Thoughts on Church Membership
Thabiti Anyabwile of First Baptist Grand Cayman writes for church membership.
Eric Bryant of Mosaic Church writes that church membership is not enough. Read Thabiti’s comment, it’s thoughtful and thorough.
There is nothing I can substantially disagree with in Thabiti’s article. And I agree with much in Eric’s article. The two things that I would disagree with are 1) Mosaic’s practice of people “belonging before believing” and 2) their identification of volunteer staff.
For 1) it’s impossible for the elders at a church to shepherd a congregation where not everyone fundamentally believes the same thing. If someone has not submitted to Christ’s authority, they are unable to submit to the church’s authority, which makes things like church discipline and shepherding the Lord’s Table almost impossible.
For 2), this is a troubling paragraph
Since our volunteer staff share our convictions and values, they are encouraged to start new efforts in reaching others and raising up leaders. They commit to live in a God-honoring way, serve faithfully, reach out to the disconnected, and give 10 percent of their income towards our efforts as a community. Not every person who follows Jesus in our community chooses to join our volunteer staff. We will love, serve, and care for anyone in our community. The only reason to join our staff is if you want to be one of those loving, serving, and caring for our community.
Allowing Christians to be a part of Mosaic without being volunteer staff, and the resulting commitment, seems to imply that those non-volunteer staff Christians don’t have to “live in a God-honoring way, serve faithfully, reach out to the disconnected, and give 10 percent of their income”. That’s a very dangerous precedent to set. All Christians should “live in a God-honoring way, serve faithfully, reach out to the disconnected, and give 10 percent of their income”. To not do so would seem to indicate that someone is not a Christian.
Membership is something that I’ve been thinking through as we look towards Ambassador Ann Arbor. Lots of study and prayer will be needed as I think through the details.
