Why Join?

I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker yesterday. He attends the same church my wife and I just joined. He's been going there for about three years but he's never joined as a member. I was giving him a hard time inviting him to join my church even though we've only been attending since December. He said something that caught me by surprise. He asked, "What's the point of joining a church"? I'm pretty sure no one's ever asked that before. At least no one's asked me. It wasn't "why should I join your church?" It was more global. Why join any church? It's not like they won't let you in the door if you don't join.

He's absolutely right. I've been in a lot of churches and I've never been asked to show a membership card. But the reason the question caught me so off guard is that I come out of a denominational church where membership played a crucial role. The process of becoming a member included some sort of instruction on the basic doctrines and practices of the denomination in general and that congregation in particular. Our denomination honored congregational autonomy and decisions were made by congregational vote. If you weren't a member you didn't get to vote on the business of the church. In the more conservative congregations within the denomination you weren't allowed to take communion if you weren't a member of that church or a church within the denomination. That's why my half-joking response to my friend's question was that if you didn't join the church couldn't excommunicate you!

Now, all joking aside, ever since yesterday morning I've been thinking about that question..."Why join a church?" There are plenty of churches where you can attend, work as a volunteer, even take communion without signing your name to the membership roles. Part of the membership commitment is the promise to financially support the ministry of the church. But I know plenty of people who are church members but give little or nothing to the ministry. As of right now I'm not sure I have a very clear answer to the question. If you're a Christ follower then you're already a member of the Body of Christ, the Church. You can declare that publicly, worship with fellow Christians and do all that Christ calls you to do and never declare yourself a "member" of a local congregation. So...why join?