Why Join a Local Church?

ON JUNE 21, 2024 BY PASTOR TOM HICKS

Many Christians today question whether it’s necessary or even biblical to join local churches. Some think joining a church will rob them of personal freedom and independence. Others believe they may attend several different churches without ever committing to just one. Some even believe they don’t need to be part of any particular local church, but that they may stay at home, pray privately, and watch sermons on the internet for their personal edification. I once met someone who said that his “church” was his personal circle of Christian friends.

But all of these attitudes are a novelty in church history, and they reflect the radically individualistic and autonomous spirit of our age. Such beliefs are contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture, orthodox theology, and the historical witness of the church. 

Some Historical and Confessional Witnesses to Church Membership

The great prince of the Puritans, John Owen (1616-1683), wrote, “It is the duty of everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, and takes due care of his own eternal salvation, voluntarily and by his own choice to join himself to some particular congregation of Christ’s institution.”

The early English Particular Baptist, Benjamin Keach, in his magnificent work, The Glory of a True Church, wrote:

A Church of Christ, according to the Gospel-Institution, is a Congregation of Godly Christians, who as a Stated-Assembly (being first baptized upon the Profession of Faith) do by mutual agreement and consent give themselves up to the Lord, and one to another, according to the Will of God; and do ordinarily meet together in one Place, for the Public Service and Worship of God; among whom the Word of God and Sacraments are duly administered, according to Christ’’s Institution.

The most influential confession of faith among English Baptists and early American Baptists, the Second London Confession of Faith 26.6, says:

The members of these [local] churches are saints by calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing (in and by their profession and walking) their obedience unto that call of Christ;[12] and do willingly consent to walk together, according to the appointment of Christ; giving up themselves to the Lord, and one to another, by the will of God, in professed subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel.[13]

12. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2
13. Acts 2:41,42, 5:13,14; 2 Cor. 9:13

The Second London Confession is not alone. Other Reformed confessions speak of church membership, including the Second Helvetic Confession (XXI, XXX), the Savoy Declaration (Institution of Churches), and others. Having looked at parts of the church’s historical and confessional witness to church membership, we now need to consider what it means to join a local church.

What Does it Mean to Join a Local Church? 

To join a local church, a credibly professing believer must enter into a covenant with a local church as a whole. Church membership is a bilateral covenant in which individuals make promises to the church as a whole, and the church as a whole makes promises to individual members. A covenant is a formalized agreement, or commitment, by which two or more parties make promises to one another. The basic promises between individuals and churches in a church covenant include:

Individual Promises. Each individual church member promises the whole church to trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ together, to love other church members, to attend faithfully and participate in the life of the church, to receive the means of grace, and to be in submission to the pastors and to the church as a whole for the sake of growing in the knowledge of Christ for His glory.
Church Promises. The church as a whole and her pastors promise to trust and obey Christ, to love individual members in their midst, to foster a community of truth and love, to maintain biblical orthodoxy and godly character, to administer the Word and sacraments, and to watch over the souls of individual church members for their growth in the knowledge of Christ for His glory.
A church covenant is bilateral (a two-way commitment), and it is breakable, which means one party may break the covenant, such that individual members may be disciplined for heresy or gross unrepentant sin, or individuals may call the whole church to account for heresy or gross unrepentant sin.

Some question whether a church has authority to make such a covenant. But the Bible provides examples of human beings making covenants with one another to keep the Word of God (Neh 9:38; 10:28-32ff). Church covenants are valid because churches are formed, not on the basis of any historical succession of churches or apostolic succession, but only on the basis of the Word of God. The Word of God forms a church when a group of Christians agree together (covenant together) to believe and obey the Bible and to be a church together.

Why is Joining a Church Necessary?

Consider seven important reasons that joining a church is necessary: (1) for the church’s existence, (2) for the church’s purity, (3) for pastoral ministry, (4) for church discipline, (5) for congregational government, (6) for growth in love, and (7) because church membership is implied by the New Testament. 

Why Join a Local Church? – Ask the Pastor (pastortomhicks.com)