Church Membership: Is it Biblical?
I have to write a 12-15 page paper for one of my classes. I could do a hermeneutic paper on a passage of my choosing or a theology paper. One thing that I would like to study more is Church Membership and the biblical picture given to us regarding it. If it is biblical and is important, then churches today are surely neglecting their duty. If, however, it is not biblical, we are adding to the word of God and stand condemned. Accordingly, I am about 92% sure that I am going to write my paper on this topic.
I am curious, What are your thoughts on Church Membership?
And also, here is a quotation from the currently unpopular position:
"Whatever the reason, this unwillingness to formally identify with a local church is an indication that they're not totally committed to that church and therefore should not be given regular, formal, service opportunities. Regular, formal ministry opportunities are a privilege given to people who are willing to commit and submit without reservation to the total ministry of the church." Wayne Mack, To Be or Not to Be A Church Member? That is the Question! (2004), page 53.
In Christ alone,
mike
I am curious, What are your thoughts on Church Membership?
And also, here is a quotation from the currently unpopular position:
"Whatever the reason, this unwillingness to formally identify with a local church is an indication that they're not totally committed to that church and therefore should not be given regular, formal, service opportunities. Regular, formal ministry opportunities are a privilege given to people who are willing to commit and submit without reservation to the total ministry of the church." Wayne Mack, To Be or Not to Be A Church Member? That is the Question! (2004), page 53.
In Christ alone,
mike
posted by Mike | 11:11 PM
6 Comments:
It depends how you define church membership. For example do you have to fill out a form and sign your name?
the only reason i can think of for NOT being a 'member' as opposed to an attender of a church is if you do not want to be officially under the authority of the pastors and elders of that particular church. And if you dont want to be under their authority for whatever reason, you should attend a different church.
that said, i recently changed churches and am not a 'member' of my currant one yet.
Interesting question Puritan.
Like I said, it seems as if I am going to research it and so I might have better answers in a couple months.
Anyway, I mostly just wanted your thoughts. So, for the sake of discussion, you can assume any view of membership (or multiple views) that you would like.
In Christ alone,
mike
I am of the opinion that there is only one church membership and this
membership is bestowed within the believer upon regeneration.
I can see no evidence in scripture which says that the general
assemblies of believers need to do this in a physical sense other then the believers Baptism.
We are to submit one to another and we are all in the ministry and
equal/one in Christ.
How dare men exalting in their title Pope/Father/Pastor/Reverend get
up there and ask that we submit to HIS organisation on the dotted
line.
Jesus chooses who will do what and there is nothing that man can do
through their contracts or hierarchy to stop this.
Jesus will also determine membership and appoint whom he wills to
fulfill his infallible purpose. Scripture shows that he even sends
false prophets among them to deceive certain organisations.
Paul also states in Acts when the general assembly started organising that False prophets would come out of the woodwork to deceive. Acts 20:29
All the warnings in the letters is not to tell us we need to have
better structure and appoint men ourselves to do tasks. But to walk
closer to the Spirit of Christ daily. Judging all things spiritually.
(Look at Stephen they appointed him to do medial tasks to release the
others to do BIGGER tasks however this was never the lords plan for
Stephen and he preached the gospel mightily until he was martyred.
By the way, to receive good marks I advise to write the opposite to everything I just said.
It is for a research class. The only thing I am really graded on is writing skills the the ability with which I am able to look up material, cite quality sources, and integrate the material into my paper. If I do those things, and argue that the Pope is king of the world then I can technically still get an A.
That being said, I probably will write something quite a bit different than that since I do not necessarily agree.
Nevertheless, glad to hear your thoughts.
In Christ alone,
mike
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