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A great discussion by some godly pastors. I’m particularly a fan of Dever and Keller. I love Dever on “organization” and Keller is too big a C. S. Lewis fan not to love.

Dever: “If you call yourself a Disciple of Jesus and you’re not helping other people follow Jesus, I don’t know what you mean.”

It takes different kinds of churches to reach different kinds of people, but there are some key p

1. Expositional Preaching
2. Biblical Theology
3. The Gospel
4. Conversion
5. Biblical Evangelism
6. Membership
7. Discipline
8. Discipleship
9. Leadership

Here’s David Platt talking about the biblical basis for local church membership.

1. The gathering of local congregations implies local church membership

2. The idea of “church discipline” implies local church membership

3. The reality of “church leadership” implies local church membership

4. The presence of “church accountability” implies local church membership

I’ve long been a big Alistair Begg fan. I think it’s partly due to the accent, but he’s able to just plainly say things with an authority others simply don’t command.

This is a fantastic sermon I highly recommend you watch from beginning to end, it’s only 38 minutes long and well worth it. I hope you’ll listen to it and hear what he’s trying to say.

Membership Matters (it really does)

A helpful video from Matt Chandler et al on church membership:

These are some key points I’ve been sharing with folks for years. That’s what I appreciate so much about Matt, he’s always focusing on what the Bible says and how we can think biblically.

1) Christians are called to submit to their leaders (Hebrews 13:17). Any leaders? No, their leaders. There’s the embedded assumption that you are part of a local congregation. You don’t get to decide this, otherwise you’re the leader. The leaders of any local church set the requirements for membership… there’s no way to obey them and reject membership at the same time.

2) There is an organization whereby someone can be removed (Matthew 18:15-20). This is clearly a local group of believers who are organized with leaders, processes, standards, and who have a governing body. Jesus even says when they agree, he casts his vote with them.

You don’t have to call it membership I suppose, but you must submit yourself to the accountability of a local community of believers who are organized in a hierarchical structure of leadership and authority overseen by ordained men. Besides, the word membership is a commonly understood English word and it’s also biblical (Romans 12:5; 1Corinthians 12:27), why would someone reject it? Is it pride or Christ-centeredness?

Some things to consider. Are you a church member? I’m not asking if you’re on a role somewhere, are you a member? You should be.

Do you lead a Sunday School class? What if you were to start a NEW group? I know, “our class just got together” “we aren’t stable enough to start a new group” “we just started getting to know each other” Trust me, in the history of Christian Educational Ministry, this is not a new struggle. But, what if the purpose of our class wasn’t just to connect the people we already have, but to reach out and connect new people? What if the reason for our Sunday School class, at least in part, was to find people on the fringe and draw them in? What if, just maybe, one of the 3 core values of Sunday School was “REACHING?” Wouldn’t starting a new class be a great way to connect with new or not-yet fully connected people? I think it would. That’s when a class goes from just something you do to a gospel centered ministry, making more and better disciples starting at home base. To that end, let me recommend a great post from Bob Mayfield with 5 ways to start a new class, or rather, 5 kinds of classes you can easily start. The Form class, the Target, the Branch, the Connection, and the Pastor’s Connection class. Who could we be reaching? Don’t forget, Easter is right around the corner!