The Church Answers Podcast
Is Church Membership Biblical?
Welcome to the Church Answers podcast presented by Chaney & Associates. Chaney & Associates are the accounting firm for the church. Now get ready for fast-paced insights on key issues affecting the local church today. We release three episodes each week, so make sure you've seen or heard them all. And now, here's the CEO of Church Answers, Tom Rayner. It may be the most original name of podcast. It is a podcast done by Church Answers, and so we have called it the Church Answers podcast. None of us are very creative, Jess. I mean, look at the name of your church. Hey, I just like to call things like it is. The church at Spring Hill and Spring Hill, Tennessee. I totally get that in the name of our company is... What do we name a company that we're always providing answers for churches? Oh, Church Answers. There it is. There it is. Just plain and simple as it can be. Welcome to the Church Answers podcast. My name is Tom Rayner. I'm joined by Jess Rayner. We've got a good one today because this one is going to go all the way back to a conversation I had with Jess Rayner regarding size of books. We'll talk about that in just a moment. Before we get to that, we want to thank Chaney & Associates, the accounting firm for the church. I've said it once. I'll say it a G in times if you are doing your own bookkeeping in your church. If you're trying to manually do it in any way, particularly let Chaney do it. It's not an expense. It's an investment and it's going to save you so much time, so much grief and keep you out of trouble. Contact Chaney & Associates. They're helping over 1100 churches right now. That's why we call them the accounting firm for the church. Guess what? They're the accounting firm for the church. That's in that car. Creativity is just oozing. Yeah. They're working with small church, church plants, mega churches all sizes, cloud-based software. They are the place. All right, Jess. I had a concept for a book. You had a concept for a book size. Let's start off with the size of the book because I actually think your contribution there was more important than the content because of the delivery system. Tell us about that fortunate conversation you had with me many years ago. Yeah. You're getting ready to write a book called "I am a church member." I love the idea, but I didn't like the size of the book because if me not being very smart, I won something short, concise to the point. And I said, if this book can reach the masses, let's make it small. Let's make it easily digestible. And so while the content was not lessened in any way, the book size was. And I think it actually made it difficult for you to write because it was more concise, but it ended up being just this rich, rich book. Oh boy, it was a lot more difficult to write the publisher's word count was suggested between 55,000 and 60,000. The ending book word count was like 16,000. So it went from being an academic work to more of a a practical ministry book and that and that was a fundamental change that that moved the direction of the book that put it in the hands of a lot more people. Well, the lot more people, we've just passed 1.9 million. It's still selling. We'll all have to have a cake party cooking cake party when when we hit two million. And, you know, to put that in perspective, that book's been around a while and it's still got those kind of legs. And I think that you put me into the small book market. And the next one was called autopsy of the seas church. I've already done a podcast on each of my bestseller books. So I'm not going to I'm not going to go down that path. But the content was important. Now what what church membership is. So I know that you're out in the world and you talked to people in spring Hill and the national area and wherever you do a lot of coaching for church answer so you talk with people around the United States sometimes, even around the globe. And church membership, the word membership is often misconstrued, especially in our culture today. What's happening there? Why, why, why, why, why is it. Why can't it have this negative or at the very least confused connotation. Well, I think if you think of it right now, it's a consumer based word. I mean, everyone's trying to get things to become members subscribers. There's this idea of, you know, sign up for this membership. It has a consumer based mentality now that we've probably didn't haven't seen, you know, and a lot of historical context. And so I think that kind of idea starts to begin to infiltrate the church when, when I talk about people who haven't really been to church or group and different, you know, church backgrounds and say, hey, he interested in becoming a member. Let's talk about that. Like, what, what do you mean member. And so the church and what your book does it, it read defines or correctly defines the biblically defines the word membership. And so there is that battle of overcoming simply the definition and the meaning of it. But it's a really important exercise and I think, you know, the book and biblical membership is very important for the church today. It's not about biblical membership. And I often point to first Corinthians 12. It's not the only passage, but depending upon the translation, the word member is used. So sometime it'll be parts, but it's, it's member is you are part of the body of Christ. You are a member of the body of Christ. So the original connotation, the biblical connotation of member was you are a contributing part of a body for the greater good of the body. And that is not consumer. I love the way you talked about it being consumer centric the word member. That's the antithesis of consumer centric. That is, you are sacrificing for the good of the whole. Right. Right. Yeah. And that's, even if you look at other other passages, you look at acts, you know, you look at acts 242, you talk about, you know, the, the idea of coming together, breaking bread fellowship. It's meant to be a coming together for the benefit of the body at large. And so the biblical definition is an outward focus within the body. That makes a total sense. Yeah. And so from that, from that church member perspective, understanding biblically that I think a lot of people maybe struggle with membership as well, not only because it's consumer based, because maybe there's some past hurt. That has been there, or they sent us like another obligations and the accountability. But what I love to do at the church Spring Hill is when we talk about membership, when we have a membership class, we'll talk about the benefits, the joy of membership. And so it's that it's that coming together as a church body that produces this joy that produces this fellowship that produces these benefits spiritually that you don't get from any other type of membership. And so that biblical mindset is really important from the member standpoint. Well, you can hit hit on something that's really important here. There has to be a place where you give clarity to the biblical understanding of membership. And typically that is innate membership class or something similar to that. Some type of entry level point where you come in and you not only get information, but you begin to hear expectations about what it means to be a church member. And so that's where the book I am a church member, I think really had most of its legs was in those membership classes and still does today. The paradigm shift, I have been told by people outside of church answers so this isn't Tom Rainer or any of the rainers just talking about this took place with two streams in contemporary American Christianity, probably now more global Christianity. I'm a church member, which reoriented church membership back to be in biblical church membership, and then the reform churches that were already talking about membership from a higher expectation level. And though I am not a reform. Well, I don't check off on all the boxes have been a reform person, but we got to give them credit because these churches like the nine March churches, they begin to define what it means to really be a part of members. And I guess my contribution is I took it from a more of the academic to a more popular perspective in the paradigm shift. Yeah, yeah, I think we're these two ideas merge, you know, there's there's the idea of understanding it from a member standpoint, a church member standpoint, but also, and I think what some of these other, you know, about reform and nine March. I think it also brings us this other perspective from the pastoral standpoint. And that's, and that's where the struggle is I, I, he was 13 17 is a big verse for me. We're talks about me as a shepherd I'm going to be held accountable for those who I am overseeing. And so if there if I'm held to that standard that I'm going to be held accountable for those who I shepherd, then, then, biblically, you see this idea of a flock you see this idea of this care. And if you can't define who your flock is if you can't define who's under your care, I'm going to have a hard time knowing like okay am I am I hitting the mark. Are you, you know, is this someone who just attended for Sunday or is this someone who's who's as we talk about at our church locking arms together. And so, biblically it's it's from those two different perspectives and I think we talk about reformed and then marks and some other just kind of drivers of that church membership. I think a lot of it feels like it came from that pastoral side as well. And so when you can merge those two understandings from a pastoral standpoint and from a church member standpoint. It's not specifically laid out, you know, first Corinthians is pretty close to it. But you see this this strong biblical case for why it matters to be a part of the church body. I heard a pastor this past Sunday when I was in church pastor I usually like listening to but he was demeaning me because he's talking about his mother my wife being the greater of the two. It's not the first time I've said that I don't pretend to be greater than my wife but he's always saying that she is greater than I am. It's it sounds right for Mother's Day that that pastor would say that on Mother's Day. But you say it regularly. So don't talk about Mother's Day you do it on regular basis in that same sermon you talked about the importance of the mission of the church. And the mission of the church is very, very clear in scripture from acts to all the way to Revelation three and a lot of letters in between the entire that entire portion of the New Testament is either about the church in the context of the church, or about local churches. And so the church is important the church is God's mission on earth. And that's that's what I remember you saying. Yep, got it God God's church is planning and there is there is no plan B. And so understand that we were called to belong to that church we're called to to be a part of the mission and what God's doing. It adds it adds so you talk about the member, biblical viewpoint you talk about the pastoral biblical viewpoint now you're talking about God's viewpoint on biblical membership to where he he's saying hey this is my plan I want you to be a part of it. You know God's church you should belong to it and that idea of formally committing is a really part to it because God has formally committed to us as well. That will show up in a podcast know they'll show up in a blog post in the very near future is church membership biblical yes it is biblical. We understand why it's misunderstood and misconstrued, but it is biblical so that's our word for today. So on behalf of just thank you for being a part of the church answers podcast hey thanks for being there YouTube and watching us and subscribe or give us a thumbs up. And on your favorite podcast app give us a rating or review. Keep this going because it's a free ministry to those who are listeners are viewers and always thank you Chaney and Associates the accounting firm for the church. Stay tuned we got a lot more church answers podcast come we'll see you in the next episode. You have been listening to the church answers podcast presented by Chaney and Associates Chaney and Associates are the accounting firm for the church. You need to focus on ministry, Chaney will focus on finances also please subscribe and give a review to the church answers podcast on YouTube and on your favorite podcasting app. (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]