A.The Meaning of Church Membership
Church membership is the commitment of the believer to be dynamically involved with a local body of Christians who have placed themselves under the authority of Jesus Christ and the leadership of the local church.
B.The Nature of Church Membership
Church membership is a divinely established, legally binding relationship between God and His people whereby they agree to function in harmony with other believers under His designated structure of authority in accordance with the revealed guidelines of scripture resulting in long-term consequences over time. This relationship is called a covenant.
C.The Goal of Church Membership
It is God’s expressed desire that each member of His Church become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is that process whereby a Christian progressively learns to bring every area of his or her life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; I Corinthians 10:31; Matthew 10:24-39).
D.The Philosophy of Church Membership
The Church has been established to be a spiritual community, which models the kingdom of God on earth. As such, it is the role of the Church and its members to provide a divine alternative of God’s activity in the world without, at the same time, becoming a part of the world (John 17:4-19).
E.The Vision of Church Membership
Since it is the role of the Church to be God’s alternative in society, then it is the vision of this church to develop a comprehensive program of outreach, not only in the church, but also in the community.This outreach should extend into every social sphere, whether it be education, economic, politics, etc., so that the sovereignty and supremacy of Christ is demonstrated through the impact of each member of His body, the Church (Ephesians 2:19-23; Colossians 1:14-19
F.The Accountability of Church Membership
When a person becomes a member of he local church, he or she is responsible for pursuing godliness through the application of the Scriptures in daily living.It is the responsibility of the church to assist the believer in achieving this goal as well as holding he member accountable through the process of church discipline when the member refuses to submit oneself to biblical authority (Matthew 18:15-20 1 Corinthians 5:1-13: 6:1-8; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).
