Requirements for Membership at Your Church

[WallDoctor]

Originally posted by john6:63:
I tend to shy away from a Church that warrants such strict requirements for Church membership.

Don't forget that when 3000 were joined to the church in one day that they were predominantly jewish and once accepted Christ as messiah, had the foundation of all of the Old Testement behind them as opposed to now (and this is not a bad thing), many come to faith in Christ having no foundational knowledge behind them.

Also, there was only ONE church when the 3000 were added. There were no denominations. No days for the unity of the church and for minimal chaos, it's helpful to make sure all those becoming members of a certain congregation agree with the basics of that church. Not to say there isn't unity with all christians, but if you believe in Infant Baptism, it might be nice to figure that out before you become a member of a baptist church than after. Than you can goto a good Infant Baptising church somewhere else that does agree with you.

The way some are interpreting these steps for membership as a bad thing is strange to me. It's not meant to say you are not a christian, but to help you on your christian walk to goto the best church for you (and to keep those who are not sincere out of the church).

 

[WallDoctor]

Our church requires that you must be a fully baptised believer who substantially agrees with the churches doctrinal statements and constitution and in areas of minor disagreement, that you refrain from being divisive. It's a relatively short process.

An example of minor difference with our church is that my wife and I are Covenant theology and Amillenial and the church is not---but because of the love and fellowship within the church and the COMPLETE agreement on every other issue, neither the elders or my wife and I felt it was a major issue to deny membership over. And we don't try to convert the church to Amillenialism.