Restoring Regenerate Church Membership

By and large, in our day, church membership has really lost much of its biblical meaning. Centrally, the loss has been seen in compromising the principle of regenerate church membership. For example, it has been said that the typical Southern Baptist church has 233 members, but only 70 are present at the regular Sunday service of worship. The obvious question is, where are the other 163 members? Could it be they are at home sick, in a nursing home, on vacation, or in the military? Some may fit these categories, but not all 163. The painful truth is, the majority of the church membership are members in name only but not in fact. In other words, their names may be listed in the church records as "members", but there is no physical nor spiritual evidence that they are indeed faithful disciples of Christ.

In the rural South, where I pastor, this problem is pandemic. Church membership is more of a form of "fire insurance" (i.e., to keep the sinner out of hell) or a sentimental family tradition ("Mom, Dad, and my Grandparents were members, so I guess I'll join too"). What makes this situation even worse, is that many pastors who are obsessed exclusively with "numerical" church growth, will compromise the gospel commands to savingly believe on Christ alone and repent, for shallow decisions which results in bloated membership rolls of unconverted sinners. Recently commenting on this problem in Southern Baptist life, Dr. David Dockery (president of Union University) observed:

"It seems to me that we are doing harm to the person and to the church by allowing them to stay on the roll. One thing worse than people being lost in their sins is lost people who think they are saved because their names are on a church roll."

The obvious challenge confronting churches with unregenerate church membership is recovering and maintaining the biblical ideal of a church membership that is genuinely saved. But how can this be done? Where can such a recovery begin? The restoration of regenerate church membership must start by reinstating three Scriptural practices that were once common in evangelical churches (especially Baptist churches): first, there must be great care given in the receiving of new members. Many churches are hasty, careless, and irresponsible in how they receive prospective church members. Rather than looking for spiritual fruit that points to a true conversion, they look only for someone's base desire to join - as if they are joining a community club or the local gym. The Bible however teaches us that we are not to lay our hands on anyone hastily lest we share in their sins (I Tim.5:22). The context of this mandate is affirming and receiving men into public ministry. Yet, there is a principle that can be applied here to church membership: prospective church members should only be affirmed by the church if their testimony, character, and understanding of the gospel is biblical. Questions like, how is a sinner made right with God? who is Jesus Christ? what is sin? what confidence do you have that God accepts you? why do you believe you're a Christian, and what is the gospel? - should be asked of any who wish to join a church. Endorsing strongly this careful approach to receiving new members, Mark Dever once said:

"Guard carefully the front door and open the back door. In other words, make it more difficult to join...and make it easier to be excluded...the path to life is narrow, not broad. Doing this will help churches recover their divinely intended distinction from the world."

Second, there must be the faithful practice of formative and corrective church discipline. Many churches fail in one or both of these types of biblical discipline. And the result has been a membership of gross spiritual immaturity, the spread of false doctrine, divisive relationships, and all-out unrestrained sin. Together however, both formative and corrective church discipline maintain a level of spiritual healthiness that separates the church from the world by upholding a Christ-exalting purity of doctrine and life (see Matt.18:15-17; Rom.16:17-18; Gal.6:1-2; Eph.4:11-16). In short, they provide a boundary for all members which makes a clear distinction between the sheep and the goats.

Finally, there must be a formal commitment to maintain God-honoring relationships. This means having a written church covenant that spells out the church's mutual obligations to fulfill all of Scripture's "one another" passages (e.g., Jn.13:34,35; Rom.12:10; Heb.10:24,25). Keeping such a covenant clarifies the spiritual & relational commitments that church membership biblically signifies.

Our Church Covenant

For the members of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, one of the most vital and crucial documents of our church family (next to our Confession of Faith) is our church covenant. We count this document very precious, because it is a published standard of biblical imperatives which help us all to hold one another accountable; to a path whereby we can glorify God in how we relate to one another. On March 18th, 2007 - when we officially organized as a church - the charter members publicly signed a copy of our covenant. Such an act solemnized even more the weightiness of what we committed as a way of life for our church. Those who have joined us since then have also been required to agree to this same standard in the same way. Would to God that other churches (especially fellow Baptist churches) would restore this historic means of grace which truly makes church membership meaningful. The following is our church covenant in full:

Having, as we trust, been brought by Sovereign Divine Grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to give up ourselves to Him, and having been transformed by the Spirit into a new creation with a new nature, and thus being baptized upon our profession of faith, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, relying on His gracious power, solemnly and joyfully affirm our covenant with each other (Eph.2:1-10; Rom.14:7-8; II Cor.5:17; Matt.28:19; I Thess. 5:12-22).

We will work and pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph.4:3).

We will walk together in brotherly love, as becomes the members of a Christian Church; exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require (Jn.13:34,35; Rom.12:10; Heb.3:12-14; 10:24,25).

We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor neglect to pray for ourselves and others (Heb.10:24,25; Eph.6:18).

We will endeavor to bring up such as may at any time be under our care, in the nuture and admonition of the Lord, and by a pure and loving example to seek the salvation of our family and friends (Eph.4:12-16; Tit.2:1-3:8).

We will rejoice at each other's happiness and endeavor with tenderness and sympathy to bear each other's burdens and sorrows (Rom.12:10,13,15; Gal.6:1-2).

We will seek, by Divine strength, to live carefully in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and remembering that, as our old life has been crucified and buried with Christ, and we have now been raised up in spiritual union with Christ; so there is on us a special responsibility and expectation to lead a new & holy life (Rom.6:1-8:13; Gal.5:16-23; Eph.4:17-6:9).

We will work together for the continuance of a faithful evangelical ministry in this church, as we sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, doctrine, and governance as it is based on God's Word and affirmed in the Church Constitution; we will further contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel to all nations (Phil.1:3-7; Col.3:12-17; Matt.28:19; I Cor.11:23-26; Matt.18:15-17; I Tim.3:15; II Tim.1:13; I Cor.8-9; I Cor.9:8-12,13,14).

We will, when we move from this place, as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word (Heb.10:24,25).

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all (II Cor.13:14). Amen.

The Importance and Value of Church Covenants

Nearly from the very first emergence of Baptists in 17th century England, taking their cue from their fellow Separatist forbears, was the adoption and practice for church covenants. The basic concept behind the church covenant is to answer the question, "How do we commit to live together?" Thus, a church covenant is "a solemn agreement voluntarily entered into by a particular congregation of believers" (from Baptist Confessions, Covenants, and Catechisms by Timothy and Denise George; published by Broadman and Holman; 1996. p.14). This covenantal "agreement" is for the manner in which a local body of believers shall walk together in the name of Christ and unto His glory. At the very core then, a church covenant is really the published expression of the biblical mandate for the communal and missional life of God's people as they gather together as a visible localized church.

Noting the great value and practical effects of having and keeping a church covenant, Mark Dever (in his book The Deliberate Church) offered these helpful observations:

"Implenting a church covenant helps to correct the misperception that members can live in either isolated individualism or unrepented sin and still be members in good standing. It provides a biblical standard of behavior for members, notifying them of what it means to be a member of the local church, and reminding them of the [responsibilities] that membership entails for our lifestyles and interactions with each other. Church covenants make membership meaningful because they clarify the spiritual and relational commitments that membership signifies. Clarifying the commitments of membership promotes health of the local church because it keeps nominalism at bay and keeps us accountable to growing in real Christian piety. And the more we grow in true Christian holiness and love, the more evidence we have that we are indeed [Christ's] disciples."