{"id":1083,"date":"1997-06-28T22:45:42","date_gmt":"1997-06-28T22:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/june-qmembers-in-particularq\/"},"modified":"2014-02-02T06:42:21","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T06:42:21","slug":"june-qmembers-in-particularq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/june-qmembers-in-particularq\/","title":{"rendered":"Members In Particular"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The sacrifice of selfish privacy which is daily demanded of us is daily repaid a hundredfold in the true growth of personality which the life of the Body encourages.\u00a0 Those who are members of one another become as diverse as the hand and the ear.\u00a0 That is why the worldlings are so monotonously alike compared with the almost fantastic variety of the saints.\u00a0 Obedience is the road to freedom, humility the road to pleasure, unity the road to personality.<\/span><\/p>\n

C.S. Lewis1<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

If there is anything in today\u2019s church scene that has fallen on hard times it is the validity of local church membership.\u00a0 In our town the local paper ran a full length article, on Easter Sunday morning, extoling the merits of fast-growing churches that have done away with their membership rolls.\u00a0 One was a nondenominational group meeting in temporary facilities and the other (sadly) was the Unity group which has its own building.\u00a0 Unity, of course, though the paper called them a \u201cchurch\u201d doesn\u2019t believe in a personal God nor in any orthodox Christian doctrine.\u00a0 But methodology is methodology, and though faith can be controlled by methodology, methodology can\u2019t produce faith.<\/p>\n

This modern day phenomenon of discarding local church membership is neither biblical nor historical.\u00a0 One doesn\u2019t have to read very far back into church history to find churches holding firm to regenerate church memberships and the right to \u201cban\u201d those members who had begun walking contrary to the biblical pattern.<\/p>\n

Neither is the modern individualism found in the New Testament.\u00a0 James R. White aptly said, \u201cThere is no warrant for the \u2018Lone Ranger Christian Syndrome\u2019 so popular in Protestant circles these days.\u201d2<\/sup> Although the biblical data could be multiplied beyond what can be placed in this article, here are six prerequisites for local church membership.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We are stewards of our biblical beliefs<\/h3>\n

Our doctrine is the glue that binds believers together.\u00a0 G.K. Chesterton wrote, \u201cIn truth, this vividly illuminates the provincial stupidity of those who object to what they call \u2018creeds and dogmas.\u2019\u00a0 It was precisely the creed and dogma that saved the sanity of the world.\u201d3<\/sup> In the early church, the Apostles suggested creating the office of deacon so that they would not have to surrender studying scripture (Acts 6:1-4).\u00a0 Paul pointedly told the Ephesian Elders that he did not shun his duty of declaring all of God\u2019s counsel (Acts 20:27-30).<\/p>\n

The Lord Himself rebuked the Asian churches for not clinging more closely to sound doctrine (Rev 2:2, 14-15).\u00a0 We fulfill this biblical stewardship by preaching, teaching and studying the Word of God together in our assemblies.\u00a0 Paul was distinct with young Timothy to take heed to doctrine, \u201cfor in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee\u201d (1 Tim 4:16).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We are stewards of our human needs<\/h3>\n

In the early church, we also find unusual effort to meet the physical needs of members, even to the point of some selling everything they had in order to help others in need (Acts 4:31-37).\u00a0 Paul instructed the churches on how to help widows who had been left alone (1 Tim 5:9) and James identifies pure religion as that which helps orphans and widows (Jas 1:27).\u00a0 Contrast that with one article that describes generation Xers as \u201cdetached and cynical, growing up in a culture of AIDS, violence and shattered families.\u201d4<\/sup> Now we are shattering the church for them as well!<\/p>\n

Vance Havner said, \u201cIn this age, all too often, the church is but a mutual congratulation society.\u201d5 <\/sup>How we need to heed the writer of Hebrews, \u201cand let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.\u00a0 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is\u201d (Heb 10:24-25).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We are stewards of our sinful failures<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the most startling evidence for local church membership is the biblical command to put those out who have sinned.\u00a0 Out of What?\u00a0 Jesus commanded the whole church to participate in this action (Matt 18:15-17).\u00a0 Paul told the Corinthians to carry out this procedure even in his absence, seeing it is their biblical duty (1 Cor 5:1-5).\u00a0 When God personally took Ananias and Sapphira out of the church by sudden death, the community was afraid and \u201cno man [would] join himself to them\u201d (Acts 5:13).\u00a0 It is too bad that today believers see this as a negative to church membership.\u00a0 It may be the very thing that saves a man or his family!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We are stewards of our giving<\/h3>\n

Paul commanded the church to come together to store their funds in a common pool (1 Cor 16:1-2).\u00a0 He admonished the Corinthians not to fall behind other churches in this grace (2 Cor 8:1-4).\u00a0 Timothy was instructed not to neglect instructing his church to do this also (1 Tim 6:18-19).\u00a0 Our money goes everywhere these days except to church.\u00a0 We always have enough for ourselves, but we are the first to criticize the church for not providing what it should.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We are stewards of our prayers<\/h3>\n

Jonathan Edwards said, \u201cPrayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.\u201d6<\/sup> Peter wrote that believers are a \u201cHoly Priesthood\u201d and a \u201cRoyal Priesthood\u201d (1 Pet 2:5,9).\u00a0 A priest\u2019s duty is to enter the presence of God to represent his people before Him.\u00a0 We must have been to the altar and gotten blood, and passed by the laver and been washed, but if we have not entered on behalf of our people, we have failed as priests.\u00a0 \u201cLet us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name\u201d (Heb 13:15).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We are stewards of our evangelism<\/h3>\n

The Thessalonians spread the Word all over Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thes 1:8) and all that dwelt in Asia heard the Word from the Ephesians (Acts 19:10).\u00a0 Paul wrote to churches and Christ spoke to churches (Rev 2-3) to do this as good stewards of the faith.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\u00a0Notes:<\/address>\n
1. C. S. Lewis, The Weight Of Glory<\/em> (New York: Collier Books, 1980)\u00a0 113.<\/address>\n
2. James R. White, The Roman Catholic Controversy<\/em> (Minneapolis:\u00a0 Behtany House Publishers, 1996) 58.<\/address>\n
3. G. K. Chesterton, St Thomas Aquinas<\/em> (New York: Doubleday, 1956) 110.<\/address>\n
4. \u201cGeneration Xers go for the answer to Y\u201d Rocky Mountain News<\/em> 3\/30\/97.<\/address>\n
5. Vance Havner, Rest Awhile <\/em>(New York:\u00a0 Fleming H. Revell, 1941) 62.<\/address>\n
6. Ralph Turnbull, Jonathan Edwards The Preacher<\/em> (Grand Rapids:\u00a0 Baker Book, 1958) 67.<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sacrifice of selfish privacy which is daily demanded of us is daily repaid a hundredfold in the true growth of personality which the life of the Body encourages.\u00a0 Those who are members of one another become as diverse as the hand and the ear.\u00a0 That is why the worldlings are so monotonously alike compared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[143,171,170],"class_list":["post-1083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-church","tag-church-membership","tag-methodology"],"yoast_head":"\nMembers In Particular - Aletheia Baptist Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/june-qmembers-in-particularq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Members In Particular - 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