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My wife and I

recently visitedthe services of a

local church inour community.

It was only a matter of a

few weeks before we weresolicited to join the

church and become amember. Why is it that

local churches are so keen

to draw people intochurch membership?

When I asked people why it wasso important to be a member oftheir church, their responses werealmost ludicrous: So you canserve on one of our committees(as if I wanted to serve on anothercommittee!). So you can vote inthe elections of the church (par-ticipate in the ecclesiastical democ-racy). So you can become a leader

in the congregation and help todetermine the direction and pro-gram of the church (I thought theChurch was to be led and directedby Jesus Christ).

The pastor of the local churchpresented us with an Applicationfor Membership card that ex-plained that by joining the churchwe would be making a covenantpledge to accept the responsibilityto contribute regularly, to work

for the growth of the local body,and to commit ourselves tospread the gospel. Aha, just as Isuspected, becoming a member iscommitting oneself to the legalisticperformance responsibilities of giv-ing money to the church, working

as a free laborer, and recruitingothers to do the same. This soundsstrangely akin to asking someoneto join a chain-gang while payinghigher taxes for the privilege.

Membership or Member?

It is necessary for Christians to dif-ferentiate between accepting mem-bership in a local church (ordenomination) and being a mem-be r of the Body, the Church of Jesus Christ.Membership in an or-

ganization is not the same as beinga functional member of an organicbody.

Nowhere in the Bible is thereany reference to membership in achurch organization. It is a con-cept that is foreign to the newcovenant literature. On the otherhand, there are several references(Romans 12:4,5; 1 Corinthians12:14-27; Ephesians 3:6; 5:30) toChristians being members of the

organic, spiritual Body of theChurch that is enlivened by thevery life of the living Lord Jesus.Drawing the analogy between thefunctional members of our physicalbody, Paul explains that everyChristian is a functional member of

the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians12:14-20).

My little pinky finger is a func-tional member of my physicalbody. Although it may be one of

So, YouWant to

be aMember?by Jim Fowler

26

Aha, just as I suspected, becoming amember is committing oneself to the

legalistic performance responsibilities...

This sounds strangely akin to askingsomeone to join a chain-gang while paying

higher taxes for the privilege.

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the weaker members that Paulmentioned (1 Corinthians 12:22), itdid not have to apply for member-ship to join my body, or make acovenant pledge and sign a state-ment to contribute and perform tomake my body grow. Likewise,every Christian who has been over-whelmed by the Spirit of God into

the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians12:13) is an organic member of theChurch of Jesus Christ, and there isno divine requirement to join anorganization with a commitmentpledge to work towards its growthand advancement.

The functionality of an organicmember of the Body is derivedfrom the Life within (John 14:6),and directed by His Spirit (Romans8:14). Christians should never bepressured to make commitments of

performance (as religion alwaysdoes), but are to be receptive to theinner dynamic of the indwellingSpirit of Christ to bear fruit fromthe Root of the Vine (John 15:5).

Defining the Church

Adding to the misunderstanding ofwhat it means to be a member ofthe Church is the ambiguity of ourusage of the word church. Themost popular colloquial usagerefers to a church building. Secon-

darily, a church is identified as alegal and social organizationformed for religious pur-poses most frequently per-formed within a churchbuilding. But the biblicalreference to Church doesnot apply to a building orto the human formationof a legal institutional en-tity with defined polityand membership. The

Church of Jesus Christ, as de-scribed in the New Testament, isthe organic Body of Christ collec-tively expressing the life of the liv-ing Lord Jesus in the personalinteractions of the members whohave individually received Jesus astheir life.

The members of the Church are

comprised of every Christian indi-vidual who has been called out(Greek ecclesia) to follow Jesus as adisciple, and therein to fellowshipand commune together in theircommon participation in the Bodyof Christ.

Divine or Human Institution?

The Church, the Body of Christ, isa divine institution. It was institut-ed when Jesus declared, on thisrock I will build my church

(Matthew 16:18). Jesus indicatedhe would build his organicallyfunctional Church wherein faithfulChristians could collectively ex-press his life and character togeth-er in one Body.

When people refer to churchthey fail to differentiate betweenthe divine institution of the

Church and the human institutionof churches and denominations ofchurches that are legally formulat-ed as organizations to provide visi-ble and tangible form andstructure to the spiritual abstract ofthe Body of Christ.

Great perversion results whenthe human institution of a church

organization is identified as syn-onymous with the divine institu-tion of the organic Church, theBody of Christ. To join a religiousgroup by accepting membership intheir organization is not to be con-strued as equivalent to becoming amemberof the Church of JesusChrist which occurs only by thepersonal receipt of the life of JesusChrist by faith.

On the other hand, one who hasreceived Jesus Christ as their life,

and has thereby become a Christ-ian and a memberof the Body ofChrist, is not necessarily requiredto seek membership in a church or-ganizationdespite the persistentand often pressured attempts tobring you into their fold.

It is necessary, however, to clear-ly state that a Christian who is amember of the Body of Christmust not withdraw into isolatedlone ranger individualism, forChrist within will always seek fel-

lowship with other Christians inwhom he indwells in order to col-lectively express his inter-personal love-life and hislove for all mankind. Weneed each other for thecomplete functional ex-pression of the Body ofChrist. This may, or maynot, be accomplishedwithin the context ofmembership in any human

Membership in an organization is not thesame as being a functional member

of an organic body.

Christians should never bepressured to make commitments

of performance (as religionalways does), but are to be

receptive to the inner dynamic

of the indwelling Spirit of Christ tobear fruit from the Root of the Vine (John 15:5).

...every Christian who has been overwhelmed bythe Spirit of God into the Body of Christ

(1 Corinthians 12:13) is an organic memberof the Church of Jesus Christ, and there

is no divine requirement to join an

organization with a commitment pledge towork towards its growth and advancement.

FALL 2010 27

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institution of a church organiza-tion.

Some Historical Background

We have already noted that refer-ence to membership in a churchorganization is not found in theNew Testament. The apostle Paulwas a member of the Body ofChrist, the singular and universalChurch of Jesus Christ, and that bymeans of the presence and func-tion of the living Lord Jesus whohad become his life.

Can you imagine the leaders ofthe church at Ephesus handing

Paul an Application for Member-ship, and requiring him to con-sent to specified responsibilities topay, obey, and stay, whereuponhe would have to receive a majori-ty vote of the congregation? I findthat inconceivable! Yet, Christianstoday are members of the samesingular and universal Church of Jesus Christ that Paul was a mem-ber of, and is it not equally im-plausible that they should berequired to join the church in a

process of church membershipwhen they are already a member ofthe Church?

How and where did this practiceof church membership commenceif it was not part of the New Testa-ment Church? During the cen-turies when the Roman CatholicChurch was the primary expres-sion of the Christian Church,church membership was impru-dently equated with being a mem-

ber of the Body of Christ, to the ex-tent that the declaration was made,There is no salvation apart from

the Roman Catholic Church.Church membership, as it is

practiced in the church today, be-came a major issue after the Protes-tant Reformation of the 16thcentury. The proliferation of differ-ent churches and denominations,with their various legal polities anddoctrinal positions, fostered pro-tective policies designed to pre-serve the distinctive features oftheir particular sect from change orcorruption. Church membership

became a legalistic means to insti-tutionalize the supposed purityand absoluteness of their particulardoctrines and practicesa form ofcensorship to exclude non-con-formists and contrarians. The divi-siveness of the Reformationchurches facilitated the divisivepractice of church membership, aswe know it today.

Perversions of Church Membership

The traditions of men (Mark 7:8)

always serve to subvert the ways ofGod, and the religious practice ofchurch membership in the humaninstitution of the churches hasbeen increasingly perverted to theextent that it has become oppres-sive and abusive.

Authoritarian control: Leadersin local churches often let thepower of their position go to theirhead, and usurp the authoritythat is the exclusive right of the

28 THE PLAIN TRUTH

...a member of the Body of Christ, is not necessarily required to seek membership in achurch organizationdespite the persistent and often pressured attempts to bring you

into their fold.

It is necessary,

however, to clearly statethat a Christian who is a memberof the Body of Christ must not withdraw into

isolated lone ranger individualism, for Christ withinwill always seek fellowship with other Christians...

Lord Jesus Christ in Christianslives.

All authority in heaven and onearth has been given to me(Matthew 28:18), said Jesus. Manyleaders seem to think that when

someone becomes a member oftheir organization they have aright to exercise authority overthem, to control their thought andbehavior. They often quote He-brews 13:17, Obey your leadersand submit to their authority, butseldom pay attention to the admo-nition not lording it over thoseentrusted to you (1 Peter 5:3).

Church membership can easilydegenerate into legalistic religiouscontrol of members thought and

action, to the extent that membersbecome slaves of men (1Corinthians 7:23), shackled in astrait-jacket of limitations and ex-pectations. Church membershipoften seems to carry an implied as-

sent to submit and to be regulatedand directed, reprimanded and dis-ciplined by the leadership of theorganization.

Possession: When a person ac-cepts church membership in a reli-gious organization there is animmediate sense of identificationwherein the members of the groupcan claim that this person be-longs to us. This person is on ourmembership roll. We can nowcount this person in our numericaland statistical calculations of suc-cess. Is it not enough to belong toChrist (Galatians 3:29)?

...after the Protestant Reformation of the16th century... Church membership

became a legalistic means to

institutionalize the supposed purity andabsoluteness of their particular doctrines

and practicesa form of censorship toexclude non-conformists and contrarians.

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The particularization of churchmembership in a specific grouptends to develop a divisive isolationfrom Christians identified withother churches. Many leaders havediscouraged their members fromfellowship with Christians not as-sociated as members of their group.

Identity: Even in the earlyChurch there was a tendency tosegment into sectarianism by iden-tifying with one against another.

Paul explained that the CorinthianChristians were polarizing intogroups claiming, I follow Paul;another I follow Apollos; anotherI follow Cephas (1 Corinthians1:12; 3:4,5), finding their identityin mere men who were but ser-vants of the Lord. Church mem-bership often facilitates similarfalse identities as people declare, Iam a Baptist. I am a Methodist.I am a Presbyterian. The identityof the Christian is to be found in

Jesus Christ. I am a Christian, Iam a Christ-one. You are all sonsof God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26), and there-fore one in Christ Jesus (Gala-tians 3:28) with every otherChristian.

Need fulfillment: Church mem-bership has often been offered asan identification and associationwherein the local church will meet

all of a persons needs. The organi-zation promises to fulfill the basichuman needs of identity, meaning,purpose, belonging, fellowship, so-cial involvement, relationships,service, etc. These basic humanneeds and everything necessary inthe Christian life are to find fulfill-ment in the Lord Jesus Christ,rather than by means of a churchorganization. Otherwise, we aresoon mired in ecclesiolatrywor-

ship of the church, rather thanworshipping the Lord.

Privileges: The competitionamong church organizations to ac-quire members and add to theirnumbers has led some to tout theprivileges of membership in theirgroup. In similarity to the Ameri-can Express advertisement, theyclaim that Membership Has ItsPrivileges, implying that there areadditional benefits to belonging totheir church. Is there something

more than Jesus? Every privilege ofgrace and freedom is to be foundin Christ, and that without dis-tinction. God has granted everyChristian everything we need forlife and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

Members of the Body of Christ

The objective of this article is toencourage Christians to recognizethat first and foremost they are

members of the Body of Christ,having received the very presenceof the living Christ through faith.For he has rescued us from thedominion of darkness and broughtus into the kingdom of the Son heloves (Colossians 1:13).

As members of Christs collectiveBody we are responsible to submit(Ephesians 5:21) to one another inlove, to utilize the giftedness con-ferred upon us (1 Corinthians 12-

14; Romans 12), and to participatein the building up of the Body(Ephesians 4:12).

Church membership in a local ordenominational organization isnot wrong, and is not contrary toscripture. Church organizationsgive a form and structure to thespiritual reality of the Church ofJesus Christ. There is a definite so-cial need to know whos on theteam. In many geographical loca-tions there is even a legal require-

ment to identify the participantsor members of a legitimate organi-zation.

So, please understand that I amnot attempting to denigratechurch membership. I am notseeking to deter anyone from par-ticipating as a member in a localchurch. I am not a church-basher! Ijust want Christians to focus onwhat it means to be in Christand members of the Body ofChrist, while recognizing that

church membership is a distinctoption that has often been pervert-ed and abused by religious organi-zations.

2010 by James A. Fowler

Jim Fowler is a husband, father,grandfather, theologian, author andformer pastor whose Christ in Youministry can be found at www.christinyou.com. Jim serves as PTMstheological consultant.

...there is an immediate sense of identification wherein the membeof the group can claim that this person belongs to us....Is it no

enough to belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 3:23)?

The particularization of church membershipin a specific group tends to develop a divisive

isolation from Christians identifiedwith other churches.

Great perversion results when the human institution of a churchorganization is identified as synonymous with the divine

institution of the organic Church, the Body of Christ.

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