Why Membership

     "Why would I want to be a member of an organized church?" This is a question that many outside of the church and those who are new to their Christian walk typically consider. And this is a great question to ask! If not understood correctly, the whole idea of encouraging one another to join our church and become an "official member" may sound very unbiblical and similar to a secular organizational model. Add this to the fact that becoming a church member carries certain responsibilities and expectations, and church membership sounds a little stiff or perhaps too formal.

     We believe, at Goreville First Baptist Church, that membership both matters and is essential to church discipleship. Also, we believe that it is the biblical model set up for all believers to follow. Let us offer a few suggestions as to why we believe that church membership is essential to church discipleship:

          1. In joining a church, you become enjoined to a local body of believers and the family of God. It is a public commitment to both Christ and His people. Joining a church allows us to become a part of a spiritual church family who is there to pray for us, encourage us, and hold us accountable in our Christian walk with God.  There is no such thing in the Bible as "lone-ranger Christianity". We are called to walk and minister together as "one body, with many members". 

          2. Making a commitment to a local church is counter-cultural in our low-commitment world. Lets face it, we don't like commmitment. And part of our sin nature is the enticement to see the greener grass on the other side of the fence.  A local church is a family, and spiritual families are committed to one another both spiritually and physically. Yet many bowling leages require more from their members than we do in church. We believe that church is essential to a growing Christian life and we want to encourage you to be a part of our ministry and family.

          3. Church membership holds us acccountable. Have you ever joined a gym? If you are like most you will find that it is extremely challenging to be an active member of a local gym if you are working out alone. Without someone there to hold us accountable it becomes all to easy to slip and fall away from the life which God has called us to live. Church membership helps us to prevent slipping away. As a family, we invest in one another's lives and hold one another accountable in our committment to God, one another, and the church.

          4. The New Testament was written to local church congregations. Have you ever considered to whom the New Testament letters were written? Only a handful of Paul's epistles were not written specifically to local churches, and they were written to pastors! The majority of these letters were written to a local body of believers to encourage them in their Christian walk and in their unity with one another. Even in the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks words of condemnation and praise, not to individuals, but to local church bodies.

          5. The church is the "Bride of Christ". This is the strongest reason to become a member of a local church. Throughout the New Testament the church is refered to as the bride of Christ. Individually we cannot make that claim. It is only when we come together as a church family to worship God that we can take hold of the promise that we are the imperfect bride that Christ loves unconditionally.