In this series of posts, I will be examining the definition of church membership. What constitutes membership? Can you be a “virtual church member?”
In the spring of 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic swept through the United States. Businesses shut down; people ceased going out of their homes. While some churches completely shut down, many moved toward an online presence. The rise of virtual attendance surged, especially in the beginning. Over the last year, people have gradually begun attending in-person worship services again, but most churches have continued to stream their services or hold online business sessions. A church in Fort Worth began receiving membership requests from people in other states. The church had to decide whether to accept these requests or deny them. The new reality of virtual church attendance has raised the question of virtual church membership. Can a person be a member of a church in a distant location?
To answer this question, the first step is to define the biblical church and its essential nature. From this nature arises the requirements and benefits of church members. Once the nature and requirements of biblical church membership are adequately understood, the request for virtual church attendance can and should be effectively denied.
Defining the Biblical Church
God’s eternal plan has always been to display His glory not just through individuals but through a corporate body.[1] Therefore, in the New Testament, the church is not incidental to the gospel but integral to it.[2] In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said that He would build His church upon the rock of Peter’s confession.[3] Therefore, the church is foremost not established by men but a divine institution established by the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite this claim found in the Gospels, the church is not recognized until the book of Acts. When the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles in Acts 2, Peter preaches the gospel to those gathered in Jerusalem. Acts 2:41-42 says, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and prayer.”[4] Most scholars and pastors understand this to be the establishment of the New Testament church.
//clicktotweet.com/embed/3dW1Z/3/nTherefore, the church is established by Christ and determined by the working of the Holy Spirit. Under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, the apostle Paul wrote that God builds His church not with bricks and mortar but with the living stones of his people.[5] These living stones are built into the temple of the Spirit.[6] The church is the community of the Spirit.[7]
Throughout the New Testament writings, the common Greek word for the church is ἐκκλησία(ekklesia). The word most simply refers to a large group of persons gathered for a common purpose.[8] However, the Septuagint uses the same term to translate the Hebrew word קָהָל (qāhāl), a word referring to Israel’s religious gatherings.[9]
Many modern Christians claim membership in the church universal, but not in the local church. All Christians belong to the universal church by their belief in Christ and their confession of Him as Lord. Yet the Scriptures only speak of the universal church thirteen times.[10] The same term is used for a local group of believers meeting in a specified location over ninety times.[11]
//clicktotweet.com/embed/1Iar5/3/nThe church is also more than just a local gathering. Notice the phrase common purpose in the definition. John Powers claims that Christians have been duped into thinking a crowd is a church.[12] The biblical church is more than simply a group of people gathering; it is a group of people gathering for a common purpose. The common purpose is found in the nature of the church.
[1] Dever, Mark. The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2012), 4
[2] Clymer, Wayne K. Membership Means Discipleship (Discipleship Resources, 1976), 9.
[3] Matthew 16:18
[4] New International Version
[5] James, Bill. Baptism and Church Membership (Webster: Evangelical Press USA, 2006), 18.
[6] Reference 1 Peter 2 and Ephesians 2.
[7] Clymer, Membership Means Discipleship, 10.
[8] Brannan, Rick ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).
[9] Davis, Derek Leigh “Assembly, Religious,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
[10] Hammett, John S. “Church Membership, Church Discipline, and the Nature of the Church” Those Who Must Give an Account: A Study of Church Membership and Church Discipline (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 12.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Powers, John S. Redefining Church Membership: From Myth to Mystery (Nashville: LifeWay Leadership and Adult Publishing, 2001), 40.
Join me next week as I examine the nature of the church and scriptural metaphors of the church.
Joel McReynolds 
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