Why Does Church Membership Even Matter?
Posted: September 29, 2009 Filed under: Kevin DeYoung 1 CommentKevin DeYoung explains,
“For many Christians membership sounds stiff, something you have at your bank or the country club, but too formal for the church. Even if it’s agreed that Christianity is not a lone ranger religion, that we need community and fellowship with other Christians, we still bristle at the thought of officially joining a church. Why all the hoops? Why box the Holy Spirit into member/non-member categories? Why bother joining a local church when I’m already a member of the universal Church?
I’ve found that some people just won’t be convinced of church membership no matter what you say or how many times “member” actually shows up in the New Testament. But many people have not given serious thought to church membership. They are open to hearing the justification for something they’ve not thought much about.”
Read it all here.
Definitely makes for good discussion. I’m wrestling through this very musing right now, and am trying to weigh both arguments. It seems that whatever preserves unity in the church is most often right. Thanks for the post!