Sometimes you can become a member of something without having to
believe anything. Take, for example, membership in a fitness center. Fill out
the registration form, pay the required fees, and you will soon be a certified spa
member. You don’t have to believe in the benefits of physical fitness or in the
safety of the equipment. In fact, you could be opposed to fitness altogether
and have no intention of setting one foot in the building yet still be a
member. You really don’t have to believe
anything.
Sometimes you can become a member of a religious organization without
having to believe anything. Consider the recent trend among Southern Baptists
to streamline enrollment of prospects, including non-Christians, into Sunday
School. By doing so, Sunday School becomes an entrance point for the unsaved into
church activities, and Christians in the class are able to share Christ in word
and deed. The process is easy, intentionally so. Complete a brief registration
card or, if that is too much trouble, have someone help you complete it. As
quick as you can say, “Paul and Silas!” you’re a member of a Sunday School
class. You don’t have to believe in Jesus to be on that roster. Granted, such
belief is the ultimate goal. That’s why Southern Baptists have made enrollment
so simple. Belief is thus anticipated, but it is not a prerequisite. Because of
this, you could be the staunchest atheist in town and be a member of a Sunday
School class. You really don’t have to believe
anything.
Membership in the Church is not like this. When the Philippian jailer
asked what he must do to be saved, Paul told him to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” When Paul years later wrote to
Christians in Rome, he informed them that salvation comes if you “believe in your heart.” The Bible’s most
famous verse, John 3:16, claims that “whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.” I could cite
additional New Testament references from Matthew to Revelation, but I think the
point is clear. Membership in the Church
is always accompanied by belief.
This begs the next question: what exactly has to be believed to be a
member of the Church? The answer is readily apparent by looking at the three
verses in the preceding paragraph. The jailer was told to “believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ.” The Romans were instructed to “believe in your heart that God
has raised Him from the dead.” And in John 3:16, Nicodemus learned that
everlasting life comes to “whosoever believes” in Jesus. The unanimous
consensus among New Testament writers is this: belief in Jesus as crucified Savior and resurrected Lord is what leads
to membership in the Church.
I use the proper noun “Church” here to signify the collective Bride of
Christ, everyone over the centuries and across the globe who has believed in
Jesus. I reserve the lower case “church” to denote a local congregation. Some
of you may think that such a distinction is unnecessary. Since belief is
essential to be a member of the Church, it should automatically be a requirement
to be a local church member. That’s the way it was in the first century.
Belonging to “the Church” and “a local church” was mutually inclusive, for both
were tied to belief in Jesus as crucified Savior and resurrected Lord. Sadly,
this does not always hold true today, for membership in a local congregation
can sometimes be obtained without believing. Such a disparity between the Church and a church is not good. If it is possible for a person to be a member
of a local church but not be a member of the true Church, then something is amiss,
and it becomes imperative that we acknowledge and correct it.
There are at least three ways a person can become a church member but
not belong to the true Church. Nothing much can be done about two of them, but
churches can do a lot to avoid the other. Consider the following three
scenarios:
1
Susie decides to join a local church only because she is attracted to
a young man who attends there. She comes before the congregation requesting
membership and tells them she now believes in Jesus as crucified Savior and
resurrected Lord. Deep inside, however, she has no belief in Jesus at all. Her
words are empty; her profession of faith is a charade. Of course, God is not
fooled. He sees the unbelief in her heart and knows she is not belong to the Church,
the Bride of Christ. But that unsuspecting congregation, who cannot discern
whether or not she is telling the truth, accepts her into their fellowship. Susie
thus becomes a church member even though she is not a member of the Church.
2
Josh, a teenager with a rebellious history, attends an eight-week
youth seminar on the death and resurrection of Jesus. He hears arguments
supporting the gospel story that Jesus was nailed to a Roman cross on a Friday
morning, buried that afternoon, arose from the tomb on Sunday, and appeared to
his disciples over the ensuing six weeks. The evidence he hears is compelling, and
Josh becomes convinced Jesus did die and rise again. When asked by his youth
minister if he now believes in a crucified and resurrected Jesus, he
confidently replies, “Yes, I do!” Two weeks later, he is baptized and welcomed
by the congregation into the Church, the Bride of Christ, and into the local
church fellowship. Within three months, however, he returns to his sinful ways
and never again participates in church activities. When confronted by his youth
minister, he says that he still believes in a crucified and resurrected Jesus,
but he admits that he never intended to repent of his past or give up his
lifestyle. In other words, Josh believes in his mind in a crucified and risen Jesus but does not believe in his heart in a crucified Savior and risen Lord. Therefore, he is
not a member of Christ’s Church, even though his name remains on the roster of
local church members.
3
Scott, an unbeliever, sits in a revival service and listens as a
preacher pleads for a public decision. He hears the evangelist say that heaven
can be gained and hell avoided if he walks down the aisle during the invitation
hymn. The evangelist, however, does not say one word about what Scott should
believe about Jesus. Desiring eternal
security, Scott walks down the aisle, just as he was told. He takes the
preacher’s hand and says he wants to go to heaven. One week later he is
baptized, and his name is added to the church roll. Throughout the whole
process, no one asks Scott a single question regarding the death and
resurrection of Jesus. If they had asked, Scott would have told them he had not
yet made up his mind about Jesus as crucified Savior and risen Lord. In walking
down the aisle, he merely wanted to make sure he would be in heaven one day
instead of hell (just in case such places exist). Scott, still an unbeliever,
thus becomes a church member even though he is not a member of the Church.
Each of these three individuals is a local church member but is not a
member of the Church, the Bride of Christ. Each was baptized but never really
believed. In summary, this is what happened:
1
Susie never intended to believe
in Jesus as crucified Savior and resurrected Lord. She intentionally misled the church.
2
Josh never internalized a
belief in Jesus as crucified Savior and resurrected Lord. He was inwardly misunderstood by the church.
3
Scott was never invited to
believe in Jesus as crucified Savior and resurrected Lord. He was innocently misinformed by the church.
People like Susie are rare today. I am sure there are a few people on
church rolls who are imposters, deliberately pretending to be Christians, knowing
full well they are not. Nothing can be done by churches to avoid such deception.
If someone claims to believe but is lying, that person is to blame; the church
is not.
People like Josh are also rare. During an interview with Lee Strobel, historian Michael Licona talked about a friend of his who believed Jesus died and rose again but had not become
a Christian because he "wanted to be the master of his own universe.” In his autobiography, C. S. Lewis also refers
to someone he knew who was convinced the resurrection occurred but never
accepted Christ. Both of these men, like Josh, believed that Jesus’ crucifixion
and resurrection were historically accurate but never embraced Him as Savior
and Lord. They believed with their minds but not their hearts. There is very little
a church can do to avoid this either, except to make sure that people like Josh
are asked to lay their sins on the crucified Savior and give their lives to the
resurrected Lord. Baptism should be reserved for Christians, people who believe
in Christ with both heart and mind.
People like Scott, who have been misinformed by the church, abound today.
I have witnessed this time and time again; so have you, if you attend church on
a regular basis. I have seen children come forward to accept Christ who
obviously have no idea what they are doing or what they believe. To make
matters worse, no one takes the time to make sure they do know and believe. I
have witnessed youth being baptized who follow their peers to the altar but are
never asked if they understand what they are doing. I have seen grown men and women,
wanting to avoid eternal torment in hell, take a preacher’s hand. They are
baptized in Jesus’ name, never for a second considering what they believe about
Him.
Do not misunderstand my point. I am not opposed to salvation in
childhood. My own conversion occurred at the age of seven, and both of my
daughters were saved before the age of ten. I remember my parents discussing my
decision with me before allowing me to be baptized. They wanted to make sure I
understood what I was doing. They wanted to make sure I truly believed that
Jesus was my crucified Savior and resurrected Lord. That is why I had the same
discussion with my daughters after they walked the aisle. I am also not opposed
to youth following their peers to the altar or adults responding to an
invitation to secure their eternal destiny. My point is that when such outward
decisions for Jesus are not accompanied by inward belief in Him, a basic
principle has been violated.
This, then, is the bad news. Anxious to get people into Christ’s
kingdom, churches have often encouraged children, youth, and adults into
decisions without making sure they believe in Jesus as their crucified Savior
and resurrected Lord. Such a practice is unacceptable. It is a disgrace (i.e. a
mockery of God’s grace) when anyone is baptized but has never believed. The
good news is that this is an avoidable error and can easily be remedied. The
solution is simple: get back to the basics and make belief essential again. Churches
can turn disgrace into grace by making sure people understand what it means to
be a member of Christ’s Church, by making sure they believe.
I will not discuss here the measures local congregations can take to make
this happen. These, I think, are fairly self-evident, and churches are blessed
with creative and evangelical members who will do what is necessary to make
belief essential. But I will discuss, in closing, what may not be so obvious. By
urging churches to refocus on belief, I am not saying that salvation can be
secured by reciting a formula or creed. To utter a belief aloud with a silent
heart is the very mistake Susie and Josh made. Nor am I saying that a
sincere decision made for the wrong reason has no merit whatsoever. I will
leave it in the hands of God, infinitely wise and loving and just, concerning
what to do with Scott and others like him who are well-intentioned but
innocently misinformed. And I not implying that those who have never heard of
Jesus, and thus are unable to believe in Him, cannot be included in His Church.
The Bridegroom has ultimate say-so, and I none, about who His Bride is.
My intended message is this:
1
In the first century, belief in Jesus as crucified Savior and
resurrected Lord identified a person as a member of both the collective Church
and a local church.
2
In the twenty-first century, belief in Jesus as crucified Savior and
resurrected Lord is sometimes assumed or neglected by local churches.
3
The result is a group of people who are members of a church, a local
congregation, but do not belong to the Church, the Bride of Christ.
4
If the first disciples were to visit churches today, they would do
what it takes to remedy this, to make belief essential again.
5
In their absence, our task should be no different.
Do we sometimes open the door to church membership so wide that belief
becomes secondary? Shouldn’t belief in Jesus be the very key that opens that door?
Does easy, belief-free entrance into a local church really work? Doesn’t it
eventually lead to a just-as-easy, belief-free exit? Is growth, at the expense
of belief, really growth at all?
NEXT WEEK
Part 3 – Repentance/Conversion
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