My CHurch Membership Card
The Pub on Pearl, is a neighborhood pub that is right behind our church building. Since I’ve been here, I have become friends with the owners, and often find myself in conversation with them. A few weeks ago I was speaking with Brent, one of the owners, and he said, “I was thinking about stopping by some Sunday to check out the church.” He paused for a second and then said, “I don’t need to have a card or anything to get in, do I?”
“No,” I said, “we are not Sam’s Club.” As he sees it, church is something that is distant and foreign. The church he has gotten to know are the people who are a part of Denver Community Church who grab a burger and beer at his establishment.
This conversation has been on my mind quite a bit lately amidst conversations that I have had, articles that I have read, and teachings that I have heard about “church membership.” Maybe Brent has heard something about this too, which is why he thinks he needs a member’s card.
I have nothing against church membership. However, I do think that it has fallen on hard times, and maybe for good reason. Many today question whether or not it is needed, if it matters, and ask why they have to be a member. To those legitimate questions and concerns there are many answers, but the answers don’t seem to be enough – or maybe it’s just the thing the answers overlook.
Some of the most common responses to those who question church membership begin with a few bible verses with historical examples from the Church squeezed in. This is confusing, because there is nowhere in the bible that advocates church membership. While some want to say "it's biblical" it really is not. If we are honest, it is a construct that has developed from culture.
This does not mean that it is right or that it is wrong, there are lots of things we do everyday that are fine and are not biblical. But when we quote verses and throw the biblical word in front of membership it sounds like we think we've got it nailed. For me, I still do not see membership anywhere in the Bible, at least not in the way that it’s been done in the contexts I’ve been a part of.
In the scattered places I’ve been, membership consists of, among other things, learning about the church’s history and theology, claiming to be a Christian, agreeing with the church’s polity and doctrine, agreeing to submit to church leadership (including discipline), and having to be interviewed by a church leader. After a person goes through this all the rights of membership or open to them. Typically this means they can vote for or against the budget, nominate and vote for elders, deacons, bishops, and pastors, and a few other "privileges."
It is quite like a mix of becoming a member of a private club, and becoming of age to vote in an election. When I hear people advocate this I always get a little uncomfortable, others however, do not.
Recently someone said to me, “Church membership is needed now more than ever, because it will teach the younger generations something about commitment.” They went on to talk about commitment issues that plague the emerging generations, and how signing their name as a member would be good for them. “They would learn about submission in this process,” he said as he finished his pro-church membership monologue.
And it’s this attitude that brings me back to the thing the answers overlook. That being, the heart. What matters most with regard to church membership is the heart of the member. While some believe that church membership is a safeguard for doctrine, a mode for discipline, and a way to foster commitment, let’s be honest. What does a signature mean anymore?
People sign for credit cards and loans everyday only to default a short time later. People sign marriage licenses everyday – till death do them part – and our divorce rate is at an all time high. There is a reason litigation lawyers make a lot of money. Signing your name, for many, is just ink and paper. More times that I can count I have seen a church try to discipline or restore one of her members only to have the member leave. What could they do? Remind them of their signature?
To say the signature matters is to stop far short of what really does, namely the heart. Perhaps we should lay off preaching church membership so much, bending verses to make them support it, and calling it biblical. Our time should be given to displaying what a shared, committed, authentic, communal life looks like. The truth is no one will engage, submit, commit, and share life because of a piece of paper, an interview, or mental ascent to church polity.
This can only happen through heart and life change, which is what the Bible continually addresses. If we more time looking at our own hearts, and truthfully sharing them with others we may have more committed members than we ever have had before. And those members can tell their friends, “No, you don’t need a card to belong.”