Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (9Marks Building Healthy Churches Series)

by Jonathan Leeman

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2012

Overview

Becoming a member of a church is an important part of the Christian life. Yet, the trend these days is one of shunning the practice of organized religion and showing a distaste or fear of commitment, especially of institutions. In Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, Jonathan Leeman addresses these issues with a straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it’s important. Giving the local church its proper due, Leeman has built a compelling case for committing to the local body.

Key Features

• Addresses many fears Christians have of organized religion
• Explore’s what church membership is and why it’s important
• Builds an important case for committing to the local church

Contents

• We’ve Been Approaching It All Wrong
• Membership Sightings in the New Testament
• What Is a Church? What Is a Church Member?
• What Are a Church and Its Members Like?
• What Are the “Standards” of Membership?
• How Does a Christian Submit to a Church?
• What Happens When Members Don’t Represent Jesus?
• Must Membership Look the Same Everywhere?

Top Highlights

“Christians don’t join churches; they submit to them.” (Page 30)

“5) The first step of the Christian life is baptism—always.” (Page 44)

“1) The church’s very existence unifies around the message of a Savior and Lord.” (Page 42)

“2) Christians are ordinarily united to individual but interconnected churches.” (Page 43)

“8) Christian leaders are made responsible for specific sheep.” (Page 45)

Endorsements

Church leaders across many denominations will find this little book filled with practical ideas and good arguments that will help us cure Christians in our culture today of their allergy to church membership, pastoral authority, life accountability, and any limits to their personal freedom.

—Timothy Keller, senior pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City

Brief, fresh, entertaining, and, above all, biblical. This is the explanation and defense of church membership you’ve been looking for.

—Mark Dever, president, 9Marks

Practical. Convicting. Biblically faithful. Leeman reminds us that church membership is not a choice but a demand. The book is punchy and provocative, but at the same time it is permeated with the gospel of grace.

—Thomas R. Schreiner, professor of New Testament interpretation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus
• Author: Jonathan Leeman
• Series: 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches
• Publisher: Crossway
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 144
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Church membership
• ISBNs: 9781433532375, 1433532379
• Resource ID: LLS:CHRCHMMBRSHP
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-19T04:01:44Z

About Jonathan Leeman

Jonathan Leeman is the editorial director of 9Marks, which involves him in editing the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He has written a number of books on the church, including Reverberation, and he teaches theology at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC and serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington. You can learn more about him and his writing at www.9Marks.org.