OceanSide church of Christ

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PLACING MEMBERSHIP

Victor M. Eskew

 

            The church “universal” is composed of all members of the church from all over the world.  It is impossible for a group single group of men to oversee every Christian in the world.  Therefore, God designed the local congregation.  The local congregation consists of members of the church who live in a certain location.  This church is a microcosm of the universal church.  When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he described them with these words:  “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Cor. 12:27).  Notice he called the local church “the body of Christ.” 

            The local congregations of God’s people are autonomous, that is, self-governing.  There is no conference or association that oversees all of the local churches.  A governing body that stands between the local church and the universal church is not authorized in God’s Word.  There is wisdom in the autonomous nature of the local church.  If one church turns from the truth, only that church is impacted by the apostasy.  If a conference or associate turns from the truth, that would impact hundreds, even thousands, of local churches. 

            Each local congregation is to be governed ultimately by a group of men called elders.  We come to this understanding from Titus 1:5.  Paul wrote to Titus, saying:  “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”  According to I Timothy 5:17, these men have the “rule” over the local church.  “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in word and doctrine.”  It is the responsibility of the members to submit to the rule of these men.  The writer of Hebrews charged his readers with these words:  “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:  for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:  for that is unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17). 

            One of the pictures the Bible shows us to describe a local church is that of a flock of sheep.  Peter uses this picture in I Peter 5:1-2a.  “The elders which are among you I exhort who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory  that shall be revealed;  feed the flock of God which is among you…”  The members of the local church are the flock.  The elders who oversee the church are the shepherds of the flock.  In I Peter 5:2, the word “feed” in the Greek language is “poimaino.”  Strong defines the word as follows:  “to tend as a shepherd.”  Thayer defines the word in this manner:  “to feed, to tend a flock, keep sheep.”  Paul had used this word when he addressed the elders of the church of Ephesus in Acts 20:28.  He exhorted them, saying:  “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”  The words “to feed” mean to tend the flock, to care for the flock, and be shepherds to the flock.

            Shepherding was a common occupation in Bible times.  Unfortunately, our society does not know much about shepherding.  One of the simple rules of shepherding was that a shepherd was responsible for a specific flock of sheep.  He knew the exact number of sheep for which he was accountable.  He also knew each one of his sheep by name.  Jesus taught this information when He proclaimed that He was “the good shepherd” in John 10.  In verse 14, Jesus declares:  “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”  Jesus stressed that he knows His sheep.  This principle must be applied to the local congregation as well.  The elders are the shepherds.  These men MUST know their sheep.  If they do not know the individuals who are part of their flock, how can they properly oversee them?  How can they watch for their souls?  That would be impossible. 

            This principle alone stresses the need for the practice of “placing membership.”  Congregational flocks are transitory like physical flocks.  Some sheep in a physical flock could be sold to someone else.  A sheep could wander off and get lost in the wilderness.  A shepherd might purchase new sheep at a sale.  Occasionally, some of his sheep would die.  Too, sheep would be born into the fold.  Remember, the shepherd knew his sheep.  He could give you a tally of his flock at any given time.  He could look out into the flock and know those that are his and those that might have wandered into his flock that were not his.  The same is true of spiritual shepherds.  They must know every sheep for which they are responsible.  If a sheep, that is, a member of the church, comes from another congregation, they need to let the eldership know that they want to be under the oversight of this new congregation.  Too, when they leave a congregation, they need to let the elders know that they are no longer under their oversight because they will be members of another flock, that is, another congregation. 

            There are some members of the church who act as though “placing membership” is unscriptural.  If members do not have to place membership in a given locale, there are several questions that need to be answered.  First, how can an eldership know their flock if members are free to come and go as they will?  Second, how can an eldership oversee and rule the flock if they cannot be aware of which sheep are really theirs?  Third, which members will the Chief Shepherd hold the elders accountable for on the day of Judgement?  Fourth, if a member leaves the church are the elders to seek after it or not?  If it is not theirs, they are not responsible for it?  Fifth, are sheep ever supposed to be without a shepherd?  Is that God’s plan?  Sixth, how could elders ever be responsible to carry out church discipline?  When they start to withdraw from an erring member, he might argue:  “I was never a member of that church to begin with.”  If no one ever has to place membership with a local church, chaos will ensue.  The elders will have no way to accomplish their work of tending to the flock.  Some sheep will never have a shepherd overseeing them and watching for their soul.  This is NOT how God organized the local church.

            Placing membership is an orderly way for shepherds to know their sheep.  Too, it holds the members accountable to a set of shepherds.  Just as the shepherds are to know their sheep; the sheep are to know those who rule over them.  Paul was clear about this in I Thessalonians 5:12-13.  “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.  And be at peace among yourselves.”  When sheep come and go, they must be accounted for by the shepherds of the flock.  Shepherds are one of the protective devices God has put in place to make certain His sheep are safe, secure, and saved in the Last Day.