will try to make their Biblical basis clear.

1. FIRST, I CHOOSE NOT TO DRINK BECAUSE OF MY CONSCIENCE.

I would feel uneasy and somewhat guilty if I were to purchase and use alcoholic beverages. The Biblical principle here is that we should not act against our conscience even if our conscience condemns us for actions that are morally neutral in themselves. Paul said in Romans 14:14, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.” Then in verses 22, 23 he says, “Happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (cf. also 1 Cor. 8:7,12). The main point of Romans 14 and 1 Cor. 8 and 10:23ff. is that we should not tempt others to do what they feel qualms about doing; but that also means that we who have qualms about a thing should avoid it.

Now if there were some good reason, I could work to reeducate my conscience on this matter. But in view of what I know about alcohol I have no inclination to rid myself of my conscientious misgivings about the use of alcohol. Many young evangelicals need to have a far more positive attitude toward the sensitivities of conscience which many owe to their parents and church. It is a mark of great immaturity to be constantly kicking against the ways our parents taught us. I know I owe my conscientious misgivings about alcohol to my parents. We never drank and I am glad. I never felt the least slighted. On the contrary we were the happiest family I ever knew. Total abstinence paid off.

I might just add that I am also glad about some other so-called fundamentalist no-nos. My parents almost never went to movies and I almost never go to movies. The reason is very simple: there are almost no movies that don't ask me to be entertained by attitudes, motives, and actions which Jesus died to eradicate. My heart will not allow me to be entertained by worldliness. My parents never smoked and their way has proven best. Seminars on how to quit smoking would have been laughed to scorn as religious bigotry 25 year ago. Today it's a law in Minnesota that you can't blow smoke in my face in a restaurant. I just mention a few of these wonderful “hang-ups” to illustrate that young believers should be very slow to liberate themselves from the scruples of their parents. And in any case, one should never act against one's conscience. This is the first reason I am a teetotaler.

2. THE SECOND REASON IS THAT ALCOHOL IS A MIND-ALTERING DRUG.

In its effect upon the mind alcohol works most quickly as a depressant to eliminate restraints. The fine shades of moral restraint are among the first to become blurred. Further, split-second decisions and the quick neural reflexes leading to physical action become sluggish — as well as our judgment as to whether or not our critical faculties have been at all affected by our drinking” (CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Sept. 18, 1981, p.13).

This inclines me toward total abstinence, first in relation to myself and then in relation to others. In relation to myself, what this says to me is that alcohol could hinder me in what I want most, namely to recognize and to do the will of God. The Bible says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”(Rom. 12:2). And in another place, “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). The mature believer does not ask: How many enjoyable things can I do and still not transgress God's will?” But rather: Is there anything at all that I can do or stop doing which will refine my ability to recognize and do the will of God. In general, drinking alcoholic beverages does not increase one's sensitivity to the will of God. On the contrary, it weakens the intensity of our desire to be holy as God is holy. Therefore, I feel no need whatsoever to make wine or beer or any other alcoholic beverage part of my diet. It contradicts and threatens what I value most.

In relation to others, this desensitizing effect of alcohol inclines me to total abstinence, first, because I don't want to encourage others to do what I reject for myself, and second, because the blunting of my judgment and the slowing of my reflexes could harm others both morally and physically. It is easy to see here that the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” demands that we not put our neighbors' integrity or health in jeopardy.

3. THE THIRD REASON WHY I CHOOSE TOTAL ABSTINENCE IS THAT ALCOHOL IS ADDICTIVE.

I simply cannot see any reason why I should incorporate into my way of life a beverage which not only blurs the fine shades of moral restraints, but also could easily become habit- forming. I say with Paul, “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything (1 Cor. 6:12). If someone laughs and says, “Why not prove you can hold your liquor. Why rule it out on the basis of a possible weakness?” my response is, “I've got nothing to prove. God forbid that I should boast in anything except the cross of Christ by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world (Gal. 6:14). I don't have any inclination to prove to anybody that I'm not weak. I have values in my life that are infinitely more important than proving to myself or to someone else that I can drink and not be addicted.”

4. THE FOURTH REASON I CHOOSE TOTAL ABSTINENCE IS TO MAKE A SOCIAL STATEMENT.

Some people rank alcoholism as our second greatest health problem in America (others say 3rd or 4th). There are about 10 million alcoholics and 20 million persons who consume an immoderate amount of alcohol. About 70% use alcohol as a beverage. As a result, alcohol contributes to 205,000 deaths each year. Life expectancy of the alcoholic is reduced by at least a decade. One-half of all traffic fatalities are the direct result of the abuse of alcohol. It is directly connected to one-half the homicides and one-third of the suicides. It costs business alone 19 billion dollars a year. And now one out of every twelve marriages comes apart over drinking.

It is clear that millions and millions of people are stumbling over alcohol and ruining their lives, their families and their businesses. Christians ought to care about that and ought to want to say something and do something. What I choose to say is, “Stop drinking, America!” Or, since America is not listening to me, I say, “Stop drinking, Bethlehem!” And I choose to oppose the carnage of alcohol abuse by boycotting the product. If people can go on hunger strikes to make a political statement, and boycott Nestle's products to make a statement about child nutrition and third world exploitation; if people can go without lettuce for the sake of solidarity with Southern Californian farm workers, or swear off white bread and granulated sugar, is it really so prudish, or narrow to renounce a highway killer, a home destroyer, and a business wrecker. If we were ever hesitant to make a social statement about the tragic effect of alcohol abuse on our land for fear that we would be out of step with the times, we can put that hesitancy aside forever. TIME magazine just carried a full-page ad about why one big corporation (ITT) is concerned with alcohol abuse. The danger and damage of alcohol is so great and so well-known that your insistence of an alternative drink at the office party will soon need no justification at all. Most businesses know there are so many dry alcoholics they must give non-alcoholic alternatives.

For these four reasons, then, I am a very happy teetotaler and I think you should be too. But that brings us to our second question: Should total abstinence be a requirement for church membership? My answer is, No. The reason is this: the New Testament allows for a difference of conviction and practice on this issue in the church and therefore it is wrong not to allow for that same difference in the church today. Romans 14:20,21 puts wine-drinking in the category of eating meat and leaves the ethical judgment with the believer to grapple with whether his behavior will make the brother stumble.

The original framers of our Church Covenant were sensitive to the nature of Biblical ethics and their relation to church membership. They did not get so specific as to eliminate believers with Biblically warranted differences of conviction. But the persons who added the total abstinence clause in 1965 were also well-intentioned. They say rightly the rising harmfulness of alcohol. What I am urging church to do is amend the Church Covenant to preserve the wisdom in both of these groups of Christians.

To preserve the wisdom of the 1965 group we should include in our Covenant a pledge to abstain from harmful drugs, food, drink and practices. But to preserve the wisdom of the 1945 group we should not specify what drugs, foods, drinks or practices are intended. This allows the Biblical latitude of sincerely differing consciences, but also commits us to examine everything we eat and drink and do with a view to its harmful or loving effect on ourselves and others. No one will be able to say, “I do not drink, so I have done my duty.” He must now examine why he does not drink and whether any other practices should be abandoned.

We recommend, therefore, that the words, “We engage ... to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage” be replaced by the words, “We engage ... to seek God's help in abstaining from all drugs, food, drink and practices which harm the body or jeopardize our own or another's faith.”

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An Atheist Joins A Church

Robert Jensen is absolutely transparent in his atheism. “I don't believe in God,” he asserts. That statement is simple enough, indicating a categorical denial in any belief in God.

Lest anyone mistake his atheism for mere theological confusion, Jensen went on to explain: “I don't believe Jesus Christ was the son of a God that I don't believe in, nor do I believe Jesus rose from the dead to ascend to a heaven that I don't believe exists.”

What makes these statements all the more significant is that they appear in an article entitled, “Why I am a Christian (Sort Of),” in which Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, explains why he joined St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin.

As Jensen relates his story, he explains that he has joined the church as “more a political than a theological act.” In other words, Jensen sees the church of which he is now a member as more of a political than a theological institution.

“Standing before the congregation of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, I affirmed that I (1) endorsed the core principles in Christ's teaching; (2) intended to work to deepen my understanding and practice of the universal love at the heart of those principles; and (3) pledged to be a responsible member of the church and to the larger community.”

Moving from that most minimal of confessional pledges, Jensen went on to claim: “So, I am a Christian, sort of. A secular Christian. A Christian atheist, perhaps. But, in a deep sense, I would argue, a real Christian.”

Of course, arguing that it is so does not make it so. Robert Jensen is a well-known political activist whose championing of liberal causes is a source of regular controversy at the University of Texas and beyond. He appears to enjoy his role as a self-anointed provocateur, and in this move to join a church, he has provoked an outcry from both orthodox Christians and his fellow atheists.

Why, after all, would an atheist even want to join a church that identifies with Christianity? More to the point, how could any church that holds even a minimal sense of Christian identity allow an atheist to join?

Jensen makes an unconvincing case concerning his own motivations. He explains that “whatever my beliefs about the nature about the non-material world or my views on spirituality, I live in a country that is extremely religious, especially compared to other technologically advanced industrial nations.” In some sense, Jensen appears to be making a “if you can't beat them, join them” argument.

The cynical dimension of Jensen's reason for joining the church becomes immediately apparent when he explains that, “since a vast majority of Americans define a 'good American' as one who holds to some religious faith, clearly there's an advantage to being able to speak within a religious framework in the contemporary United States.”

The political motivation behind Jensen's move is openly acknowledged. “So, my decision to join a church was more a political than a theological act. As a political organizer interested in a variety of social-justice issues, I look for places to engage people in discussion. In a depoliticized society such as the United States – where ordinary people in everyday spaces do not routinely talk about politics and its underlying values – church is one of the few places where such engagement is possible.”

Well, so much for Jensen's reasons for attempting to join a church. The larger and more important question is how any church could justify accepting an atheist to join the church? In his article, published in the March 12, 2006 edition of THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Jensen explains, “the pastor and most of the congregation at St. Andrew's understand my reasons for joining, realizing that I didn't convert in a theological sense, but joined a moral and political community. There's nothing special about me in this regard – many St. Andrew's members I have talked to are seeking community and a place for spiritual, moral and political engagement. The church is expansive in defining faith; the degree to which members of the congregation believe in God and Christ in traditional terms varies widely. Many do, some don't, and a whole lot of folks seem to be searching. St. Andrew's offers a safe place and an exciting atmosphere for that search, in collaboration with others.”

So, here we find a congregation that, in the words of the atheist who is now accepted into its membership, is “expansive in defining faith.” This is a colossal understatement, to say the very least. In the case of this church, at least as is now claimed by Robert Jensen, this expansiveness includes those who claim no faith at all, at least in terms of any basic belief in God.

This statement gets to the heart of a widespread confusion about the nature and identity of the church. There may be strategic places which represent “a safe space and an exciting atmosphere” for a vague and wide-open spiritual quest, but this has nothing whatsoever to do with a Christian church.

By definition, a church is a fellowship of believers – those who have confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord. The very fact that a contemporary congregation could celebrate allowing an atheist to join is an indication that such a congregation is, by biblical definition, a false church.

Jim Rigby, pastor of St. Andrew's, a church affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), explains that allowing an atheist to join his church is a matter of building “connections.”

“Neither the church nor Jensen views his membership as surrendering anything,” Rigby insists, “but instead is an attempt to build connections. Such efforts are crucial in a world where there seems not to be a lot of wood to build the bridges we need. And the shame is, while we fight among ourselves, the world is burning.”

In making his case, “why we let an atheist join our church,” Rigby, like Jensen, connects church membership to political activism. “In my ministry, I have had to live in two worlds,” Rigby explains. “I have spiritual friends who are trying to celebrate the mystery of life and activist friends who are trying to change the world. Somehow these two enterprises have been separated, but I don't believe either option represents a complete life. Apolitical spirituality runs the danger of giving charity instead of justice, while atheistic humanism runs the danger of offering facts instead of meaning. This divide between spirituality and activism is a betrayal of the deeper roots of both.”

What about the church's confession of faith? Constitutionally, both the pastor and the church are accountable to the denomination's revised confession of faith – a confession that, though significantly weakened by revision, still, we should note, requires belief in God. Rigby explains, “If God had wanted us to simply recite creeds, Jesus would have come as a parrot.”

The pastor also asks a most interesting question: “Is there still room in the church for Thomas [who questioned the Lord's resurrection]?” This is the kind of sloppy, silly, and superficial theological argument that is so frequently the common fare in liberal Protestantism. Is Rigby seriously suggesting that Thomas was at any point an atheist? Where is the pastor's acknowledgment that Thomas' response to his encounter with the risen Lord was concluded by his own confession of faith: “My Lord and my God.”

Rigby has been involved in controversy before. St. Andrew's is a congregation aligned with the “More Light” movement that is pressing for the acceptance of same-sex marriage and the ordination of active homosexuals within the Presbyterian Church (USA). As John H. Adams reports in THE PRESBYTERIAN LAYMAN, “St. Andrew's is a More Light congregation whose pastor, Jim Rigby, was recently exonerated by a presbytery investigating committee, which decided he would not face trial for marrying same-gender couples during a homosexual activist event at the University of Texas. Rigby was never tried for the charges although he declared that he welcomed the trial because he married the couples as a matter of conscience.”

Just recently, John Judson, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, and chairman of the local presbytery's Committee on Ministry, sent a letter to presbytery officials that stated: “It has come to our attention that a session within the bounds of the Mission Presbytery has received into membership an individual whom, according to his own writings, claims neither to believe in God nor to believe that Jesus Christ is who our historic Christian tradition and Scripture claim him to be.” Further, “We take this incident with great seriousness and want you to know that we will be sending a team from the Committee on Ministry to visit with this session and discover the facts and take whatever measures we feel appropriate to deal with the situation.”

We can only hope that this committee will take the measures that will be necessary in order to hold this church accountable to Scripture and the denomination's confession of faith. Lacking this, the denomination will be accepting atheism as an acceptable confession of faith for the membership of its churches.

The loss of a biblical vision for the local church is one of the greatest tragedies of our times, leading to a weakened Christian witness and a deadly theological confusion both within and without the church. This is not a problem limited to one denomination or to a single congregation.

One urgent question remains – can a church that has allowed itself to move this far from theological orthodoxy ever be recovered? Time will tell. Nevertheless, short of a miracle, such a recovery doesn't look likely. For, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is not only a congregation that has accepted an atheist into its membership – it is a congregation that remains proud of its own spiritual rebellion.

Warnings On the Road To Discipline

Ezra 10:1

As a growing topic of discussion among all evangelicals, church discipline has found renewed purpose in significant congregations across the nation. The advocates of church discipline are finding their voices heard in new ways by new publics. There is, of course, strong support for strengthening the moral fiber of the local church, and many believe church discipline is the biblical answer to what has become the sagging and insipid American church experience.

Congregations serious about church discipline maintain that membership matters so much that simply asking for it does not necessarily require that the church grant it. Gone are the days when simply joining a church meant walking the aisle during the invitation hymn, showing up at Christmas and/or Easter and contributing a bit of money during the year.

Hearty agreement across the spectrum of evangelicalism can be seen from divergent points of view. It matters not if the person holds to traditional Reformed theology or to flaming Pentecostalism -- all agree that the way people are received into a local congregation is but the start of a journey toward heightened personal transparency, total involvement in the life and ministry of the congregation, and an expectation that no area of life remains totally private any longer once a person joins a church. The very idea of personal anonymity is dissolved as individuals and families covenant together to live their lives together “congregationalized.”

This fast-growing practice has but one hitch, which is also attracting attention by advocates and opponents alike. In some congregations what is touted as church discipline actually is spiritual tyranny. The result is that membership accompanies a tacit agreement that honest dissent is frowned upon. With congregational autonomy as the baseline of the discussion, the requirement of total agreement with church leadership often results in fear by the members to raise questions out of intimidation.

Young people of today will not abide by the old way of doing business in the local Southern Baptist church, and while the paradigm of old-style Baptist business meetings might amuse various and sundry power brokers in numerous churches across the SBC, those who simply show up to fight no longer have a place at the table in churches who actively embrace church discipline. And rightly so. Southern Baptists, in particular, are known more for their disagreements than their unity. How many vagrant Baptist church members actually have touted that the business meeting is the place where “being a Baptist” is on display?

That said, the antithesis of such a movement is also proving to be problematic. Questions from church members in “disciplined” churches are often seen as criticism -- where disagreement is often branded as disloyalty. Church discipline can all too easily be turned into a machine to squelch quickly and even police the private conversations of members who dare to raise a question against the leadership of the church.

The result is a growing number of Christians who are convinced that the church must be more than a social gathering where doughnuts and Jesus appear together every week, but who also believe that no person should be made to feel uncomfortable, unspiritual, disloyal or in any way intimidated when the proper process of dissent is employed. When and where this happens, a local congregation can slide into cult-like status.

This progression begins when members express concerns about the trajectory of thought associated with a certain decision of the church leaders which leads to others asking and requiring that church leaders be consulted in private for fear of bringing disunity to the congregation. So great and powerful is the idea of disunity as a tool in Satan’s hands, that no serious Christian would ever toy with the idea that the implications of their criticism would in any way aid and abet the enemy of Christ’s church. Such logic sounds on the surface to be biblically correct. Yet, should there be a church member who is legitimately concerned or maintains a divergent point of view, church discipline can all too easily become the weapon of choice by church leaders.

What transpires if the person is persistent in his questioning of the leadership is the requirement, under articles of the church covenant, that he speak of the issue to no one else in the congregation -- else he face accusations of slander which would then lead to church discipline by the leadership. The boundaries of such conversations need not center on areas of doctrine which comprise the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith.

Controversy can arise all too easily over certain church practices which are not explicit requirements of the Christian as found in Holy Scripture. Whether a person lingers after the service for a specified amount of time or actively supports various initiatives of the congregation all too easily can become tests of loyalty and commitment to the work of reformation in a local church.

If the matter is not resolved, the only option offered at some point is to resign their membership and join another congregation. Indeed, this may be the best option for all, but congregations who require absolute agreement on matters not explicitly addressed in Scripture are in danger of becoming legalists who emotionally abuse church members and intimidate them into silence or resignation. Once this line is crossed, the privilege of Baptist polity has been compromised, and spiritual tyranny has begun.

The effect of such unintended consequences on the church at large is the fear that careful balance is too difficult to maintain. The abuse of power (especially among Christians) and the strong pull for personal status in spiritual matters is too hard to refute over time so the best alternative for modern Christians who are weary of old-style polity and church politics is simply to acquiesce and endure as the price to pay for good preaching and serious churches. This option, however, fails to address the problem in ways demanded by Scripture.

The best of men are men at best, and no matter how or when a man is commissioned as an officer in the church of Jesus Christ, his heart remains a deposit of, in the words of theologian John Owen, “remaining sin.” As men set apart for the service of Christ and his church, they should never be allowed to rise to levels where scrutiny and sanctification are mutually exclusive. One of the best defenses against such taking place in local churches is to require that church discipline be restored and church leadership be restrained under the authority of Holy Scripture by the congregation. Truly spiritual men should trust that God may often use the voices of those who oppose them as agents of His grace in sanctification.

Is Baptism Required For Church Membership?

Mark 1:4

In three services over the weekend of July 29-30, members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma, will vote on a proposal to eliminate baptism as a requirement for church membership. Announcement of the vote has sparked a flurry of debate -– a discussion reflected on the pages of The Baptist Messenger, newsjournal of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

In a column published on the newsjournal’s website, www.baptistmessenger.com, Henderson Hills pastor Dennis Newkirk explains that, while the congregation’s elder council believes “the New Testament commands every believer to be baptized by immersion, subsequent to salvation,” they are questioning whether baptism should be required “as an initiatory rite of church membership.”

The proposal, Newkirk writes, “is not intended to excuse people from the sin of refusing baptism. Instead, our concern is for Christians in two categories, those who physically cannot experience immersion due to a disability, and for those who are under the mistaken conviction that sprinkling is baptism.”

Like many Southern Baptist churches, Henderson Hills deals with people who would like to join but are members of churches where baptism is practiced by sprinkling infants, rather than immersing individuals who have consciously chosen to follow Christ. The vast majority of Southern Baptist churches would require such inquirers to offer evidence of salvation and submit to rebaptism by immersion.

Although Newkirk’s column says that “in 31 years of ministry, I have never met a believer who adamantly refused baptism,” he argues that the requirement of rebaptism is an obstacle to ministering to such people.

“We often sacrifice our opportunity to teach and influence those mistaken Christians by rejecting them or we unintentionally promote an unbiblical motive for baptism, making it little more than a rite of initiation into church membership,” Newkirk writes. “Why not allow them the blessings, responsibilities and protection of church membership, and then teach, pray, and influence them towards biblical baptism?”

The proposal coming before the congregation would strike the phrase, “has been scripturally baptized,” from a church bylaw that currently reads, in part: “Membership will be granted to anyone who offers a biblical testimony of salvation, has been scripturally baptized and agrees to accept the responsibilities of membership.”

REACTION

Response to the Henderson Hills announcement has been passionate, such as a counterpoint from Rick Thompson, pastor of Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany, Okla., published by the Messenger.

“Southern Baptist churches often encounter people who desire to gain membership in the church but do not want to be baptized by immersion because they were ‘baptized’ as infants,” Thompson writes in his column. “Some may view this requirement [of being rebaptized by immersion] as a stumbling block for Christians who want to be members of the (SBC) church. However, Southern Baptists have determined that this is a basic issue that we must get right. It is an issue of discipleship.”

In Christian traditions that practice infant baptism by sprinkling, “baptism is not seen as being a necessary requirement for obedience but rather a sign of the covenant promise [their] believing parents are under ... a kind of new circumcision –- a sign of the covenant,” Thompson writes.

Scripture, however, offers no evidence of infant baptism or baptism by sprinkling, he notes. “Baptists believe the only baptism practiced in Scripture is believer's baptism by immersion.”

Saying that the Bible does not explicitly teach that one must be baptized to be a member of the church “is like saying that the Bible never says you must be a Christian to be a member of the church,” Thompson adds. “Why link the two together? In fact, there is no single passage in Scripture that specifically gives us the requirements of membership into the church. But membership is certainly implied.”

MEMBERSHIP & BAPTISM

Church membership cannot be separated from baptism in the New Testament, argues R. Stanton Norman, an associate professor of theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, in another column on the Messenger site.

“The New Testament clearly teaches that a local church is only to be comprised of those persons whose allegiance belongs exclusively to Jesus Christ,” Norman writes. “Baptism was the divinely, publicly instituted ‘point of entry’ into the membership of a local congregation of believers.

“The baptismal act publicly signified the transition of the individual from the old life to the new life in Christ; old allegiances were forsaken in order that new allegiances with Christ and His people could be formed. The believer gave testimony to this spiritual transition in the rite of baptism. By submitting to the public act of baptism, a person publicly joined with the church in its confession that ‘Jesus is Lord’ and expressed the intention to be considered a member of the congregation.”

BIBLICAL BASIS

The distinctively Baptist understanding of the church as a body of believers baptized by immersion has a solid foundation in Scripture, William B. Tolar, retired dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes in another column.

“Our Baptist forefathers defined the church as being a body of baptized believers because of their interpretations and high concept of the divine inspiration of Scripture and their serious regard for the Lordship of Jesus Christ,” Tolar writes. “They understood Jesus' command in Matthew 28:19-20 should be followed in the sequence in which it is recorded: ‘make disciples ... baptizing them ... and ... teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.’

“The Greek word for ‘disciples’ (believers, students, learners) preceded the act of baptism, and being baptized (the Greek word means to dip, plunge or immerse) was also clearly a part of Christ's command,” Tolar observes. “Because the risen Lord had commanded them to immerse believers (and not to sprinkle or simply pour water on them), Baptist scholars were convinced that was the proper sequence and immersion was the biblical mode.”

SYMBOL, NOT SACRAMENT

A complicating factor in accepting members from Christian traditions that practice infant baptism is the fact that those churches believe the sprinkling makes the baby a Christian. Another column on the Messenger site explains the contrasting Baptist conviction that baptism is merely a symbol of the change Christ has made in the heart of a person who has deliberately chosen to follow Him.

“The Southern Baptist understanding of baptism stands in conflict with the official doctrine of traditional Roman Catholicism and even some Protestant groups who teach that in the act of baptism, there is the impartation of grace ex opere operato, without preexisting faith,” writes Brad Waggoner, a former dean at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, now director of research at LifeWay Christian Resources. “Southern Baptists also believe that the proper subjects of baptism are those who have previously entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.”

‘STEP OF OBEDIENCE’

Baptism is a membership requirement in Southern Baptist churches because Jesus made baptism the norm for becoming a Christian in Matthew 28:19 and the apostles continued this practice in the early church, Rick Thompson writes.

“There is no question that baptism is the first step in our obedience to Christ and that obedience is the sign and signature of being a Christian,” Thompson writes. “The church is the bride and body of Christ, where people are challenged into discipleship. Making disciples is the primary role of the church of which baptism is the first step. This is why Baptists believe no one should be a member of the church who has not taken this step of obedience.”

RESOLUTION

The executive board of the Capital Baptist Association, an alliance of churches in metropolitan Oklahoma City of which Henderson Hills is a member, adopted a resolution addressing the baptism proposal. The resolution affirmed the association’s agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message, the Southern Baptist confession of faith, which identifies immersion baptism of believers as a prerequisite to church membership. The resolution also resolved to “encourage the members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church to affirm and maintain their current bylaw requirements for church membership” and called on other Capital Baptist churches “to pray for the leaders and members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church as they seek God’s will in this matter.”

The Lost Members of the Church

John 14:15

Baptists are a peculiar people. We insist that one make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We insist that they be baptized before they can join our church. And, yet, some of us insist upon nothing else once they’re members.

Equally peculiar is the fact that we Baptists claim to be a “people of the book,” putting the Bible before all else when it comes to defining and defending our faith. Yet, we ignore its teaching on church membership.

The writer of Hebrews paints a clear picture of what God expects of His children in His church.

“And let us be concerned one about another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Notice the three privileges/benefits that we enjoy as members of the church.

1) We are to promote love among ourselves. When we promote love among ourselves, love flourishes in the church, and we are loved ourselves. Jesus said that it is by our love for one another that the world would know that we are His disciples.

2) We are to promote good works. When we do this, the church’s ministries prosper and we may be blessed by someone else’s good works. Again, Jesus said you will know His people by their fruits, that is, their good works.

3) We are to encourage one another. We are to lift one another up and to be their support system in a hostile, sinful world. Sometimes we lift others up. Sometimes we are lifted up.

So far, so good. No Baptist would question the value of such benefits. However, here’s where it gets interesting. To receive the benefits of church membership, one must not only be on the rolls but also in the pews. We are not to be “staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do” (Hebrews 10:25). Doing so does not just limit our exposure to those benefits mentioned, it is a sin.

Christians who stay away from church for any reason other than health or travel are living in outright rebellion against the revealed will of God. They are out of communion with each other. They are out of communion with Christ. Worse, their absence may in fact suggest that they’re not really children of God after all.

Rather than accepting the fact that several million Baptists will be AWOL next Sunday, we ought to be alarmed. We have on our church rolls so-called members who don’t act like members and, as evidenced by this ongoing pattern of sin, they don’t act like believers, either.

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Those who rebel against the most basic of commandments concerning church membership reveal a dysfunctional relationship with Christ. It’s time we start treating those people like lost people, not lost children who’ve meandered a little too far into the woods. These people may never come out of the woods. We need to stop waiting for them to return, stop treating them like members, and start treating them like unbelievers. We need to share something more than good memories with them. We need to share the Gospel.

Join your church leadership in reaching out to “members” who are living like the world. Share your love and, more importantly, share your faith.

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Peter Beck is pastor of Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.,

Baptists Must Reclaim Membership and Church Discipline

Ezra 10:1

Southern Baptist scholar Gregory Wills believes in church disipline.[1] Wills says the degree to which churches implement church discipline is a predictor of whether the church is safe from disaster.

“[Church discipline] is the canary in a coal mine,” says Wills, who is professor of church history and director of the Center for the Study of the Southern Baptist Convention at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. “When the canary in a coal mine keels over, catastrophe impends. When church discipline is lost, catastrophe impends.”

According to Wills, church discipline among Baptists began to decline in the late-19th century and early-20th century. He attributes the decline to the rise of pragmatism, individualism and secularization in the culture at large. This decline in discipline also permitted liberalism to make crucial inroads into many Baptist churches, he says.

Lax discipline was a new development among Baptists. Earlier Baptist churches had a strong commitment to church discipline in earlier centuries, Wills says.

Baptist churches stood for proper discipline “because they feared God more than men; because Christ commanded it,” Wills says. “They had no more freedom to neglect church discipline than they had to neglect baptism, communion or preaching faith in the name of Christ. They believed that Christ commanded a specific church order, and they pressed themselves to carry it out no matter how impractical or ineffective it might appear.”

Early Baptists, Wills says, were confident that God would bless the faithful practice of church discipline.

“Church discipline was a Gospel remedy for sin and temptation. It was an essential part of the means that God gave for sanctifying believers,” Wills says.

Rev. Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C, says churches cannot effectively reinstitute biblical church discipline until the meaning of church membership is renewed.

Dever has written and spoken extensively on the subject of church polity. Developing a plan for church discipline was the 11th step of a 12-step plan Dever proposes for a renewed commitment to local church membership. A system for church discipline came after other steps such as consistently proclaiming and applying the Gospel message, writing a church confession and instituting a membership class.

“We should realize that our immediate assurance to someone else of their salvation based merely upon their verbal profession of faith in Christ may not be the most loving thing we can do,” Dever says. “Joining the church is joining an assurance of salvation cooperative. We are to observe evidences of God’s grace in each other’s lives and to encourage one another by them. And we are supposed to correct one another when occasion requires.”

Dever says that a thoughtfully implemented approach to church membership should foster evangelism, love among Christians and submission to God and church leaders. Meaningful church membership helps Christians display the character of God, he says.

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1. Wills’ presentation was titled “The Historical Development and Loss of Church Discipline in Baptist Churches.”

When To Leave Your Church

Acts 17:2

Last year our church focused on the Bible’s instruction to love harmony and unity. As the Bible says in Philippians 2:2, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” We tried to teach our church members that the laissez-faire commitment to church membership which characterizes our times is not God’s way of thinking.

In response, I occasionally heard a question like this, “OK, I get it that we shouldn’t just up and leave our church, but is there ever a time to leave?” The answer is “yes, there are times one should leave a church.”

Let me suggest some cases in which a person should change churches:

• False teaching. In Jude 3b, the Bible says “...I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” God’s people must “contend” for the faith clearly revealed in the Bible. When God’s church ceases to teach/preach faithfully the Bible, it loses the anointing of God and all spiritual authority. It’s expected that well-meaning believers may have minor points of difference in interpreting God’s Word. That’s not the point. When the pastor and Sunday School teachers distort the obvious meaning of the Word for some preferred idea, they must be confronted. If they will not repent and return to God’s Word, get out (2 John 9-11).

• Unaddressed sin. If there is open sin, especially among the pastors, the church is in danger. If the pastors are the offenders, then deacons or other mature leaders in the church must confront them and call them to repentance (1 Timothy 5:19-20). When others are the offenders, those same leaders must join the pastors in confronting offenders (Matthew 18:15-17). God’s blessing will not last for long on the church that will not confront open, unrepentant sin. If the church leaders will not confront the sin, you should shake the dust off your shoes as you go out the door.

• Dysfunctional church life. As with families, churches can become dysfunctional. Sadly, the landscape of American church life is littered with people meeting in church-type buildings that long ago ceased to be church. When the vision dies, the agenda degrades to how we pay the bills, what we need to do to keep people happy, or arguing over who’s in charge of the operation. In this state, God’s church usually divides into little “fiefdoms” with people fighting over control and power. It’s ugly. A church almost never recovers from this point. One must be cautious in calling a church “dysfunctional,” as only God ultimately knows when He’s done with a church. But when a believer finds himself/herself in that kind of church, he/she should move on to a church in which God is working. One cannot expect a perfect church but one can expect a church with evidence of God’s presence (1 Corinthians 1:10-11).

In addition to these negative reasons a believer might need to leave his/her church, there are other circumstances that may lead a believer to do so that are not negative. For instance:

• Moving. If the will of God leads one to move too far away to have meaningful involvement in one’s church, he/she must move on to another church (Hebrews 11:25). Believers need to think twice about how leaving a good church might affect their walks with God when considering a move. Some should choose not to move so as to remain in the fellowship of one’s church. At other times, God’s leading is clear and the commute would be unwise or impossible.

There’s a related application to this point: When a church member marries a believer from another church, one of them must leave his/her church and move to the spouse’s church. Though the Bible doesn’t specifically address this scenario, my experience points toward holding the wedding service with the woman’s church. She then leaves her church to join his since he is responsible as the spiritual leader of the home. On occasion, God will direct the new family to stay in the woman’s church.

• Mission. Sometimes God calls a believer to a mission that will mean he/she must leave the church (Acts 17:2). Our church is working to plant a church, and we expect God will call believers from our church to join in that mission. We shall give our blessing to those going to serve in the planting of a new church.

There may be other reasons to leave one’s church. If so, I think they would fall into one of these broader categories. The point is, many American believers who change churches do so for the wrong reasons.

When people leave churches often it is over relationship issues -- too often it’s with the pastor. We need to work through any brokenness in relationships so they may be healed. We cannot forsake truth or morality just to “keep the peace” but we surely can lay aside grudges, bitterness or lack of forgiveness.

As Paul admonished Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4:2, “Live in harmony in the Lord.” May it be so in your church!

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Bob Carpenter is pastor of Cedar Street Church in Holt, Mich., and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee.

Eight Characteristics of Disciple-Making Churches

Ephesians 4:11

I admit that the North American church has done a poor job of making disciples. Too often, we expect baby believers to grow on their own—and then get frustrated with them for not growing. On the other hand, I’m seeing an increase in churches who are trying to correct this problem. Here are some characteristics of these churches:

They’re led by a pastor who invests in others personally. Most of these leaders can name the church members they’re mentoring—often beginning with other staff members and prospective ministers. They take Ephesians 4:11-13 seriously.

2. They have an intentional discipleship pathway. Ask them, and they can show you a clear plan to move new believers toward becoming growing, mature disciples. They want all that they plan to fit into this pathway in some way.

3. The discipleship pathway often begins with a required membership class. That class is more than a content-based, vision-casting entrance into the church; it’s the place where church leaders explain what they expect of new members—and how they will help members be committed Christ-followers.

4. Small groups are a critical part of the pathway. I’ve never known a disciple-making church without a strong, intentional small group ministry that promotes life-on-life Christian growth. Accountability, training, and encouragement mark these groups.

5. The pastor focuses on exposition and application of the Word. That is, he presses the “so what?” and “now what?” questions of preaching, striving to help hearers know what to do in response to the Word. Information transfer is not enough without life transformation.

6. Often, they emphasize family ministry that promotes parents as disciplemakers. Thus, the church expects equips parents (and grandparents) to help their children grow in the Lord. In my world of Southern Baptists, I’m seeing more churches promoting the use of catechisms to train children.

7. They tend to be “sending” churches. They raise up Christ-followers not only to help them reach their community, but also to go the nations. Disciplemaking churches are committed to sending out their best for the sake of the gospel.

8. They continually evaluate their effectiveness. A church genuinely committed to discipleship always sees room for improvement—and strives for further excellence.

Following Jesus Means Belonging To A Local Congregation

Ephesians 2:10

When we’re called to follow Christ, we’re also called to belong to the Body of Christ.

When Jesus walked the earth, God worked through the physical body of Christ; today he uses his spiritual body. The church is God’s instrument on earth. We are his hands, his feet, his eyes and his heart. He works through us in the world. We each have a contribution to make.

The Apostle Paul tells us, “He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing” (Ephesians 2:10, Msg).

Yet one of the biggest hurdles we face as pastors is convincing attenders that they need to commit themselves to the church family and become members. Today’s culture of independent individualism has created many spiritual orphans who move from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment.

Here are several biblical reasons we can teach to our congregations on why every believer needs to be committed and active in a local fellowship --

A CHURCH FAMILY IDENTIFIES US AS GENUINE BELIEVERS.

I can’t claim to be following Christ if I’m not committed to any specific group of disciples. Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35, NLT).

When we come together in love as a church family from different backgrounds, race and social status, it is a witness to the world. No one believer can be the Body of Christ on his own. We need others in order to fully express the shape God has given us. It is when we are together, not when we’re separated, that we are his Body.

A CHURCH FAMILY MOVES US OUT OF SELF-CENTERED ISOLATION.

The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in God’s family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love. As a participating member you learn to care about others and share the experiences of others: “If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor” (1 Corinthians 12:26, NCV). Only in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect believers can we learn real fellowship and experience the New Testament truth of being connected and dependent on each other.

Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ. God expects us to give our lives for each other. Many Christians who know John 3:16 are unaware of 1 John 3:16 (NIV): “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” This is the kind of sacrificial love God expects you to show other believers -- a willingness to love them in the same way Jesus loves you.

A CHURCH FAMILY HELPS US DEVELOP SPIRITUAL MUSCLE.

No one will ever grow to maturity just by attending worship services and being a passive spectator. Only participation in the full life of a local church builds spiritual muscle. The Bible says, “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16, NLT).

Over fifty times in the New Testament the phrases “one another” or “each other” are used. We are commanded to love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, bear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each other and many other mutual tasks.

This is biblical membership! These are the “family responsibilities” that God expects every believer to fulfill through a local fellowship. We need to ask those who attend our services, “Who are you doing these with?”

THE BODY OF CHRIST NEEDS EVERY ONE OF US.

God has a unique role for every believer to play in his family. This is called your “ministry,” and God has gifted you for this assignment: “A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church” (1 Corinthians 12:7, NLT).

The local fellowship is the place God designed for his children to discover, develop and use their gifts. Even those with a wider ministry need to understand that their first responsibility is to the local Body. Jesus has not promised to build anyone’s ministry; he has promised to build his Church.

A CHURCH FAMILY HELPS US STAY FOCUSED ON DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.

None of us are immune to temptation. Given the right situation, you and I are capable of any sin. God knows this, so he has assigned us as individuals the responsibility of keeping each other on track. The Bible says, “Encourage one another daily ... so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13, NIV).

We are called and commanded to be involved in each other’s lives. If you know someone who is wavering spiritually right now, it is your responsibility to go after them and bring them back into the fellowship. James tells us, “If you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back” (James 5:19, Msg).

SATAN LOVES DETACHED BELIEVERS -- unplugged from the life of the Body, isolated from God’s family and unaccountable to spiritual leaders -- because he knows they are defenseless and powerless against his tactics.

The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ; it includes a commitment to other Christians. The Christians in Macedonia understood this. Paul said, “First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well” (2 Corinthians 8:5, TEV).

We must remind those who fill our buildings each Sunday that joining the membership of a local church is the natural next step once they become a child of God. You become a Christian by committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The first decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship.

Membership Has Its Privileges - and Obligations

Acts 2:37

American Express used to run an ad campaign with the slogan, “Membership has its privileges.” It emphasized there are some privileges in life you just can’t get without an American Express credit card. It was a good ad campaign, too, because it made people want the card. Some people view the church with the same consumer mentality. You know, “Join the club, get the benefits.” But the privilege of church membership isn’t like carrying a card that gets you stuff you like; it goes much deeper.

People come to church with different expectations regarding what they want from it and what they plan to give to it. Consider this question: “What holds us together as a church?” Unity goes much deeper than being members of the same church.

When discussing a preacher’s great sermon, we sometimes say, “He brought it!” On the day of Pentecost, people could have said that about Peter; except they probably didn’t, because everyone who heard that sermon was too overcome by conviction and awe of the power of the Holy Spirit. The sermon itself is recorded in verses 16-36. Verse 37 lets us know what happened when Peter finished.

Peter didn’t spend any time begging people to come forward; the truth of the Gospel compelled them. United in their need for forgiveness and salvation, they needed to “repent and be baptized” and be united in Christ. They needed to turn from their sin to faith in Jesus. In so doing, they would receive forgiveness for their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the same promise made to each of us.

Here’s the irony: there are many churches that would say they are united in Christ, but are not united in devotion. This is impossible. Faith in Jesus necessitates devotion to His purposes.

The early Christians didn’t just have their names on the church rolls. They were devoted to the leaders’ teaching, to fellowship and breaking bread, and to prayer. These four practices give insight about the priority of unity in the church, because they all center on community.

For believers described in Acts 2, church was literally awesome. The God-given result of their unity in devotion was that many signs and wonders were being performed. It wasn’t because the apostles were super cool guys. They weren’t devoted to the personalities of the apostles; they were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. Since everyone was on the same page about what was important, how to spend their time and resources, and the meaning behind all of it, God used them to reveal Himself in unmistakable ways.

Just like it is impossible to have true faith in Jesus without also being devoted to His purposes, it is impossible to have faith in Jesus without being devoted to His people. That’s why Jesus said the command to love people is like the command to love God (Matt. 22:36-40). When those 3,000 people repented and turned to Jesus in faith, they also turned to each other. Every day they met together at the temple and in their homes. This isn’t a call to communal living; they just shared their stuff and their food, and were glad to do it.

The last sentence of chapter 2 is aptly placed at the end of the discourse. Numerical growth, in and of itself, wasn’t the focus; it was the result. When the church is united in Christ, devotion, and community, God uses that unity to draw people to Himself. The church grows because people see the effects of the body of Christ at work, and the process comes full circle. Conviction happens, people repent, and they join in the unity of believers.

Belonging to a church requires both unity and togetherness. To be God’s church means we must remain in right relationship with God and also with one another.

________

This Bible study is adapted from the YOU curriculum.

Is Church Membership Biblical?

Matthew 16:18

Some Christians struggle with the idea of formal local church membership. They feel uncomfortable with the idea that some folks are “in” and other folks are “out.” They ask, “Where in the Bible does the idea of formally recognized church membership appear?”

Settling the issue of church membership requires understanding the biblical concept of a local church, embracing the types of covenants that existed between early believers, accepting that New Testament church members knew who was and was not part of their group and recognizing a believer’s Kingdom-citizen responsibilities. Only biblical notions of membership that emerge from scriptural accounts and teachings about local churches should remain.

Universal and local

Notice the difference between the concepts of the “universal church” and a “local church.” The “universal church” consists of every born-again believer, from every place, throughout all of time (as in Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 3:10 and Colossians 1:18). It has never held a meeting and will only do so at the marriage supper of the Lamb, described in Revelation 21.

However, Scripture primarily refers to the church (Greek: ekklesia) as local believer fellowships or groups of believer fellowships in a particular area. Such references especially appear in Scripture passages containing instruction or teaching (e.g., Romans 16:1, 1 Corinthians 11:18 and Jesus’ letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3).

Covenants

Church is a both-and idea: Christians are both part of the universal church and should be part of a local church. All believers are brothers and sisters, and will gather together at the end of the ages. But, for now, each born-again believer should enter into a covenant relationship with a particular local church. Individual believers in a local church seriously agree (covenant) to engage in certain practices, such as participation and using their gifts to serve the congregation. In response, the other believers, together as a group, seriously agree (covenant) to engage in complementary practices, such as guiding, teaching and gently disciplining the individual.

The two-way practice of covenant agreements forms the foundation of church membership. Living out those covenants requires local church membership. Because covenants form the core of church membership, no one should casually join a church, nor should churches casually receive individuals into their membership.

But is this idea biblical? Granted, the New Testament nowhere explicitly instructs local churches to maintain formal, organized membership records. But the lack of an explicit command does not render modern notions of church membership unbiblical.

Part of the body, or not

Paul said, “ ... You are the body of Christ, and individual members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27; see also Romans 12). He compared a local church to a human body, attributing an organic quality to its structure. Just as a body cannot exist without its individual parts, a local church cannot exist without its parts (i.e., members) -- its covenanted believers. Likewise, just as every body part belongs to a particular body, so each believer should belong to a particular believer fellowship, a church. Nonbelievers do not belong to a believer fellowship. They are not part of the body Paul describes.

It is clear that believers in New Testament churches knew who was “in” and “not in” their particular church. At the end of Romans, for instance, Paul greeted by name numerous believers known to be part of the church in Rome (Romans 16:3-16). And Paul told the Corinthians to “remove” a specific man from their ranks (1 Corinthians 5:13), a command that assumed the Corinthian believers knew who was part of the church and who was not.

Same word, different meaning

So why do some people challenge the concept of church membership? Church terminology and modern cultural terminology overlap, fueling the struggle. Modern uses of the word “member” differ significantly from the Bible’s use of the concept. Specifically, cultural ideas of membership lack the element of covenant.

Today, people are members of all sorts of things. They hold membership in clubs that are bound together only by common interests or activities in which participation is optional. By paying dues, they can become members of service-providing organizations and receive certain perks and privileges (e.g., warehouse stores). They also claim membership in political parties so they can vote for or against this or that. But these examples of membership all differ from the covenants that bound New Testament believers together in local churches.

Responsibilities

Rather than seeing a local church as a club, a store or a political party, Christians should view a local church as an earthly embassy of God’s Kingdom. Believers have changed their citizenship. They are residents of God’s Kingdom who cooperate together to represent that Kingdom’s interests where they live. In fact, Scripture plainly describes Christians as ambassadors of God’s Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:20). Accordingly, they have responsibilities to their King and to one another.

Church membership is not about perks, deals or votes, but about identity, covenants and fulfilling one’s responsibilities. From that perspective, problems with church membership shrink. That perspective may also help believers understand their roles inside and outside their church facilities’ walls.

[Holwick: This article focuses on New Testament texts. The Old Testament has a wealth of material on covenants, and the idea that the names of those who belong to God are inscribed in a heavenly book, much like the concept of a church's membership roll.]

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Bill Connors is pastor of Eastern Hills Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This column first appeared in the Baptist New Mexican (http://bcnm.com/bnm-current-edition), newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico.

The Rapidly Shifting Spirituality of Americans

The Pew Research Center is reporting that 80 percent of Americans believe in God, which should be great news for America’s struggling churches.

Right?

But hold on. Of that group, only a slim majority, 56 percent, believe in the God described in the Bible, Pew found in a recently published survey.

However, that doesn’t mean the rest are outright religion-rejecting secularists.

Another 23 percent say they believe in “some other higher power/spiritual force.” And of those 19 percent who say they do not believe in God, 9 percent still believe in a higher power or spiritual force, compared to 10 percent who do not.

The poll results seem to confirm what Pew and other polling agencies have been reporting in recent years: that while religious participation and membership is down, spirituality is holding its own, even among those considered to be the most irreligious.

“In the U.S., belief in a deity is common even among the religiously unaffiliated — a group composed of those who identify themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular,’ and sometimes referred to, collectively, as religious ‘nones,’” Pew said in an analysis of its survey.

“Indeed, nearly three-quarters of religious ‘nones’ ... believe in a higher power of some kind, even if not in God as described in the Bible.”

Among those who believe in the God presented in the Bible, most envision a loving, all-powerful and all-knowing deity who controls their lives. Americans who hold to a higher power outside Jewish or Christian scripture do not believe in those all-powerful qualities.

“Overall, about half of Americans (48%) say that God or another higher power directly determines what happens in their lives all or most of the time,” Pew reported. “An additional 18% say God or some other higher power determines what happens to them ‘just some of the time.’”

Almost eight-in-10 in the U.S. say God or a higher protected has offered them protection, while two-thirds say they have been rewarded by that power.

In its study and report, Pew doesn’t say whether its findings are good or bad news for America’s religious groups. But other research suggests that it’s too soon to conclude the death of faith in the nation.

In a 2014 book titled Changing Faith: The Dynamics and Consequences of Americans’ Shifting Religious Identities, sociologist Darren Sherkat said U.S. citizens flip-flop on religion more than any other population on Earth.

More than 40 percent of Americans change religious identifications one or more times in their lives, he reported.

Writing for Christianity Today, Ryan Burge analyzed a study that tracks the ebb and flow of Americans between belief and unbelief, and between different religious traditions.

“Overall, 18.9 percent of this sample reported a different religious affiliation in 2014 than they did in 2010,” wrote Burge, a political science instructor at Eastern Illinois University. “This defection rate means that nearly 1 in 5 Americans changed their faith identity over a four-year period.”

The data also suggest that about half of “nones” will become atheists and agnostics, and the other half Protestants or Catholics, he said in the article.

5 Biblical Arguments For Church Membership

Acts 18:27

If you’ve been a pastor for any length of time, you’ve had to answer the question of why someone should join the church. If we’re honest, many pastors don’t have a good answer to this question. It’s obvious that pastors want people to join, but it’s not as obvious why a person should choose to join.

Over the last couple of decades, I’ve witnessed a drastic over-simplification of what church attendance and church membership are supposed to be. And the result is quite concerning. What was once called “church hopping” in a negative sense, is what many now do on the average weekend. The 2022 State of Theology study found most Americans (56%) don’t believe every Christian has an obligation to join a local church. Only relatively small majorities of evangelicals (51%) and churchgoers themselves (62%) believe all Christians have that responsibility.

When asked what benefit a church member receives that a non-member doesn’t, many are left scratching their heads. Anyone is allowed to attend a Sunday morning service. Anyone is allowed to visit, attend small groups, give a financial gift, or attend special church events.

If the only reason for church membership you can come up with is that it’s required in order to serve on a committee, you’ll likely find most people choosing to never join your church! Some may say there’s no evidence of church membership in the New Testament. Put plainly, that’s simply not true. Although there’s no Bible verse that commands church membership, when we look at the evidence, it’s clear that being a member of a local church is understood and assumed. Here are five ways the call to church membership is evident in the Bible.

1. The majority of letters in the New Testament were written “to the church.”

Before anyone says that these letters were written to the universal church, consider the wording of the letters to the churches in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:2), Galatia (Galatians 1:2), Philippi (Philippians 1:1), Rome (Romans 1:7), and so forth. These letters were written to a specific group and were addressed that way. Otherwise, they could have been written with no addressees or simply “to those who are called by God,” with no locale mentioned. Even the letters written to individuals (Timothy and Titus, for example), were written to leaders in the church. It’s clear that when the Holy Spirit wanted to address believers, He knew they would be found in the church.

2. The offices of leadership show church membership is assumed.

These positions were to be chosen from those who were members of the church. When the first deacons were chosen, they were selected from within the church body. These were men who were known by people of the church and possessed certain qualifications. Those who are leaders, pastors, and elders of the church, had certain responsibilities to those under their care. They were to care for the widows and the sick and “have charge over” the congregation (1 Thessalonians 5:12, NASB). The members are to “submit to” these leaders (Hebrews 13:17, CSB) and to honor them as such (1 Timothy 5:17). This only makes sense if there are members of each local church.

3. Letters of membership were often sent when a member of one church traveled to another.

We see this explicitly in Acts 18:27 when Apollos went from the church in Ephesus to the church in Achaia and in Colossians 4:10 when Mark went to the church in Colossae. And we see Paul reference this in his question to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 3:1).

4. Jesus taught church discipline in the context of church membership.

We see this in Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 18:15-20. This is the passage commonly referred to as the teaching of church discipline. We see a clear process whereby a person found in sin goes through steps to either restore them or remove them from the church. This only makes sense if there is membership in a local church. Otherwise, from what would they remove the erring brother? Also, why would the erring brother agree to go through a process at all?

5. Church membership cultivates spiritual growth for the individual.

As a person comes to faith in Christ, it’s vital to their growth that they place themselves under the teaching and authority of the Word of God. By joining a local church, each person is making a statement that they identify with a particular doctrinal position of who God is and what role His Word has in their life. It’s there, within the body of the church, that they exercise the spiritual giftings they receive from God. Those gifts given to the individual were also given, in a sense, to the local church. Each local body is healthier if they have ears, eyes, a nose, and so forth (1 Corinthians 12:12-24). Church membership isn’t simply for the benefit of the individual but also for the benefit of the local assembly.

As you communicate the significance of church membership to your congregation, seek, first, to point out the evidence of church membership within the New Testament. Next, seek to point out that membership is not just for the individual but for the greater good of the whole body.

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This article originally appeared at lifewayresearch.com.

The Necessity of Regenerate Church Membership

Acts 2:38

We have all types of memberships in America. You can be a member of Sam’s Club or a rewards member of Chick-fil-A. You know people who are members of a local gym or the Lions Club. Membership is all around us. Yet, all of these memberships are voluntary, and, in many ways, purely transactional.

Is church membership like all of these other memberships? Or is there something fundamentally different about being a member of a church? Should churches even have membership? If yes, who should be a member? What should membership look like? Let’s take a look at these.

Most Baptist churches have some form of membership.

But why? Is it just the way we have always done it? There are two vital reasons to have local church membership.

1. Membership is Biblically Modeled.

The word “member” is used in three vital places: Romans 12:4–5; 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; and Ephesians 5:29–30. Each of these passages refers to individuals being members of the body of Christ. Paul, speaking directly to the Corinthian church, says in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

In Acts 6, the church is neglecting care for certain widows. Surely, the daily distribution was not for all widows in Jerusalem but specifically for those who were part of the church in Jerusalem, who were members. These widows are considered part of the church.

Both Matthew 18:15–18 and 1 Corinthians 5:1–12 deal with church discipline. When a person continues in sin, the issue must be told to the church and can eventually lead to removal from the church. In both passages, there seems to be an understanding of who is part of the church (who is in and who is out). The consequence of unrepentant sin is for the individual to be removed from the church. He or she is no longer a member of the body of Christ.

2. Membership is Practically Helpful.

The Bible is clear: Believers must gather together (Heb. 10:24–25). Membership in a local church is helpful so that there is a clear understanding of who I should gather with every week and encourage toward love and good works.

Additionally, pastors will give an account for the souls in their flock (Heb. 13:17). As a pastor at Ridgewood Church, I am greatly helped by knowing that I will give an account for the 225 other members. I know their names. I know their faces. I pray God will help me watch over their souls well.

Who Should Make Up the Membership of a Church?

So, church membership is biblically modeled and practically helpful. The next question is, “Who should be a church member?”

The biblical model for church membership is regenerate church membership, what John Hammett calls “the Baptist mark of the church” (Hammett, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches, 2nd ed, pg. 91). Some will also call this “meaningful membership.”

With regenerate church membership, a local church consists only of people who are:

Born-again (John 3:3, 7)

Baptized as a believer (Acts 2:38–41; 8:12)

Following Jesus (John 8:12; 10:4, 25–27)

Committed to the church (Heb. 10:25)

The acronym I have shared with our church to remember these four is that when we practice regenerate church membership, we are Big Baptists For Churches.

The term church primarily entails assembling those called out by and living for God. Local congregations consist of “saints” or “holy ones,” a term used over 60 times in the New Testament (Hammett, 39–40, 43; cf. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2).

Moreover, the universal church, comprising all Christians in all times and all places, consists of only believers. Why would the local church have a different standard? Simply put, the local church should be made up of believers.

Churches will not be able to assess perfectly who is a believer and who is not. The New Testament anticipates that local churches will inadvertently bring those with false confessions of faith into membership. Church discipline is the Lord’s provision to remove those who claim to be a brother or sister but live contrary to that claim.

The purity of the church matters. Why would Jesus (Matt. 18:15–18) or Paul (1 Cor. 5:1–13) encourage removing unrepentant people from the church if the church is not supposed to be a pure body of genuine believers? The members make up the body of Christ (Rom. 12:4–5) and are called saints (Eph. 4:12). Therefore, the local church should practice regenerate church membership.

Why Do Baptists Demand Regenerate Church Membership?

Regenerate church membership means the covenant community consists exclusively of believers. Augustine (A.D. 354–430) believed in the corpus permixtum, a church body mixed with believers and unbelievers — wheat mixed with tares.

In the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24–30), the wheat and the tares grow together. At harvest, they will be separated. Augustine incorrectly thought that the field where the wheat and tares grow was the church. Instead, the field is the world — Jesus says as much (Matt. 13:28). Believers will live, work, play, and function alongside unbelievers in the world. However, churches are not to be mixed with wheat and tares.

This practice of regenerate church membership is essential for Baptist churches because we practice congregational church governance where the congregation has the final say on the most critical issues. We can say that the buck stops with the members. They have the ultimate responsibility. Therefore, we do not want unbelievers who lack the indwelling of the Holy Spirit influencing the direction of the church. Or stated positively, we want believers filled with the Holy Spirit to make the trajectory-shaping decisions for the local church.

How Does Regenerate Church Membership Practically Work?

A church practicing regenerate church membership should consider the following:

Hold a new members class where newcomers get to know the church: its mission, its values, and its ministry.

Conduct membership interviews where the church, typically represented by the pastors, gets to know a newcomer, discerns if he or she has made a credible profession of faith, and learns if the person has been baptized as a believer.

Have new members sign a church covenant for accountability and encouragement (for more on church covenants, see chapter 5 of Hammett’s Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches or the 9Marks Ministries website at www.9marks.org. 9Marks is wholly devoted to helping develop healthy local churches.

Keep an active membership roster. I grew up in a church with thousands of people on the membership roll and a few hundred in attendance on a Sunday. Something was amiss there.

Encourage members to attend regularly.

Acknowledge that church membership has certain privileges and responsibilities (see No. 3 in this article for a list of some of those, https://www.9marks.org/answer/what-meaningful-membership/).

Practice church discipline.

Regenerate Church Membership Promotes Long-Term Health

My prayer and hope is that Baptist churches can encourage one another toward the practice of regenerate church membership for the sake of the health and long-term gospel ministry of each of our local churches.

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This article first appeared at Baptist Courier.