Life in the Vineyard: Connected to the Vine and Church Membership

For the last six weeks or so I have been trying to paint a picture of what a healthy church should look like and expect as it lives out its mission. Using a viticulture metaphor, we know that Jesus is the true Vine of Israel, the Messiah, the Son of God who was sent to bring salvation to all who would believe upon him. Every branch that is connected to him that has his life pulsating through their spiritual veins, will bear fruit. These branches are true believers who confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord and has risen from the grave. The fruit they bear is threefold.

A great commitment to Jesus which expresses itself in obedience that is motivated by a genuine love for Jesus.

A great communion with Jesus that expresses itself in prayer that overflows from God’s word abiding in them.

A great commission mindset that expresses itself in sowing and reaping the gospel for the harvest and seeing conversions.

Branches that do not bear this kind will be broken off and thrown into the fire. Jesus has made it clear that one can only bear fruit through his power. he has said, “For apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).”

The purpose of bearing fruit is to prove you and Jesus’s disciples and to glorify God (John 15:8). The world will know that FBCL is joyfully advancing the kingdom of God by our spiritual fruit that brings God glory.

To ensure that we bear as much fruit as possible, God has promised to prune us through is loving discipline. He will bring hardship and suffering into our individual lives, and in the life of the church as a whole, in order to produce holiness, righteousness, deeper love for Christ, sustaining joy, and conversions. God will work to conform us into the image of His Son so that, just as Jesus glorified the Father, so we will glorify the Father.

There will be times when the church will suffer persecution for the name of Jesus. If a church is joyfully advancing the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus, then you can be sure the world will, at times, hate the church, and will act on that hate by attacking the work of God. Nevertheless, the church must prevail for the mark of a true Spirit-empowered God-glorifying Christ loving church is endurance. Jesus says elven times that we must remain in him. We must persevere until the end. Churches that continue to believe the gospel and preach the gospel and share the gospel will remain in Christ and Christ will remain in them.

Joy Abiding Strength

Remaining in Christ is very difficult, especially when the battle rages for a long time. How do find the strength to keep going? Jesus says joy is your strength.

John 15:11 ESV

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Jesus joy was grounded in glorifying the Father. For His joy to be in you, your heart must desire to glorify the Father. Jesus wants His joy in you so that you joy and be full, able to satisfy, able to sustain you through discipline and persecution. In other words,

Joy sustaining strength comes to those who bear the fruit of having a great commitment to Jesus, that enjoys a great communion with Jesus, that sees a great commission revival for Jesus.

With this in mind, I want to give you a summary application statement of John 15. It is a summary application statement to applying what we have learned about life in the Vineyard. It the world would ask, “What is the drive behind your mission? What is the heartbeat that is pulsating behind FBCl joyfully advancing the kingdom of God? As an individual who loves Jesus, I would say,

“Knowing that Jesus lives inside of me, that he empowers me to make much of Him, it is my desire to glorify God by both enjoying a deep abiding communion with him through prayer that comes from the overflow of His Word abiding me, and expressing my love for Jesus through joyful obedience to His perfect commands and Great commission.”

That is my heartbeat. This is why I exist. That is the life of Jesus pulsating through my veins. As the pastor this church, this is the life I want flowing in and out of the spiritual veins of the FBCL. I want all of us to say with conviction:

Being empowered by the Holy Spirit, FBCL desires to glorify God by both enjoying a deep abiding communion with Jesus through prayer that comes from the overflow of God’s Word abiding in us, and expressing our love through joyful obedience to His perfect commands and His Great Commission.

When we as a body encompass the heartbeat of this mission, we will accomplish out vision:

Vision: to see the church, community, and home joyfully abiding in Jesus.

We want the life of Jesus pulsating in the veins of our church so much that joy in Christ is the defining mark of our fellowship. We want our joyful to come from love driven obedience, word abiding prayer, and great commission minded ministry. We want it to be infectious on everything we set our hearts to do for Jesus. We want our joy to spill over onto the community bringing life, light, and blessing. We want our joy to saturate the home with a love for God’s word, his design for the family, and the presence of His Spirit. This is what it looks like to joyfully abide in Jesus.

All of this is important to you right now because you will need the mission, the heartbeat, and the vision, at the forefront of your mind and heart as we move forward in the church. We have to make some adjustments to our practices and expectations if we want to be true to our mission; to see our vision come to fruition.

For the remainder of our time, I want to get practical in our application. I want to start at the very beginning with what it means to be a member of FBCL. For us to fulfill our mission with a heart that is in rhythm with God’s heart, to fulfill our vision, everyone who is a member must be truly connected to the Vine.

John 15:1–2 ESV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Everyone who is committed to FBCL must be connected to the true vine if we are going to fulfill our vision. So, this poses a question for us.

How does the church, who does not see the heart the way God sees the heart, discern who participates in the life of the church?

Meaning, who are the branches in the Vine at FBCl who are committed to lead, guiding, directing, and participating in the fellowship of the our local congregation?

The answer, simply, is church membership. One of the ways we protect the fellowship and the mission of the church is discerning who is a member of our congregation and who is not a member. This answer poses several more questions:

Is church membership biblical?

How does the church safe guard church membership?

What are the expectations of everyone who joins our fellowship?

How will the church remain committed to the mission and each other?

What happens if a member of FBCL is not abiding in Jesus?

I want to start with membership to FBCL by making a biblical case for membership. Some may come to our church and not believe that formal membership is a biblical notion or expectation for New Testament believers. Though there is not a command to become a member, there is a strong assumption you will be a member of a congregation. Let’s begin briefly in the Old Testament.

The Day of Assembly (Deut 9:10; 10:4; 18:16)

God chose Isreal to be his designated people. Even though there were people on earth who worshiped God before Abraham, God chose to express his electing love on Abraham’s descendants. They were marked out by circumcision and they were a special people who he chose to love and use to reveal himself to the world.

God revealed to Abraham that his descendants would flourish in the land of Egypt and eventual become slaves. After four hundred years, however, God would deliver his people and give them a special land to live. God fulfilled this promise in the Exodus. In Exodus 19-20, God called his people to meet with him at Mount Sinai. God was present was with his people. There were thunders and lightenings, trumpet blasts, a thick cloud, smoke, and trembling. The people were camped around the mountain. God spoke to the people and his people listened in fear and trembling. This was the first church service if you will, but would not be the last.

In Deuteronomy, Moses would call the people together for the “day of assembly (Deut 9:10; 10:4; 18:16). The word for assembly is sometimes translated congregation. In many respects, here you have the beginning of the church. Theologian John Frame says, regarding the day of assembly,

“In an important sense, this is the beginning of the church. It was on this day that the nation of Israel became, by covenant, God’s holy nation, distinguished from all the other nations of the world. God has redeemed the Israelites from Egypt; they are his treasured possession among all peoples (Ex. 19:4–5). They are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (v. 6). Their constitution is the covenant-treaty called the Ten Commandments.” John Frame

God entered into covenant with Israel to be their God and they would be his people. He promised land, seed, and blessing if they would keep his commandments, and curses and plagues if they forsake his covenant.

New Testament Church

Fast forward to the New Testament. God makes a new covenant through the blood of his Son. We enter that covenant by faith. We are given his Spirit as a seal, a new family of fellowship, and a new mission to share the good news of salvation. The church is, how John Frame and Wayne Grudem helpfully define its, is the people of God for all ages. The church is the people, not the building or the institution. I read recently read of one worship leader who would typically welcome people by giving thanks and saying to God, “thank you for brining the church into this room.”

The church is made up of people who are in covenant with God through Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, the church can refer to local, regional, and universal bodies.

Local Congregation

In antiquity, the early church met in local homes called house churches. For example, Paul mentions a local house church in

Romans 16:5 ESV

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.

Aquila and Prisca had a church in their house 1 Corinthians 16:19, as well as Nympha in Colossi (Colossians 4:15).

Regional Congregation

You see the regional church in Rome, Corinth, and Antioch. The church is Jerusalem was established in Acts 2 with over 3,000 members; most of whom who probably met in house churches throughout the city.

Universal Church

Finally, you have the universal church throughout the world. Jesus told Peter he would build his church on the rock of his testimony in Matthew 16:18. The church elders met in Acts 15 in Jerusalem to settle a doctrine issue that would be resolved and a letter written to all the churches throughout the world at that time.

People enter the fellowship through their profession of faith and the witness of baptism. Then they would gather with a local body of believers under the authority of elders. Elders are pastors who oversee the church. Eldership took over the apostles ministry of leadership. Deacons were established to be the hands and the feet of the church. They served the physical needs of the body of believers who gathered together.

In the New Testament, the church has structure. It has a leadership structure. Elders served as pastors, overseers of the church, and deacons served as servants. The elders oversee a defined congregation. Titus was responsible for those believers who gathered under his authority in Crete. Timothy was responsible for those in Ephesus. James was likely responsible for those who gathered in Jerusalem.

The elders and deacons knew who were the members of their congregation and who wasn’t. We know this because their is evidence of the church membership in the New Testament. John Piper has been helpful by showing me this pattern in several of his sermons and writings. I have organized what I have read into five realties of revealed church membership.

Church membership is revealed in the reality of Church discipline (Matthew 18:15-17)

In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus gives instruction in how the church will handle someone who refuses to repent of sin. After the person is confronted twice by church members and leadership, the church itself will be the final voice in the matter.

Matthew 18:15–17 ESV

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

John Piper notes,

“If there is no church membership, how can you define the group that will take up this sensitive and weighty matter of exhorting the unrepentant person and finally rendering a judgment about his standing in the community? It’s hard to believe that just anyone who showed up claiming to be a Christian could be a part of that gathering. Surely, “the church” must be a definable group to handle such a weighty matter.” John Piper

Church discipline is only for those who are inside the church, and can only be administered by those who have covenantally committed themselves to the church.

Church membership is revealed in the reality of excommunication (1 Corinthians 5)

In First Corinthians 5, there was a man who committed gross sexual immorality. Paul confronts the church about this man and tells them they must put him out of the fellowship; excommunication. Paul then goes on to say

1 Corinthians 5:12–13 ESV

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

The implication is that there is an inside group, the church, and an outside group, others. Paul is implying there is formal membership with this implication. There would be not group to remove the man from if there was not a formal membership.

Church membership is revealed in the reality of the authority of church leadership (Hebrews 13:17)

As I have already stated, there is a leadership structure built into the church. Elders have been given the authority and responsibility to lead the congregation they are shepherding. Elders have no authority over people who are outside the membership. For those who are members of the church, they agree to come underneath the watchful care of the elders. The New Testament describes this relationship between the elders and the church:

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 (ESV)

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,

and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

1 Timothy 5:17 (ESV)

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

In order for this relationship to exist and work well, there must be clear boundaries for who is an elder and who is a member. Furthermore, if the elders are going to give an account for those whom they shepherd, they need to know who those sheep are.

Matt Chandler, the pastor of The Village Church, in Dallas, TX, speaks to the reality of the boundaries of church membership when he says,

“Scriptures clearly command Christians to submit to and honor an elder body (Heb. 13:17, 1 Tim. 5:17). If there is no understanding of local church membership, then who are we to submit to and obey? Is it anyone with the title “elder” from any church? Should you as a Christian obey and submit to those loons at Westboro Baptist? In order to obey Scripture, must you picket soldiers’ funerals, as the pastor of Westboro seems to imply?” Matt Chandler

The reality of church membership clearly defines the boundaries of the relationship between members and leadership.

Church membership is revealed in the reality of the accountability of pastoral shepherds (Acts 20:28)

Knowing who the flock are we are responsible for allows us to properly care for our people. The bible calls on shepherds to be deeply involved in the lives of their people. Paul tells the elders to,

Acts 20:28 ESV

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Elders have a special responsibility to a special group of people first and foremost, that is the members of their church. Peter says the same thing to elders,

1 Peter 5:2–3 ESV

shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Mark Dever rightly says,

“Church membership is a means by which we demarcate the boundaries of the church.” Mark Dever

What he means is, church membership allows the church and the leadership to know who belongs in the fellowship, under the care and the authority of the elders and deacons.

Of course Sonny, Michael, and myself can visit nonbelievers. We can pray for people who are not in our fellowship. Our first priority, however, is for the members of FBCL.

James says to the church,

James 5:14 ESV

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

The church knows who the elders are to call when they are sick, and the elders know who their members are to pray over.

Church membership is revealed in the reality of the “body” (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)

Paul describes the church as a body in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. Church membership is implied by the way Paul refers to each member of the body. Some members are ears. Some are feet. Some are hands. They are all part of one body in Christ. John Pipers makes the point,

“So the question this imagery raises for the local church that Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 12 is: Who intends to be treated as a hand or foot or eye or ear of this body? There is a unity and organic relationship implied in the imagery of the body. There is something unnatural about a Christian attaching himself to a body of believers and not being a member of the body.” John Piper

Church membership is a biblical concept that is seen throughout the early church. Membership to a local body is a proper expectation of every believer, and a proper requirement for FBCL.

In order for us to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home, we need to ensure those who are working toward this mission are connected to the true Vine. One of the ways we can discern who is actively participating in our fellowship, that is making decisions that affect the direction and health of the church, are truly commited to our vision. requiring church membership does that through clarity of who belongs on the fellowship and whom the elders and deacons have a responsibility to shepherd and care for.

You might amen all of this, and even remind me that we already have a requirement for membership for FBCL. Right on. Next week I am going to discuss five marks of healthy church membership. Healthy church membership provides clear expectations- through a robust new members class. It entails elder accountability-a personal interview with elders and or deacons. It is covenantal, meaning members should be required to agree to live by the covenant of the church. It is current, meaning the rolls are clean. And finally, it is disciplinary, meaning that healthy church membership exercises church discipline on members who habitually refuse to abide in Jesus.

There is no life for the Christian outside the church. Jesus paid the price to bring you into his family and to place you in a local body of believers to sustain you and equip you for a life of godliness. Church membership is that grace in your life. Don’t reject it. I l close with this final exhortation from John Piper,

“Church membership is a blood-bought gift of God’s grace. More than most of us realize, it is a life-sustaining, faith-strengthening, joy-preserving means of God’s mercy to us. I urge you not to cut yourself off from this blessing.” John Piper

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