The New Testament images of the church make the necessity and value of local church membership clear.
Should local churches practice formal membership? In our deeply individualistic age where institutional distrust soars and trust in pastors ranks only slightly higher than local politicians, “belonging” to a local church seems outright cultish.[1] While many Christians are willing to attend a church, only 39% of Christians in America believe that a Christian should join a local church.[2] Although no verse commands, “Thou shalt sign a membership covenant,” the images of the church in the New Testament make the necessity and value of local church membership unmistakeable.
The Household of God
The church is the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15). Every family knows who lives in their house. The kids who play on our street may join us for dinner from time to time, but they are not members of our household. A family has unique obligations to one another that they clearly do not share with those outside the household. The church is God’s redeemed household, and all throughout the New Testament there is a clear understanding expected locally of who lives in the house.
- Pastors are to shepherd the flock of God that is among them (1 Peter 5:2), keeping watch over and giving an account for their souls in particular (Hebrews 13:7).
- Saints are to do good to all, especially those “of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10), which requires discerning between “outsiders” and those who are “inside the church” (1 Corinthians 5:12).
- Unbelievers can know Christians are disciples of Jesus in part by how they treat one another (John 13:35).
Without formal church membership, everyone remains a kid on the street. Church membership is the way the invisible, universal household of God becomes visible locally by clearly identifying to pastors, members, and the world who belongs to the family.
The Body of Christ
The church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). A limb severed from the body does not grow, it rots. A body functions properly only when every one of its members is joined together and doing its part (Ephesians 4:16). Do you see the real presence and belonging that is implied in this imagery? I have benefited greatly from the books and videos of pastors who do not know me and will never meet me, but something more is necessary (1 Corinthians 4:15-17). A podcast cannot hug you when you are grieving or confront you when you are sinning, that requires a fellow member of the body of Christ. Membership is God’s primary strategy for every Christian’s maturity and God’s assignment for every Christian’s ministry (Ephesians 4:12-14). Amazingly, it is the ordinary, imperfect, but ransomed members of his body that God has chosen to belong to one another, speak the truth in love to one another, and so build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16) .
The Flock of God
The church is the flock of God (Acts 20:28-31). Church membership is a means through which our Good Shepherd protects his flock. First, membership is a vital protection from wolves within and false teachers without. Paul charges pastors to “pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” (Acts 20:28). Sheep outside the flock are easy targets for prey to pick off and lead astray (Acts 20:29-31), but sheep within the fold are guarded by watchful shepherds who preach the Gospel, defend sound doctrine, and shut the mouths of wolves (Titus 1:11).
Second, membership provides protection from our own spiritual drift and sin. Jesus uses the image of a flock when he gives instructions for church discipline in Matthew 18. Shepherds have a responsibility to go after lost sheep and bring them back into the fold (Matthew 18:12). Members of the flock share this responsibility by exhorting one another daily (Hebrews 3:12-13), calling one another to repentance in love (Matthew 18:15-16), and if a member consistently refuses to repent, removing them from the membership in the flock (Matthew 18:17-20). Church discipline protects the purity and witness of the church (1 Corinthians 5:7), while also providing assurance to believers. Without church membership this essential means of God’s protection and assurance of his flock is removed.
The Pillar and Buttress of the Truth
The church is the pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Our local churches hold up the truth of the Gospel in the world. One brick makes a pretty weak pillar that is sure to collapse. But when many saints uphold a shared confession of faith, that church becomes a mighty pillar and buttress of the truth in their community. Without the shared profession of faith membership expresses, the truth is not made visible. Through local church membership God calls Christians together to receive, hold fast to, and deliver the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1–3), plant new churches, and fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God until Christ returns.
The Church of Jesus Christ
Each image of the church in the New Testament reveals the nature of the church, the necessity and value of local church membership, and ultimately, every image of the church reveals the glory of her Savior, Jesus Christ.
The church is the house of God; Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20).
The church is the flock of God; Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).
The church is the body of Christ, Jesus is the Head of the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).
The church is the pillar and buttress of the Truth, Jesus is the Truth and the Faithful Witness (Revelation 3:14).
Jesus loves and gave his life for his church (Ephesians 5:2), Jesus builds his church (Matthew 16:18), and despite all her sins and weakness, Jesus has covenanted himself to his church (Hebrews 8:8-13).
Every follower of Jesus should too.
[1] Gallup, “Confidence in Institutions,” Gallup.Com, November 11, 2025, accessed December 6, 2025; Lydia Saad, “Americans’ Ratings of U.S. Professions Stay Historically Low,” Gallup.Com, March 27, 2025, accessed December 6, 2025, https://news.gallup.com/poll/655106/americans-ratings-professions-stay-historically-low.aspx.
[2] Ligonier, “The State of Theology,” The State of Theology, n.d., accessed December 6, 2025, https://thestateoftheology.com/.
