Loving fellow Christians is biblical. The recent invention of "local church membership" is not. (Part 4)

Read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.

Where do we go from here?

First, I believe the biblical government of the church is biblical Presbyterianism, which is different than the denominational Presbyterianism that you see today. Biblical Presbyterianism would mean the church is governed by its elders spread out in each geographic area. John Frame comments:

Biblical Presbyterianism, then, requires the abolition of denominationalism. In a biblically Presbyterian church, all the area Christians in good standing would vote to elect the elders and deacons. Those officers would rule all those Christians, not merely those of one denominational faction. All the gifts God has given his people in the area would be available for the ministry. We can see that biblical Presbyterianism is rather different from Presbyterianism as it now exists; so different that the latter's biblical warrant is questionable.[1]

Second, I am by not saying it is necessarily a sin to sign a “church membership covenant”. It could be a non-sinful thing to do, depending on the specifics of what is written and what the purpose is. Although I don’t think church membership covenants are biblical, or even helpful, it is possible that a church membership covenant at one particular local church organization does emphasize the universality of the church and does not try to bind Christians to one particular local church organization over and against the others in the body of Christ around them. If you are in a church membership covenant, make sure you understand whether or not it is restrictive and binding, and creating a faction with other Christians in your area. Make sure you understand and live in light of the fact that all of the Christians you know, especially those in your local area, are in the same body of Christ as you and you are called to live out the one anothers with them.

If you are considering whether or not you are going to sign a church membership covenant at a given church organization, make sure you understand what it says. Why are you being asked to sign an extra biblical document when you have already been baptized and receive the Lord’s Supper (you already have the church membership document of Christ’s church)? Is it because the pastor then says he knows whom he should care for? Does that imply that the pastor wouldn’t “care for you” if you were around the community for a given period of time but were not an “official member”? He wouldn’t visit you in the hospital if you were sick if he’s known you and you’ve been worshipping corporately with the church, for example, just because you didn’t sign an extra-biblical document? That is grievous but helpful insight into the pastor's character.

If there isn’t anything unbiblical in the “church membership covenant”, and it isn’t going to lead you to live a sectarian or factionalistic lifestyle with that one particular organization, or compete against other Christians, and you are going to seek to live in light of the unity that all Christians share, and seek to have all Christians become more and more one experientially, then there isn’t necessarily something wrong with signing it. But make sure that the leaders of the organization understand your positions of how you see the one body of Christ biblically.

Second, know that you are by no means under any obligation to sign any extra-biblical church membership covenant. You are by no means required by God to become a formal member of a particular local church organization. Do not be pressured by tyrannical, money-hungry, or power hungry pastors who want to claim you as theirs or a part of their organization/denomination/association. Do not be pressured by uneducated Christians who haven’t been taught properly. Speak openly about all of these truths in this article. In a respectful, kind, and patient manner, teach others about the Biblical nature of God’s one true church, over and against the competitive, sectarian, corporatized nature of the American church environment.

Third, understanding the church biblically does not mean that we should not make it our normal practice to worship corporately with a specific group of Christians. It is completely normal to settle down and cultivate, instead of being a constant nomad without any deep relational ties, because many times it allows us to utilize gifts God has given us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think it is usually wise and helpful to make it our normal practice to regularly attend the same corporate worship gathering. I’ll emphasize normal practice. Certainly, there are abnormal scenarios that arise, and it isn’t wrong to attend a different corporate worship service.

Final thoughts

While the Christians you worship with on the Lord’s Day are certainly a part of your local church, they are not exclusively your local church. Start thinking of your “local church” as the collection of the Christians in your locale. And be very involved with other Christians. This is what glorifies God, and what will strengthen your faith and joy in him.

None of this series has been about neglecting the body of Christ. In fact, it is about the exact opposite. I hope you are now encouraged to be extremely involved in loving and serving Christians in the most biblical way. Start seeing yourself as a member of the entire body of Christ around the entire world. This is how Christ will be maximally glorified in his world:

• Submit to all Christian pastors in God’s one true church as they are accurately expounding the truths of Scripture.

• “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35…not love for one another in your same organization only, but love for all Christians.

• None of this is of minimal importance. When we understand the church rightly and live in light of it, we spread the gospel and glorify God. Jesus prayed in John 17:23 that Christians “may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

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[1] John Frame, “Evangelical Reunion,” The Works of John Frame & Vern Poythress , accessed September 14, 2023, https://frame-poythress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/FrameJohnEvangelicalreunion1991.pdf.