Closing the gap between church leadership and church membership

Adam Erlichman April 26, 2025

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Somewhere along the way, "church membership" became a dirty word. It became synonymous with controlling, domineering church leaders intent on keeping people in line.

In a brief eBook I wrote titled Why Church Membership Matters, I present the biblical argument for church membership to those who might not understand or accept its scriptural foundations. If you looked at the comments section when the book was released, you might have thought I'd written a book about why ritual sacrifice should make a comeback. There's a visceral cultural reaction to the notion that people should willingly submit to local church leadership.

To some extent, I understand the pushback. When we overstep our bounds as leaders and impose heavy burdens on others that are contrary to the yoke Jesus offers, or, when we misuse our authority, it's no surprise that many feel the idea of church membership should be outright rejected. If we can't willingly endure the weight of biblical accountability, why should our people be expected to do the same?

But at the core of this question lies the fundamental issue people have with church membership, which we as leaders must address if we hope to influence our people to live for the glory of God and the good of their neighbor:

If we want to be the kind of leaders that people willingly choose to submit to as members of our churches, we must be leaders willing to submit to God and those we lead. As many great leaders have said, we must "go first."

In an era of deepening mistrust in institutions, the church has its work cut out. As leaders, we stand on the front lines of rebuilding trust in the church by reclaiming our integrity and earning the trust of our people and the communities we serve. We no longer live in a world where people assume they can, or should, trust those in positions of spiritual authority.

If trust were measured on a financial ledger, we would be right to assume that we start each new relationship with a deficit instead of a neutral balance. Our responsibility is to take on the posture of servants and strive to close that gap by embodying the biblical standard of leadership that Paul outlines in 1 Timothy 3:2 as those who live "above reproach."

Notice that Paul doesn't say "above authority" or "above oversight," but rather "above reproach." He even goes so far as to say in verse 7, "he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace" (ESV). In a time when we wear our culture-war scars as trophies, perhaps the nail-scarred hands of Jesus, who came to serve and not be served, should be our standard instead, especially when it comes to an unbelieving world.

We should live and lead under the authority of God and the leaders He has placed around us. When we live as leaders under authority and above reproach, we cultivate the ground for trust to grow and create a church culture where others willingly choose to belong.

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Adam Erlichman is a Pastor, Consultant, and Best-Selling Author with Build Groups, LLC. He has served on various church staffs in Executive, Life Groups, Discipleship, Young Adult and Youth ministries and has written assessments, training processes, and resources including Group Leader Training. Adam serves on the Southern Baptist Texas Convention (SBTC) Discipleship Team/Board and occasionally blogs for the Small Group Network. He also guest speaks on podcasts such as Everyday Theologian and disciple FIRST.   Learn More »

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