The Holy Sacrament of Church Membership

Church membership is a given these days.  Every church does it.  Politicians list it in their bios.  People see themselves as associated with one particular “brand” or “church.”  It’s sort of like saying that “I shop here…” or “I use this brand of ___.”

I’m not immune from this either.  I have many times felt that great sense of pride when telling someone that I belong to this or that church.  I can’t say that there’s anything wrong with any of this.  Except maybe the pride part of course.  By making these statements we’re defining to others part of our beliefs, either positively or negatively.

I do use the word sacrament in my title for a reason though… that for most churches:

1. those desiring to be members are required to “do” something before they can become members (i.e. catechism classes, making some “special” confession or covenant before the church, etc.)
2. and certain “benefits” are not given unless one becomes a member (i.e. shepherding from an elder, discipline, attending certain church functions, etc.)

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “sacrament” means:

1 a : a Christian rite (as baptism or the Eucharist) that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality b : a religious rite or observance comparable to a Christian sacrament

The word “sacrament” comes from the Latin sacramentum meaning “oath of allegiance, obligation.”

According to these definitions a sacrament is something:

1. believed to have been instituted by Christ
2. a means of divine grace
3. a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality
4. a religious rite or observance
5. the making of an oath, and fulfilling of an obligation

I’d like to show what I believe to be a biblical disagreement with the way church membership is practiced by most of the church today.

I believe that church membership is practiced on a level equal to that of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but lacks the authority that these other sacraments or ordinances have.  I believe the first point of the definition above is where this practice most runs into problems.

Why is this important?

As I mentioned above, most people who attend church today identify themselves strongly with where they are members, thus identifying themselves with an allegiance/oath other than those instituted by Christ Himself.  Again, I don’t think that church membership in certain forms is necessarily wrong, but the Bible speaks of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as those institutions that define the church and its duties.

This is important because no local church has the authority to ever put an obstacle before a Christian to come to Christ or to be identified with His church.  I believe that church membership in most forms today is exactly that: a man-made sacrament.

Church Membership is seen as a means of Divine Grace

If you were to ask most church elders today what the difference is between a member and non-member, they would describe certain “benefits” or “standing” with the church which the member has over the non-member.

Since identification with the body, shepherding, and other aspects of the church are seen as means of grace, then it can only be said that by taking the oath of church membership is anyone ever entitled to benefits that that local body has to offer.

Church Membership seen as a Sign and Seal of a Spiritual Reality

Some churches would say that membership in their church represents some greater affiliation with the body of Christ that the non-member did not have before.  There’s not too many, if anyone, who would say that church membership is a sign and seal, but yet without it, the church does not ACT in a way that recognizes the spiritual reality in a believing non-member.

In some cases, the non-member may not be able to participate in the Lord’s Supper and may eventually be asked to leave a church simply for not jumping through the man-made hoops established by that local church.

No church may say that membership is a sign and seal, but practically, membership is treated like one.

Church Membership Almost Always involves some Rite or Observance

It will be different in different churches and denominations, but church membership almost always involves some form of rite or observance.  It could be classes, a particular confession made before the church, signing some agreement, whatever it may be, all of this counts as a tradition, rite, or observance.

Church Membership involves some Oath or Obligation

A lot of churches today put few obligations on their members, especially that of holiness.  With so many churches apostosizing from the faith by allowing homosexual marriage and other immorality to go on inside its walls, those churches hold few obligations to being a member.

But there are still many churches that require some man-made obligation where they may take a biblical command such as, “Do not forsake the assembling of the brethren…” and then define in their own wooden way what that means.

Some churches require additional oaths before the congregation in addition to a confession of faith.

Why Church Membership at all?

Explicitly, most churches would not claim membership as a sacrament in their church, but for all practical purposes it is.  The behavior and actions of the church surrounding it prove that the church believes church membership to be a sacrament.  Again, I use the word sacrament instead of ordinance, because the way church membership is practiced more closely resembles a sacrament.

The #1 thing needed for a rite or observance to be a sacrament, is that it must be ordained by Christ.  Where is this requirement to be admitted fully into a local congregation held out there by Christ or any of the apostles?

The only reasons for church membership are always pragmatic ones.  It’s an attempt to fix certain human concerns like:

• “If we don’t have church membership, then people will not commit to being a part of the church.”
• “If we don’t have church membership, then we won’t know who to shepherd.”
• “If we don’t have church membership, then we won’t be able to hold our members accountable.”
• “If we don’t have church membership, then we won’t be able to run all of our programs and reach our city for Christ.”

These concerns are certainly valid.

Church Membership: an Unbiblical Sacrament

The fact of the matter is, most forms of church membership are anti-biblical because they are man-made works-based attempts to define who the people of God are.  James 2:1-4 says,

¹My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ²For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

This passage is speaking of treating the poor differently than the rich in the context of the church.  But could we not say that the same applied to the Jews who thought that by virtue of birth and lineage that they were entitled to a piece of God’s kingdom?  Could we not say the same about distinctions of race, sex, height, weight, etc.?  What about man-made member/non-member distinctions?

The church membership question certainly fits the same criterion established by this passage.  Church membership:

• creates distinctions
• these distinctions are man-made
• these distinctions do not involve a matter of holiness
• these distinctions involve showing partiality

In other words, most forms of church membership create unbiblical distinctions that divide the body of Christ in ways it is not meant to be divided.

In part two I’ll give an explanation of a form of “church membership” that is not works-based, while also addressing some practical concerns.

Here, I simply wanted to document how church membership resembles a sacrament, the unbiblical ways that the church treats it as a sacrament, and a short biblical refutation of church membership as it is practiced in most churches today.