Church Membership, Discipline and Elders (Building Healthy Churches)

Since I am now working for a church I thought it would be a good idea to get some foundational ideas on what a healthy Church is on about, so I bought the whole Building Healthy Churches series by 9Marks. These are the last three books I left in the series, mostly because these topics aren't really formal ones that my denomination does (well maybe, sort of, with different terms).

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus by Jonathan Leeman

In some circles, the idea of Church Membership is a bit touchy. This book seeks to address some of these concerns, showing how it is Biblical and then explains how someone might become a member of a church and then what being a member is. The aim of this book wasn't so much to argue for church membership, but more about equipping leaders in better grasping it as they implement it - so really it aimed at Baptists. Michael Houghton wrote the forward and I appreciated that he said that not being a Baptist he isn't persuaded by everything in this book.

This book starts with the concept of imperium. This is the idea of what scope a person or institution has power over. Jesus has ultimate imperium and it a pretty common doctrine that God has given governments imperium over the state, but we Christians sometimes are not clear on the imperium of the church. Like the state, God has given church imperium and we sometimes don't appreciate this for this then means there is a level of submission we need to have towards the church and its leaders, just like we do with the secular government.

When it comes to the Biblical warrant for Chruch Membership, pretty much Leeman looked at the churches mentioned in the New Testament, with the assumption that you can't talk about church members without talking about a church as "it's like trying to talk about a team, a family, a nation, or, yes, even a club without talking about its members". I am not sure if the mention of all the churches in the New Testament also means talking about its members. If there are 30 years between Paul's letters to the Ephesians and John's Revelation, is both these references to the same church in Ephesus addressed to the same members? 

If formal membership was clear in the Bible I think all Bible-believing churches would be doing it. We simply aren't told much about different church processes on declaring if they are a member or not, or how frequently they attended or what their giving was like or how they interviewed new Christians who moved into the area before they let them take part in the Lord's Supper.

From this book, Church Membership is defined as:

...a formal relationship between a church and a Christian characterized by the church's affirmation and oversight of a Christian's discipleship and the Christian's submission to living out his or her discipleship in the care of the church (p 64)

This generally seems like a good definition, however when it comes down to who is to be considered a church member the only requirements is that they are a Christian and are baptised. This then made me ask why this book exists in this series as they already had one on conversion. In my mind, if all they did in that conversion book, write something to say that when you are saved, you follow Jesus and get baptised (if you haven't been already) and attend a church, then I am not sure why we needed a whole new book on Church Membership. Maybe in my mind, being a Christian and attending and submitting to a church is part and parcel of conversion.

It seemed to me that this Church Membership idea only exists because of lawyers and their need for formality.  It is still up to the individual to decide if they want to join a church or not, and the formally/lawyers then come in on the church side to approve their decision. The lawyers are involved as they want a formal contract/agreement that they will submit to the church's authority. However, I question the level of authority the church has, pragmatically, if someone just doesn't want to play ball. Surely someone will just walk if they don't want in after awhile.

In my context, we do put the emphasis on the individual to see if they want to join our church or not. The church does want to work out if someone who walks into our doors is a Christian or not, and seeks to help them in their journey. However, wherever someone is at, if their relationship with the church goes south and someone doesn't like what our church is doing, no matter how much they were going to submit, it is voluntary. People can just leave and go to another church (as there are many good ones in the area already). But more on church discipline in the next book.

Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus by Jonathan Leeman

This book is also by Jonathan Leeman and kinda deals with the issue of what happens after someone becomes a member and they are not behaving. The first half of this book is about setting a framework of Church Discipline, and then the other half is going through 9 case studies to give you an idea of how the framework is applied, and then a minor bit on how to get your church started in this direction.

One of the fundamental ideas under this concept is that Jesus has attached Him name to the church, so He has staked his reputation on it. We need some sort of mechanism to help church members (the church) to live up to this calling.

From this book, Church discipline is defined as:

the act of removing an individual from membership in the church and participation in the Lord's Table. It's not an act of forbidding an individual from attending the church's public gatherings (p 27)

From this definition, you can see that the focus of this book is on corrective discipline, not formative discipline (teaching), which should be going on constantly. You can also see that Church Membership is key, as someone undergoing discipline can still come to things, they just aren't considered a member and can't take communion. Leeman also goes back up the chain from Church Membership to also see that Church Discipline also need a working definition of what the Gospel is, what a Christian is and what a local Church is. This ties together as Chruch Discipline is for Christians, ie people who believe and understand the Gospel.

When dealing with how you respond, Leeman was pastorally sensitive and tried to give more of a grid to make decisions, rather than any black and white answers. The sins committed need to be weighed on the reputation of the church (or how public it was), what the sin was and the extent, how long the person had been a Christian, how quickly they confessed or repent, how easily they were in sharing information about their sin, their personal history and family background, etc... I found these helpful categories as it understands that everyone has a different background and all along their Christian journey differently.

The general method proposed in how to go about Church Discipline pretty much is a combination of Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5. The idea is to bring in as few people as possible and to have the church leaders take the lead in the process. Since this model also assumes church meetings and elders, one final part of the process is to announce to the whole church community when someone's membership has been removed.

There was also a section on when restoration can be restored, pretty much when that the person is a Christian and repentance is deemed genuine. There is charity to be extended, and no extra hoops needed to reenter as a church member, as the only requirement is that someone is a Christian to be a member (and be baptised). Again, that person who is welcome back is publically announced in the church meeting/minutes.

The 9 case studies in the book were helpful to see some kinda messy or complex situations and how the church had handled them. Examples included addiction, adultery, someone in the news for their behaviour, non-attending members, the person who leaves before discipline (this person can not "unmember" himself), those who decided they are no longer a Christian etc...

Really, in my mind, this book should have just been about Holiness and how the church encourages its members to be more like Jesus. "Church Discipline" sounds so formal and negative. 

Church Elders: How to Shepherd God's People Like Jesus by Jeramie Rinne

Church structure or polity can be a touchy issue. Personally, I think if there was one clear Biblical model of church structure we would already have it, as the Bible would be clearer. For those who think their structure is the clear model in the Bible, then I don't understand why Brethrens, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians and Independents all have different models, as all really want to Biblica and obey God in their church. Perhaps church polity is one of the freedoms we have as Christians and allows churches to operation in many different contexts.

This book is kinda aimed at being a short handbook at being a Church Elder, a title my church doesn't use. However, from reading this book it seems that an Elder is one who teaches in church. They guard the pulpit and are responsible for preaching and what is taught. Elders also look after the people in that church. They go after those who are limping away, those who are sinning, those who need support and encouragement. They get among the people and do not lord their position above others. They need to be humble leaders who pray and model prayer for the members of a church.

In essence, Church Elders are pastors, who could be paid or unpaid (part-time or retired or whatever). This book suggests there should be an Edership, ie not done in isolation, but in the plural. Elders can sit on a council that helps direct and oversees the church. This council isn't what Anglicans might know as a Parish Council, as in this book, it mentions deacons. This position of deacons is described as those who oversee the logistics and administration fo the church as well as the physical church needs. I think Rinne means more than just the building upkeep, but also some acts of service to people in the church who are in need.

The book looks at the main passages where Elders/Overseers are mentioned in the Bible - 1 Timothy 3:2-3 and Titus 1:7-8 and goes through the traits mentioned there. It then continues to try and walk alongside someone telling them what is expected of them as an Elder and also the pitfalls and hard work ahead of them.

 

Overall, if I was in a Baptist church I probably would give this to all the Elders there, as the tone came from someone who has been or is right where an Elder is at, the expectations asked of them are high but also what they might encounter or feel seems realistic.

Other books in this series:

Biblical Theology, Expositional Preaching & Sound Doctrine (Building Healthy Churches)

Prayer, the Gospel & Missions (Building Healthy Churches)
Evangelism, Conversion & Discipling (Building Healthy Churches)

I had thought that I had reached the end of this series, but they have made another on Corporate Worship. I am not sure if I will get to that one. We will see.