What Should We Do about Members Who Won’t Attend? (9Marks Church Questions)
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. Created in partnership with 9Marks, Church Questions is a series that seeks to provide ordinary Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions Christians have about church life. Each booklet offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment.
In this concise booklet, Alex Duke explains the importance of meaningful membership and discusses what church members should do about fellow members who don’t regularly attend. Duke highlights the benefits of church membership—discipleship, accountability, and fellowship—and offers advice on how all Christians can encourage faithful church membership in their congregations.
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- Explains the importance of meaningful membership
- Discusses what church members should do about fellow members who don’t regularly attend
- Highlights the benefits of church membership—discipleship, accountability, and fellowship
Top Highlights
“What is church membership? It’s the commitment Christians make to keep one another accountable for regularly gathering and centering their lives together on the gospel.” (Page 11)
“A lone-ranger Christian is like that hand or eyeball or the estranged family member or that brick by itself in a field. It’s sad. It’s useless. It’s a little bit alarming.” (Pages 21–22)
“But meaningful membership gets at what a church is, and we must be a church before we can do what the church is supposed to do.” (Pages 12–13)
“a faithful practice of membership and discipline is one the best ways to know if a church is healthy.” (Page 14)
“It’s letting go of the rope they’re trying to pull out of our hands. It’s not forcing them to remain bound when they don’t want to be. At the same time, it’s also refusing to let them force us to declare them a ‘Christian in good standing’ when, in good conscience, we don’t think we can.” (Page 37)
Christians are pressed by very real questions. How does Scripture structure a church, order worship, organize ministry, and define biblical leadership? Those are just examples of the questions that are answered clearly, carefully, and winsomely in this new series from 9Marks. I am so thankful for this ministry and for its incredibly healthy and hopeful influence in so many faithful churches. I eagerly commend this series.
—R. Albert Mohler Jr., President and Centennial Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Sincere questions deserve thoughtful answers. If you’re not sure where to start in answering these questions, let this series serve as a diving board into the pool. These minibooks are winsomely to-the-point and great to read together with one friend or one hundred friends.
—Gloria Furman, author, Alive in Him and Labor with Hope
As a pastor, I get asked lots of questions. I’m approached by unbelievers seeking to understand the gospel, new believers unsure about next steps, and maturing believers wanting help answering questions from their Christian family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers. It’s in these moments that I wish I had a book to give them that was brief, answered their questions, and pointed them in the right direction for further study. Church Questions is a series that provides just that. Each booklet tackles one question in a biblical, brief, and practical manner. The series may be called Church Questions, but it could be called ‘Church Answers.’ I intend to pick these up by the dozens and give them away regularly. You should too.
—Juan R. Sanchez, Senior Pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, Texas; author, The Leadership Formula
- Title: What Should We Do about Members Who Won’t Attend?
- Author: Alex Duke
- Series: Church Questions
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2021
- Logos Release Date: 2021
- Pages: 55
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Church attendance
- ISBNs: 9781433572272, 9781433572302, 9781433572289, 9781433572296, 1433572273, 1433572303, 1433572281, 143357229X
- Resource ID: LLS:WHTSHLDCHRQSTNS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-09-12T18:26:52Z