Do You Go to Church or Belong to One?

Do You Go to Church or Belong to One?

There’s a fundamental difference between “Going to a church.” and “Belonging to a church.”  Sadly, many, including pastors, will ask, “Where do you go to church?” when they should be

asking, “What church do you belong to?”  

“Going to church.” implies you travel to a church building and attend the service or event and then leave when it’s over and never interact or participate unless you’re in the building.  There’s no spiritual bond or relationship to others other than the shared experience of a church service.  

“Belonging to a church.” means you have entered into fellowship and covenant relationship with a community of believers and attending a church service is just the surface of that commitment.  To belong to a church means you have a family of believers that you “do life” together. Those who belong to a church have made a decision to follow Christ and have put their faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.  Now that Christ is the head, the local family of believers come together, not to a location, but are spiritually connected and bonded now that they share one Father, one Son, and one Spirit. In the context of church membership, not salvation, the believers put their trust in the local pastoral leadership to spiritually lead, feed, and protect them. In the pastor-member relationship, the pastoral leadership also disciples and equips the members for acts of service.  

The more clear the distinction between attenders and members the less problems the local church will have with “unqualified” people serving in positions or roles of leadership and influence.  Unqualified meaning unsaved, uncommitted, or generally living lifestyles that are incongruent with the Bible. 

Unfortunately, many churches do not distinguish, or do so poorly, the difference between attenders and members.  Joining a church through a membership process should be the clear line of separation. A church should expect and depend on its members to live a godly life and serve the body through discipleship, evangelism, ministry, missions, tithing, etc..

The confusion and conflict arise when church leadership expects attenders to act and behave like members.  Or when attenders and members don’t know the difference either, in other words, there is little to no difference in expectations.  

The problem is when membership becomes watered down to simply mean regular attender with no other expectations or even a process for regularly monitoring membership status.  

Problem scenarios when there is no clear Biblical church membership process:

The following are all regular attenders but not vetted members according to Biblical standards.

-Joe is a great guy, outgoing and personable.  He lives with his girlfriend of three years. He is interested in ushering a Sunday morning service.

-Jill and Jane are cohabitating in a lesbian relationship.  Jill sings and Jane plays keyboard. They want to share their talents and join the music ministry.

-Mark is a 25 year old single male.  He dates regularly and has 3-4 sexual relationships a year.  He is also addicted to porn. He holds a good job and is generous with his money.  He wants to serve as a Youth leader. He passes a criminal background check. 

Church-life becomes Church-strife when there is little to no difference in attenders and members.  Some churches prefer it that way, it boosts their Sunday morning attendance numbers. Some churches have Biblical membership requirements but do not adhere to them for a variety of reasons.  When the Church of God does not have or uphold Biblical expectations of its members then membership is reduced the least common denominator-- church attendance. This common expectation is wreaking havoc in the church and destroying its affectiveness.  

Matthew 5:13  “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.