Should You Join a Church?

9 Marks ministry has recently come out with a series of short books that it calls the Church Questions series.  Each book sets out to answer a specific question regarding the church and church life.  Recently I was sent the book entitled Why Should I Join a Church?  It is authored by none other than Mark Dever himself who is the founder 9 Marks and the pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church.  It is no surprise that he might write on this subject since membership is one of the original 9 Marks of a Healthy  Church.

            In a day when many churches have no type of former membership and many of those who do allow people to easily come in and out of their covenant, it is good for us to think about why we should or shouldn’t join a church.  Does the Bible have anything to say about church membership?  That is what this short book which can be purchased for under $5 speaks about.

            First I was appreciative of the fact that the first reason Dever gave for joining a church was to display the gospel by joining a church.  We don’t think about the gospel enough when we make our decisions concerning the church.  In a day where church has become about us rather than about the God who has created us and redeemed us, we don’t think about the fact that church can be hard and difficult at times because of all the different people who are part of that congregation.  Because of the fact that I am reconciled to God, I should work on being reconciled to others who have a faith in Jesus Christ.  He tells us that we don’t just “say we’re reconciled, we show it.”  We show it by our love for one another and by helping each other grow into Christlikeness.

            Isn’t it true that we so often just totally miss the meaning and mission of the church?  He goes on to show how membership and commitment is the Biblical model that is expressed in the Scriptures.

            I do recommend this book.  It is an inexpensive way for pastors to get their people to think about what a church really is and what it is not.  This book could easily be purchased and placed in the hands of every member.

            There are other book in this series that deal from everything from prayer to politics.  I do think that this is going to be a helpful resource for the church.

            I was given a copy of this book with the agreement that I would write an honest review.