Inside or Outside?: The Bible and Church Membership
Written by: Pastor Ryan
It is common knowledge that human language evolves, and words take on new meanings over time. In older books, for example, a word like “intercourse” has the sense that the Oxford Dictionary defines as: “communication or dealings between individuals or groups.” Of course, the word today carries clear sexual connotations. Attempt to use “intercourse” according to its earlier meaning and you’ll likely hear some giggles—and possibly get yourself in trouble!
The term “membership,” a noun with a range of meanings is at its most basic level, “the fact of being a member of a group.” Add the qualifier “church” and membership becomes, “the fact of being a member of a church.” Church membership should be less controversial than it is among many evangelical Christians. A common objection is that church membership is unbiblical, either as a proper term or as a practice deduced from Scripture.
If, however, we take into account the broad scope of the New Testament, we discover something very much like membership in a church. Consider the following passage from 1 Corinthians 12:12,
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Theology or theological reasoning requires that you and I explain in our own words the meaning of a passage. Repeating verbatim a verse is parroting, not understanding. At some level, we must not only define terms, but articulate how they relate to one another. The Apostle Paul employs a familiar analogy to describe unity (body) and distinction (“members” e.g., body parts). Some might conclude that nothing more should be made of membership except that every Christian is a member of Christ’s body, the church. But this conclusion does not take account the entirety of 1 Corinthians. In the fifth chapter of the book, Paul tells the Corinthian believers that a man who committed an egregious sexual sin should “be removed from among you (all)” (1 Corinthians 5:2). A few verses later he explains his rationale—that the unnamed man be “delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.”
From this text, we make a crucial deduction: a man or woman who was once in the church (a member) can be cast out of it because of their conduct. It’s also notable that it isn’t only the pastors or deacons who participate in this action, but the entire congregation. Paul is possibly drawing from the tradition recorded in Matthew’s Gospel (18:17) where Jesus commanded that a sinner who refuses to repent after being confronted multiple times should be treated by the church “as a gentile and a tax collector.”
An additional textual detail is Paul’s rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 5:12, “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” that is followed by an answer: “God judges those outside.” We can determine with confidence that some people are “inside” the church and others are “outside.” This cannot be visitors or “seekers” (called “hearers” in later centuries), since Paul assumes such people come to worship (he calls them “unbelievers” in 1 Corinthians 14:23).
That a man or woman man who has not knowingly committed to the church’s doctrine and ethics could be disciplined by the congregation is an odd conclusion. Imagine for example a girlfriend or boyfriend who insists that their partner split their assets after a breakup. No judge would take this seriously. There is a legal chasm between marriage and cohabitation. Despite outward similarities, they are not the same thing. Particular acts make a marriage. If these are not fulfilled, there is no marriage. Some line must exist that separates an insider from an outsider.
It is obvious that we are discussing the “negative side” of church membership, but we should remember that the intention is good, “that his Spirit may be saved…” (1 Corinthians 5:5b). In fact, in 2 Corinthians 2:5–11, we discover that the Corinthians did cast the offender out of the church, and that after some point, he showed contrition (e.g., was sorry for his sin).
In this second letter, Paul encouraged the congregation to comfort and restore the man. In the Apostle’s own words, “reaffirm your love to him.” The church’s exclusion was not motivated by hatred, nor was it permanent. As hard as it was for them—as it is for us—the loving course is often the hardest.
In my next post, I will discuss how membership as a covenant commitment on the part of pastors actually serves to protect the congregation against spiritual abuse.
