Misunderstanding.
Although a fact of life that sometimes leads to humourous outcomes, misunderstanding usually leads to undesirable results.
Misunderstanding occurs when we fail to recognize the context and the intent with which something is communicated.
When we study the Bible, we refer to this as authorial intent.
The Bible gives us many reasons to consider church membership, and I explored some of those in my last article. But some people also use Scripture to give us reasons to question church membership as we know it today.
A lot of it comes down to interpretive methods and the presuppositions that people have when they read the Bible. Many Christians embrace the idea of formalized church membership, while others raise valid biblical reasons against it.
As we continue our exploration of church membership, it’s crucial to delve into the biblical foundations that supposedly underpin this concept. While the term “church membership” may not explicitly be found in the Bible, Scripture provides principles and examples that churches have used to form the basis for organized and committed community life within the body of Christ.
In our ongoing exploration of church membership, we now turn our attention to the roots of this concept in the first-century Christian communities.
The early church, birthed in the cultural milieu of the Roman Empire, operated in a vastly different context than the institutionalized structures we know today. Let’s unearth the foundations of belonging in the early Christian assemblies.
Baptism did not save me, but it made me a church member!
Perhaps I should clarify. In my hometown church, membership is automatic when you get baptized. So I have been a member of a local church for over 26 years now because I was baptized in the fall of 1997.
Salvation made me a member of Christ’s body, the universal church. But baptism joined me with the local church in Mason City, IA.
What should I write about next? Are there issues that you are facing or that the church is facing today that need to be addressed? Take 15 seconds to let me know!
