If there is no biblical requirement to belong to a local church, then which leaders should an individual Christian obey and submit to? The 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? Of course not! There must be clearly DEFINED leadership to whom we are accountable! 

Who are the leaders of the church (i.e. Elders) responsible to give an account for? The Scriptures clearly command an elder body to care for specific people (See 1 Pet. 5:1-5; also, Acts 20:29-30). Are the Elders at CCC to be held accountable for all the Christians in Simpsonville, SC? Of course not! There must be a clearly DEFINED membership we are responsible to shepherd and lead. Church shepherding and discipline will not work if local church membership doesn’t exist. 

• Acts 2:37-47 - numerical record of those who have professed Christ and been filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 41) and an acknowledgement that the church was tracking the growth (v. 47)
• Acts 6:1-6 - we see elections take place in order to address a specific problem and accusation.
• Romans 16:1-16 – Example of an awareness of who is a church member.
• 1 Timothy 5:3-16 - In this text we see criteria for who would or would not qualify for Ephesus’s widow care program. The local church in Ephesus is organized, and they are working out a plan. There is a clear distinction of what widows belong to the church.
• Obedience to commands in 1 Cor. 12 and Romans 12 imply membership being necessary! 

Local church membership is a question of Biblical obedience, not personal preference. Is it time you subjected yourself to church membership?
If you have an interest in pursuing membership at CCC, please see someone on our leadership team to discuss this further.