WHY JOIN A CHURCH?
“Why should I join the church?”
Despite my seminary training and pastoral experience, I was unprepared for this new
Christian’s question. He agreed from our study of the Scripture that he needed to identify
himself as a disciple of Christ through baptism, but then he asked, “Can you show me from the
New Testament that I’m supposed to officially join anything?”
Now he really had me.
“If I come and worship as often as the members,” he continued, “if I fellowship with these
believers as much as anyone else, if I profit from the teaching and other ministries of the church,
and if I actively demonstrate love for my brothers and sisters in Christ here, why should I
formally join the church?”
His question struck me with an uncomfortable logic.
I began to realize that many of my conclusions about church membership were actually
nothing more than previously unchallenged assumptions. These assumptions were now melting
into questions of my own. Can I give reasons from Scripture why anyone should join a church?
Did the Christians in New Testament times formally join churches or did they more of an
informal relationship? Did the churches in the days of the Apostle Paul have a membership list?
How do I respond to the rising tide of opinion that says church membership is merely an
unchallenged, but unbiblical tradition and an unnecessary formality?
Here’s what I found.  (Continue by CHECKING LINK)