What Has Caused the Erosion of the Ideal of Regenerate Church Membership? One contributing factor seems to be a super-tolerant attitude which prevails in our culture today. In church life this attitude could be stated, “It is not right for me to judge whether a person is saved or lost and acceptable for church membership.” As a result, some churches accept persons into membership with little or no in-depth discussion with them about the nature of salvation and church membership. Evaluating the spiritual condition of others ought to be done very prayerfully, humbly, and thoughtfully. Jesus warned about judging others when our own sins are great (Matthew 7:1-5; John 8:1-11). Yet, failure to heed the Bible’s emphasis on the importance of a born-again fellowship of persons abiding by Christ’s teachings does disservice to Christ’s cause (1 Corinthians 5:9-13; Ephesians 5:1-7, 27; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15; Revelation 2:18-22). The very nature of our society adds to the challenge of maintaining a regenerate membership. For example, in our highly mobile and largely urban society often little is known about persons seeking membership in a church. Without some sort of process for evaluating a person’s spiritual condition, persons who may not have been redeemed might be accepted into membership. The pressure for increased size of church membership is cited as another cause. C. E. Colton observed from the perspective of a lengthy pastorate, “High pressure methods of evangelism by some well-meaning zealots result in decisions to join a church without true conversion.” The baptism of very young children into church membership may also be acause. Some children may understand very well that they need Jesus as personal Lord and Savior because of their sin. However, when very young children seek baptism, they deserve careful counseling. In the past many Baptist churches confronted members about behavior that was considered contrary to the Christian life. If such persons were unrepentant, they were subject to dismissal from membership. Various scriptures were cited to support this action, such as Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5:9-13. Today churches generally tend to emphasize evangelistic preaching, discipleship, and Christian growth as a means of maintaining a regenerate church membership rather than dismissing persons. Should a Decline in a Regenerate Church Membership Be a Concern? The apparent decline in a regenerate church membership should be a concern for a number of reasons. Neglect of such a crucial biblical teaching as regenerate church membership may indicate a lack of commitment to the authority of the Bible. Baptists have insisted that a church is to be a fellowship of believer priests. Growth as a Christian benefits from fellowship with other believer priests. When a church’s membership is not made up of believer priests, the fellowship is not conducive to Christian growth. Thus, all of the members suffer. d States are perilously r insistence upon a ch membership.” R. Estep aptists?
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