Is Church Membership Biblical?

Church membership is waning more and more in our society. Is this because the practice is unbiblical, or is this something that we should return to? In this video I seek to clarify why we practice church membership and clarify what are some important principles regarding it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to say a quick thank you for taking the time to check out this video. I hope you found it helpful. If you have questions, feel free to post them in the comments or stop by my twitch channel to interact live! (link below) We stream every day and would love for you to add your input to the conversation. You are also welcome to to join our discord and interact there!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video is NOT sponsored, but I am a Logos partner which means if you use the link below I will receive a small commission.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#churchmembership #church #membership #churchquestions #biblequestions #bibleanswers #christianity #apologetics #bibleexplained #bible #theology #biblestudy #reformedtheology

[americangigolo]

So let me ask you pastor signing a paper defines you that you are a believer? or not signing a paper Exclude you from serving in your local church. Membership in a local church is not a CLUB where you need to sign in order to serve the signing of a paper is not !!BIBLICAL!! I belive in a membership of a local church where I can serve my others brothers in need I belive in membership of a local church where I can use my GIFTS to administer them to my church I belive in reaching out to the community threw my local church ect.... I don't belive signing a paper should define me as a membership of a local church. I belive in submitting my self to my pastor, elders, or anyone who has a authority in our congregation.. the signing of a paper is base on assuming is not biblical. those passages you read yes we see the membership of a body of believers with authority and how we should carry our self to one another with love, care, and respect. question for you pastor so if you see a member in church or a believer for many years but he hasn't sign your membership paper are you going to treat him differently? or you going tell him he cannot serve in this congregation just because he hasn't signed the papers " not a member "" . I love my church my pastor but this is one of the topics the pastors don't like to preach on with a full mind and with a lot of SCRIPTURES behind it because sadly most of local congregation see this just to know how much INCOME the church is getting

[christiansmakingmusic]

The existence of denominations invalidates your entire argument. Prove you are the embassy! Can’t do that without something more than just, we believe this doctrine or that. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to be evident. Church membership as it is currently practiced by most evangelical churches is unbiblical. They did not sign membership agreements in the early church.

[JonathanGrandt]

(Formal covenant contractual) Church membership is as biblical as pastors want it to be. (It’s not biblical)

People talk “local church membership” but what they really have in mind is getting people to sign agreements and all that rubbish. That’s not remotely biblical. Not even close. At best those people are being manipulative and dishonest. When someone refuses to sign your covenants they are labeled as “anti commitment” or “anti community” or “anti authority”. It’s slanderous nonsense.

[davidhousworth]

Problem with your teaching is that institutional church membership has no basis in scripture. Your teaching is well meaning, but what scripture defines as “the teaching of men.”
“Beware of men, lest they make a prisoner of you through vanity, philosophy and the traditions of men, and the ways of the world, and not of Christ.” Colossians 2:8

Prior to institutional church membership, some of the early Christians wanted to impose circumcision as a condition of acceptance and identity. (Galatians 2)The model scripture defines is spiritually organic and not institutional. “Welcome/Accept one another, even as Christ has welcomed/accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7

Institutional church membership glorifies the clergy as the Head of the Church, and by its very existence is divisive, and sectarian, destroying unity amongst all believers, which offends God.

John 17:21-23; “That they may be one, …….” “That the world may believe that thou has sent me.”

Twisting scripture to justify a modern control mechanism of institutional religion detracts from your testimony as a follower of Christ. If Jesus is your Lord, He should be preeminent, and uncontested Head of the Church. Colossians 1:18.

[PaulGSKMB]

The local embassy is a building. Is the local church a building?

[tannerstevens]

Hey Pastor Tanner is there a place where I can ask you questions. I might have a few but don’t want to bombard or bother you with all of them in your YouTube comments and tiktok. Sorry to bother. Great video! Thank you for helping me become closer to and with God! 🙏

[itsjakemuh]

Pastor I was wondering if one day we might be able to play a game of Valorant because I really like you yt and tik tok videos. I think it would help me with the situation I’m in with faith if I was able to talk with someone like you that I could relate to

[johnwhite]

I like the embassy as an illustration / metaphor. Of course it's imperfect, as all illustrations are, but it works well in making the point it's intended to make. It's the same with Jesus' parables; they work to make a particular point, but if one presses the details they can miss the original point.

I'm going to adapt the embassy idea to explain what Paul says about our citizenship being in heaven. Like an embassy on foreign soil, the point of heavenly citizenship is to bring heaven's ways to earth - for believers to be the ones' whose actions represent God's values and methods - living the Sermon on the Mount, displaying the Fruit of the Spirit, living Romans 12, etc. We're portable embassies! So many rabbits set off - image bearing, etc.

[caraswellnesschannel]

I want to go worship in church so bad but they essentially use their book to tell me I have to repent for the relationship I had with V so I won't go there. I got into a relationship with a woman who was refusing to divorce after her husband broke her trachea in front of her two toddlers while he was high on cocaine. The State tried to charge him with attempted homicide but her family insisted she refuse to cooperate and stay married, per their Catholicism.

A special issue of the Domestic Violence Report devoted to the crime of strangulation states: "Many domestic violence offenders and rapists do not strangle their partners to kill them; they strangle them to let them know they can kill them—any time they wish. Once victims know this truth, they live under the power and control of their abusers day in and day out."

Victims may have internal injuries, such as laryngo-tracheal injuries, digestive tract injuries, vascular injuries, nervous system injuries and orthopedic injuries. Clinical symptoms of these internal injuries may include neck and sore-throat pain, voice changes (hoarse or raspy voice or the inability to speak), coughing, swallowing abnormalities, and changes in mental status, consciousness and behavior. Neurological symptoms may include vision changes, dimming, blurring, decrease of peripheral vision and seeing "stars" or "flashing lights." Post-anoxic encephalopathy, psychosis, seizures, amnesia, cerebrovascular accident and progressive dementia may be indicative of neuro-psychiatric effects.

Vanessa barely spoke when I met her.

I've seen firsthand and been the victim of strangulation.

I didn't end up marrying Vanessa because her family thought divorce was un-Christian and wanted her to go back to her abusive husband and I started getting emails with death threats from those who did not understand what my purpose was in dating and engaging with her. Ultimately, my support and willingness to be in a close relationship with her that was official and the announcement that I was going to Boston with her to get married led to her severing contact with her ex husband and her remarrying of another man who was not abusive, who I personally interviewed, interrogated, and counseled to promote their relationship. I didn't "get" with her out of some ugly sin in my heart or personal lust, I intervened because it was ordained. Our love was NOT SIN.

I'm not repenting for making out with V and helping with bills until she broke up with an attempted murderer. God called me to love and protect her while all of her male friends tried to take advantage of her altered mental state. I occupied all of her time in the aftermath of these repeated violent attacks, only one of which was subject to failed prosecution. She is to this day one of my most treasured friends. She took me to church with her to propose to me. Her daughters are my favorite people. They won't go to church and receive Christ because of the gay bashing. So it's hard to explain to congregation or religious leaders why their comments are so hurtful.


I hope you do not mind the length of this response. I don't feel particularly inclined to have this conversation with other people in the congregation or with other leaders or ministers because I feel that they are steadfast in their one-sided black-and-white perceptions and they wouldn't consider another point of view. I just say like Christ would, "I never knew you, " to people who are discriminatory, hateful, and closed-minded. I was going to make a video response to shorten this, but I don't want to sound like an inflammatory asshole. I hope this provides perspective, please consider it without feeling the obligation to provide a detailed response. I could never lie to God or lie to a congregation and say that I don't find women to be attractive or that I think it's wrong that I feel that way. I didn't make women attractive, God did.



-Cara

[davidc.]

What Bible version are you using that replaces the word hell with hades?

[grahamduff]

I’m the youngest member at my church and proud of it 😂