I am going to answer this question from a personal perspective, and I will leave it to the reader to decide whether my personal perspective is indeed the Biblical perspective. We all have a story to tell, and there would be many who would be quite willing to tell their story and reasons as to why they are a member of a particular denominational church.
I am a member of the Lord’s church because I was directed this way by providence. None of us are members of the church by our own power or genius. None of us lives to himself or dies to himself (Rom. 14:7). We are all indebted to someone else (as well as Jesus) for membership in the church. Providence plays such a role – being in the right place at the right time with the right set of circumstances and with the right person/s plays such a role. The three thousand added to the church in Acts 2 happened to be in Jerusalem on that Pentecost to hear and see the might wind and tongues as of fire and the accompanying preaching of the gospel. There is probably no greater example of how God can arrange a person’s confrontation with the gospel than the holy triumvirate found in Acts 8,9, and 10. I know that it was in that early miraculous era of the infant church and there were some supernatural elements involved, but whether it was the man in the chariot heading for Ethiopia, the angry young man with his soldiers heading for Damascus, or the Roman Centurion living in Caesarea, God brought them in contact with someone who knew the gospel. I believe Matt.7:7 and Jer. 29:13 still apply.
With myself it was my father who searched for the truth and found it and then shared it with his family. So at an early age I was exposed to the gospel and I am indebted. But providential circumstances do not overpower us. My mother and sisters were providentially placed in the same position as myself yet resisted the simple gospel choosing rather to remain in a man-made denominational religion. That also highlights another reason I am a member of the church of Christ: I have the power of choice. Nobody is fated to be born anything or become anything (Cf. Jer. 31:34 – one of the differences between the two covenants: under the Old Covenant you were born a Jew and circumcised the eighth day (if male) and as you grew you were taught about your covenant relationship with God). One enters the church of Christ by the new birth, and one has to learn about that before one can be born again. It is built upon a principle of faith – cf. Mark 16:16; Col. 2:12; John 6:44,45. The Lord’s church is open to anyone and everyone. It was designed for all and the Lord’s invitation is for all – Matt.11:28; Rev. 22:17; Mk 16:15; 2 Thess. 2:14. I obeyed the call of God through the gospel. I must add here that I am a member of the church of Christ because of the grace of God. “I’m not worthy to be here but thank God I belong” – 1 John 3:1; Titus 3:3-7
When people ask the question “How can I join your church?”, I answer “It’s impossible” and for at least two basic reasons, The first is that I do not have a church that could be called “my” church – I have never died to purchase one in my life but I am a member of the Lord’s church. Second, you cannot “join” the Lord’s church as you might join a club or some such organisation. Note from Acts 2:47 that the Lord is the One who controls church membership – it is He who adds people to it. (My father could have saved himself a lot of searching had he known this, instead of investigating virtually every church in Rockhampton) Note that the Lord adds those who are saved to the church. So when I do what the New testament teaches I must do to be saved, then the Lord adds me to His church! I am a member of the church of Christ because I obeyed the gospel and this is the only church He added me to (just like everyone else who has obeyed the gospel). The Bible only speaks of one church that Jesus built (and builds) – Matt.16:18; Eph. 4:4,5. It is no secret that hundreds of churches exist in this world, but there is no protestant church more than 500 years old. The Greek Orthodox is not more than a thousand years old while the Roman Catholic had its first pope some 1400 years ago. None of those churches are old enough to be the church of the Lord. Because of Matt.16:18b the church of Christ existed before Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Mormonism, J.W’ism, S.D.A.ism et.al. I wanted to be a member of that church which came into existence in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. It is possible and I am.
This is not to say I am powerless to be a member of some other church, a man-made church, if I wanted to. The fact is I choose to be a member of the church of Christ – it is a conscious, deliberate choice on my part, not something foisted upon me or accidentally stumbled into.
Many times I have asked a person why he or she is a member of the particular church they belong to. What is evident, is that people are members of churches for a whole range of human, rather than scriptural, reasons. Here are some of the common ones: “They have the finest building in town”: “They are the biggest church in town”: “It’s a friendly church”: “It’s a popular church”: “Our children love to go there”: “My mother was a member”: “They got me when I was a baby”: “I married into this church”: “I go there because I like the preacher”: “I like their location – its on my side of town”: Now if you came in contact with the church of Christ because of such reasons, I trust you had the experience of the man who stumbled over the treasure hidden in the field – you realised the value of what you had stumbled over. But these and similar reasons often influence people in the selection of a church, but these are not valid reasons in the sight of Almighty God. Passages like Matt.21:42; Isa. 53:1-3 and Matt.17:5 show that popularity and public opinion are not the test of authenticity. In fact, the early church was known as the sect everywhere spoken against. Perhaps we feel in a democratic society, and in an affluent age where we expect choice when we go down the supermarket aisle, we must, with God’s approval, be free to join the church of my choice. Of course we are at liberty to do that, but not with God’s approval. It is the Devil who provides the alternatives. The Bible knows nothing about joining the church of your choice, but rather be added by the Lord to His church through obedience to the gospel.
I am a member of the church of Christ because I can’t have Jesus without the church. Back in the swinging sixties it was common to hear: Jesus, yes, the church, no. Now I make no equal comparison between Jesus and the church. I freely admit that Jesus is greater than the church as the heavens are higher than the earth. He is divine and therefore perfect, whereas the church is comprised of sinful people. Some are looking for the perfect church but if they ever find it they will not be able to join it for then it will cease to be perfect! Some say, “there’s too many hypocrites in the church!” I say, “That’s alright one more won’t make any difference”. Whatever you say about the church you’ve got to contend with the fact that the church was the product of Jesus’ life’s work. I can’t reject membership in His church and still have Jesus and be saved. He chose to save people in the body, that is, the church. Just like it was God who saved Noah but He chose to save him by an ark. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride goes the hymn – He designed it; He is its head; He is its purchaser and patron with His life’s blood, and He is its Saviour. My vertical relationship with Jesus hinges on my horizontal relationship with my brethren – 1 John 3:16; 4:21. “But its so hard to love the brethren!” – I know but that’s how we grow.
I am a member of the church of Christ because it is intent on being conformed to the pattern of the New Testament. Other church are not really that concerned about have a “thus saith the Lord” for the things they believe and practice. They give authority to popes, synods, councils, creeds, catechisms – oftentimes over the authority of the scriptures – but note 1 Cor. 4:6 and Rev. 22:18,19. Now it has been well said that if all the component parts of anything are right, then that which is created by the right combination of those parts must of necessity be right. Suppose I go to buy a new Subaru Forester. The salesman is only too pleased to show me the car. He opens the door to show me the interior and I notice the Subaru logo on the steering wheel. He shows me the rear compartment and again as he lifts the tailgate I notice the Forester name. We go to the front and he raises the bonnet, which also has the Subaru logo on it, and then I look at the engine and it is an old motor out of a 1975 VW. I point this out to the salesman but he assures me it is no real problem, after all: it is an engine ( well, almost); those who installed it were sincere and dedicated; and besides, why should I be so picky and legalistic to insist on a Subaru motor? Now would we stand for this? You see, all the components are not right. Therefore, if I bought it I would be getting something less than a new Forester.
The New Testament reveals to us the nature, organization, worship, work and purpose of the church. The Scriptures have not changed, therefore the church has not changed. Man-made churches, that is, any church which did not have its beginning in Jerusalem through the preaching of the apostles some two thousand years ago, adopt man-made systems of worship, structure, organization and plans of salvation.
I am a member of the church of Christ because the Lord added me to it, and He was pleased to do so. And He would be pleased to add you too because that makes His sacrifice all the more beneficial. Heaven rejoices when one obeys the gospel and is saved.
