Why Should I Join a Church?

Church Questions

by Mark Dever, Sam Emadi (Series Editor)

"I eagerly commend this series."
--R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Discover the importance of local church membership.

Many of us have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church. You may even catch yourself asking, If I believe in Jesus, why do I need to join a church? To put it simply, when you are saved from your sin, you are saved into a community characterized by fellowship and accountability. Best-selling author Mark Dever presents 7 biblical reasons why church membership is essential for displaying the gospel in your life.

Genres: Church, Ecclesiology, Christian, Discipleship, Christian Living, Theology

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Mark E. Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Since his ordination to the ministry in 1985, Dr. Dever has served on the pastoral staffs of four churches, the second being a church he planted in Massachusetts. Prior to moving to Washington in 1994, Dr. Dever taught for the faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University while serving two years as an associate pastor of Eden Baptist Church.

In an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America, Dr. Dever serves as the executive director for 9Marks (formerly The Center for Church Reform, CCR) in Washington, D.C. 9Marks encourages pastors of local churches look to the Bible for instruction on how to organize and lead their churches. Dr. Dever also teaches periodically at various conferences, speaking everywhere from South Africa to Brazil to the United Kingdom to Alabama. Feeling a deep burden for student ministry, Dr. Dever often addresses student ministry groups at campuses throughout the country. He has also taught at a number of seminaries, including Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Dr. Dever’s scholarly interests include Puritanism and ecclesiology.

Dr. Dever currently serves as a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; he also serves as a member of the board, vice-chairman, and chairman of the Forum for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. From 1995 until 2001, he served on the steering committee for Founders Ministries, a pastoral movement for biblical teaching and healthy church life within the Southern Baptist Convention. As Guest Senate Chaplain for two weeks in 1995, Dr. Dever opened the daily sessions of the United States Senate in prayer. He is a member of the American Society of Church History and the Tyndale Fellowship. He also held the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship at Cambridge University from 1989 to 1991.

Reviews

[David J. Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, readable and biblically faithful guide to addressing the question of the need for membership in a congregation. Thankful for this new resource.

[Josh John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author gives seven biblically grounded reasons as to why church membership is mandated in Scripture. Dever’s emphasis on salvation being not only reconciliation with God but also with God’s people is the foundational reason for meaningful church membership. A great read.

[Luke Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone who says they are a follower of Christ. Many have lost touch with the importance of belonging to a church. This book quickly and efficiently explains that we are commanded as believers to be a member of a church and why Jesus would give us such a command. 10/10. I will for sure read the rest of the “Church Questions” series by 9Marks after reading this piece in the collection.

[C.J. Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, little booklet. Biblical, to-the-point, accessible. Contains seven simple reasons why you should join a church. This would be a great resource to pass out to participants in your membership class at church.

[John Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear, concise answer to perhaps the most pertinent question a believer can ask.

[Dr. David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most surprising hot topics that emerges among Christians concerns the matter of church membership. It is not unusual to encounter people who have strong opinions that oppose the notion of church membership. Mark Dever’s short book, Why Should I Join a Church? offers a response that is both biblical and compelling.

Dever’s book is a part of the new Crossway series, Church Questions that address topics that are on the minds of concerned Christians. The author's response is seven-fold. I offer Dever’s rationale here in order to motivate readers to pick up the book and explore his arguments further:

Join a Church to Display the Gospel

Join a Church Because the Bible Requires It

Join a Church to Love Other Christians and Edify the Church

Join a Church to Evangelize the World

Join a Church to Assure Yourself

Join a Church to Expose False Gospels

Join a Church to Glorify God.

Each answer is supported by Scripture and sound reasoning. I urge skeptics to pick up the book and engage with the author. Such an approach to lead thoughtful and obedient readers to take the necessary steps to join a local church!

Mark Dever has a reputation for passionately promoting church membership. His heart is and ecclesiastical convictions are clearly portrayed here. Take up and read. Take Dever’s advice and join a church.

[John Beatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and easy read (maybe 1hr read time) highlighting the importance and biblical evidence for church membership. The gift and beauty of being adopted into the family of God is not only that we have a Heavenly Father, but that we have siblings! Co-laborers in the faith that God has put us alongside to encourage, challenge, and love each other as we all pursue holiness in Jesus together.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rock solid little booklet from Dever on a question that many are asking.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. … He bought his church with his own blood. If we are Christ’s followers, we too should love the church that he gave himself for. So, do not merely attend a church (though you should attend) but join a church. Link arms with other Christians.”
This series does an excellent job of answering big questions sufficiently and concisely. Dever makes some strong points in favor of church membership in this short work.

[Josh Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the strong emphasis that local church membership is not optional presented in this book. Dever cleverly ties true Christianity to the local, New Testament church. Too many separate the salvation message from the church. Yes, one is not saved by the church, but one's salvation ought to be reflected by their union with and participation in a local Bible-believing church.

Highly recommend!

[Alex Shepard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful reminder about the necessity of covenanting with a local body of believers. Dever argues that as Christians we have true command, privilege, and need to become a member of a local church. Christianity is not a solo mission. When God reconciles a sinner to Himself he also reconciles them to other believers.

I would recommend this to any new believer seeking to learn more about the role of a church in the life of a Christian.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good little booklet about joining a church. Many see it as optional at best. I had some quibbles but agree with the author that there’s no way to obey all Christ has commanded apart from church membership.

[Jonathan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little book on church membership. Full of scripture, wisdom, and commonsense. If you’re not sure whether church membership is biblical, this is the book for you.

[Jarrett Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dever proposes 7 convincing reasons to join a local church. Helps me to explain why the church is so important for all believers and why we cannot go without it

[Ethan Moehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful, brief, biblical. Great for a pastor to use or for anyone who thinks they are a Christian but aren't part of a local church.

[Caroline Rieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick easy read and great to give to people who need/want to think biblically about joining a church!

[John Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, you might be going to hell."

Vintage Dever

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, but very worthwhile!

[Lexie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt redundant with Dever’s “What is a Healthy Church?” but still a solid book.

[Steven DiSebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Dever’s 65-page book Why Should I Join a Church? is part of a “Church Questions” series of quick-reads published by 9 Marks and Crossway. Since I have known Christians who see little reason to be part of a church and I was working on a sermon on church unity, I decided to give this quick read a quick read. With short books like this, it can often go one of two ways: (A) The book could be so short that it barely touches on the topic and is of little help or (B) since the book is short, it jettisons any unneeded wordiness and it answers the question clearly and concisely with laser-focus. I can’t speak of the other books in this series, but I found this short book to be give strong, clear, biblical answers to this question about being part of a church.

Dever shows how the New Testament writers needn’t give a command to join a church because the whole New Testament ASSUMES Christians are gathered in local churches. Heck, much of the New Testament writings are letters written to CHURCHES. Dever gives 6 good reasons why being part of a church community is so important, but he starts with the most powerful and persuasive reason: The love shown by fallen but redeemed Christ-followers in a local church displays to the world the Gospel of reconciliation, the core of the Christian message.

As I ended up writing in my sermon, any Christian who thinks he is too mature spiritually to be part of a local church body is, ironically, showing what he is lacking in spiritual maturity. He needs to be in a church, where fallen but reconciled Christ-followers can help each other grow together in faith. Part of that is learning to live with the messiness of others and to forgive them as Christ has forgiven us.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new book by Mark Dever is a great reminder of why it is important for every believer to be members of a local church. The books by 9Marks are excellent resources that lend themselves for consumption by lay leaders and church members. They are great training resources that help start conversations for churches who are seeking to be biblical. No Christian is an island, but needs the accountability and encouragement of the local Christian community. This book will serve to encourage followers of Christ to that end. Highly recommended!

[Cole Shiflet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working on a project promoting biblical church membership in Birmingham and wanted a brief booklet on the subject highlighting some of the main arguments for joining a church. This was excellent.

[Mathew Dodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid and concise read on the importance of local church membership. “It is impossible to follow the commandments of the New Testament without being a local church member”

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another practical & succinct guide - we give a copy of this booklet to everyone interested in membership at our church.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 Marks ministry has recently come out with a series of short books that it calls the Church Questions series. Each book sets out to answer a specific question regarding the church and church life. Recently I was sent the book entitled Why Should I Join a Church? It is authored by none other than Mark Dever himself who is the founder 9 Marks and the pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church. It is no surprise that he might write on this subject since membership is one of the original 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.
In a day when many churches have no type of former membership and many of those who do allow people to easily come in and out of their covenant, it is good for us to think about why we should or shouldn’t join a church. Does the Bible have anything to say about church membership? That is what this short book which can be purchased for under $5 speaks about.
First I was appreciative of the fact that the first reason Dever gave for joining a church was to display the gospel by joining a church. We don’t think about the gospel enough when we make our decisions concerning the church. In a day where church has become about us rather than about the God who has created us and redeemed us, we don’t think about the fact that church can be hard and difficult at times because of all the different people who are part of that congregation. Because of the fact that I am reconciled to God, I should work on being reconciled to others who have a faith in Jesus Christ. He tells us that we don’t just “say we’re reconciled, we show it.” We show it by our love for one another and by helping each other grow into Christlikeness.
Isn’t it true that we so often just totally miss the meaning and mission of the church? He goes on to show how membership and commitment is the Biblical model that is expressed in the Scriptures.
I do recommend this book. It is an inexpensive way for pastors to get their people to think about what a church really is and what it is not. This book could easily be purchased and placed in the hands of every member.
There are other book in this series that deal from everything from prayer to politics. I do think that this is going to be a helpful resource for the church.
I was given a copy of this book with the agreement that I would write an honest review.

[John Lao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise read and has brought its intended message home. It provides helpful answers on the issue at hand.

However, quoting Pastor Dever’s section on Church Discipline, he said “Church discipline, in the narrowest sense of the term, is the act of excluding someone who professes to be a Christian from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper for serious, unrepentant sin—sin he or she refuses to let go.” while it does include excluding unrepentant members for the maintenance of the purity of the church, church discipline’s goal is also for the sinning member to be brought to repentance or restoration. Key texts such as Matthew 18:15-19 and 1 Corinthians 5:2-5 speaks of exclusion and its desire for restoration.

Overall, it’s a good read and I recommend it to both new believers wrestling with this question and to seasoned believers seeking to deepen their convictions concerning the topic!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little booklet. The reasons given for joining a church a clear and helpful. My biggest gripe is a sentence in the first paragraph that I think might be overly provocative. “If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of a church you regularly attend, you might be going to hell.” Some of this is probably personality or cultural upbringing, but while I think that’s a true statement, I just find it abrasive. And especially as the opening paragraph, I wonder if that works to turn people off to the argument before they even begin. That criticism aside, I do think the content is well thought out and persuasive.

[CalebA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read in one sitting read.

I liked the overall content of this book and the concise synopsis on what scripture has to say. Much of it is defending the idea of membership itself. That said, it has a very strong intro statement that I found could easily be misinterpreted by new believers or cynical readers (Its intended audience). The intro is so aggressive that I will probably avoid using this resource and just stick with the other 9 marks book, "Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus". I felt that book had more detail on the topic and a gentler tone.

[Manette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Positives or strengths:
• short concise booklet about Church membership from a biblical perspective.
• presents 7 reasons for Church membership based on scripture.
• teaches the gospel restores our relationship with God and other believers.

Negatives or weaknesses:
• minimal information about discipline within the Church.
• no explanation of the difference between the universal Church and local Church.

Favorite quote:
“The gospel not only reconciles us to God but also to his people.” (Page 12)

[Ryan Pickwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for our church's internship to help provide content for answering the question: "Why should I join a church?" Again, I think the church questions series is immensely helpful for churches especially because of their brevity and ease of reading. As a strongly condensed version between Leeman's "Church Membership" and Dever's chapter on "Membership" in "What is a Healthy Church?" I thought it was a great summary of ideas into 7 reasons why.