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by Pastor Tony

I met “Bob” (not his real name) recently, a wonderful guy with a great sense of humor — a bit biting, dry, edgy, clever — just what I like. In the course of a short conversation, “Bob” said something rather surprising: “I’m a member of Gloria Dei. Did you know that?” No, I didn’t know that. You see, I’ve been at Gloria Dei for more than a year, and I’ve never seen him.

There is more:

• “Sue” says she is a member of Gloria Dei, but I’ve only seen her three times in the past year. Her name is on the roster, but she rarely attends, and she freely admits that this pattern of behavior probably will not change.
• “Mary” attends every Sunday and is certain that she is a member, but her name is not on the roster. She never received instruction, never signed any paperwork, etc. — she just assumed that she has been here “long enough” to be considered a member.
• “Hank” attends fairly regularly, and I thought he was a member. His name, however, is not on the roster, and Hank says he does not want to become a member. He just wants to worship and receive Holy Communion, but not join.
• “Betty” attends about twice a month or so, says she is a member — and her name is on the roster — but states she
  really is “Methodist” and not Lutheran. After I ask a few quick questions, it becomes apparent that “Betty” does not
  know what either Methodism or Lutheranism is.
• “Raymond” and “Mabel” attend regularly, and their names are on the roster, but their adult children have not attended in ages. Yet the two are convinced that their children are still members, should be listed in the member directory, etc.
• “Zoe” has not attended Gloria Dei for years, but a recent event in her life turned her mind and heart back to God, and
  now she has returned to worship. After three Sundays, she discovers that her name was moved to the Inactive list months ago, and she is not in the directory. “Zoe” angrily demands an explanation, saying, “I was baptized here! I’ve always been a member!”
• “Frank” and “Ethel” have been visiting Gloria Dei for nearly two months, and now they want to join. They desire a transfer from the nondenominational “Buttercup Church of the Divine Light,” since they’ve already been through the “Just Say Jesus” class there.
  These are just a few of the kinds of membership scenarios the church office encounters each week. In every circumstance above, the people are mistaken about what church membership really is. This first installment of a series on Church Membership will attempt to clarify the main issues.

What is the Christian Church?

Each week, we publicly confess our subscription to the Third Article (third part) of the Niceno Constantinopolitan (“Nicene”) Creed of 381, A.D. in these words:

Original Greek Text (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed) - Εἰς μίαν, Ἁγίαν, Καθολικὴν καὶ Ἀποστολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν.

English Text (translation mine) - [We believe] in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church....

These words — one, holy, catholic and apostolic — are specific dogmatic conventions, filled with meaning, each worthy of an entire dissertation. They are known as the Four Marks (or attributes) of the Church and may be summarized:

One — Paul writes, “There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6, ESV; emphasis mine) There are neither multiple bodies nor multiple faiths, etc., but one body and one faith. During the Upper Room Discourse, in what is known as the “High Priestly Prayer” (John 17:1-26) Jesus prays three times for unity among believers (vv. 11, 20-21, 22-23), that they may be one even as the Father and the Son are one. There is no disagreement between the Father and the Son, no lack of doctrinal unity, no separa- tion or division of any kind. Thus Martin Luther can proclaim in his Large Catechism explanation to the Third Arti- cle of the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Spirit in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms. (“The Book of Concord” [Triglotta; public domain, iPhone app]: Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, 51.)

This is not to say that the one Church is limited to this earth, but rather to emphasize that there is no division. For the one Church is comprised not only of true believers on this earth, but also in heaven. Thus the great Lutheran systematician, Rev. Dr. Francis Pieper, writes, “The Christian Church consists of all those, and only those, who believe in Christ.” (Francis Pieper, “Christian Dogmatics [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953], 397) He adds, “To define the Church as the whole number of the elect, a definition for which Luther praises Huss, likewise is Scriptural....” (p. 398)

Nor does the Luther quote suggest that only Lutherans are members of the one Church, for we acknowledge that true believers can be found even in heterodox congregations, in spite of false teaching, because of the doctrine of election and the work of the Holy Spirit. However, this should in no way be interpreted as justification for false teaching. Paul, writing the pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus), is very clear that there is only one true body of doctrine, and all other teach must be rejected and rebuked.

Holy — To say that the Church is holy is not to say that its members are perfect, but rather that the Church itself is holy (Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Peter 2:5). Christ has granted his church the Office of the Keys, the unique and specific power, authority and privileges necessary for conducting the welfare of the church on earth, including preaching the Word (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:47), rightly administering Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26), forgiving or retaining sins (Matthew 16:19; 18:15-20; John 20:22-23; Ephesians 4:32; Revelation 1:18), maintaining purity of doctrine (John 8:31-38; 1 Timothy 4:16; 6:20), judging and rebuking false doctrine (Matthew 7:15; 1 John 4:1; Acts 17:10-11; 1 Timothy 1:3; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:15), confessing Jesus (Romans 10:9), and practicing church discipline (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5:2–5; 1 Timothy 1:20; Titus 3:10–11). Christ gives the Keys to the Church, which delegates and transfers the public exercise of the Office to properly called servants of the Word, i.e., pastors (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 2:10; Ephesians 4:10–12). (An excellent resource for the Office of the Keys: http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp? t1=k&word=KEYS.OFFICEOFTHE.) Note that while the true Church is comprised only of saints (true believers) in heaven and on earth, a local congregation (local church, also called the “visible” church) may well have a few unrepentant hypocrites mixed in with the saints in membership (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; 13:47-48; 22:11-12; Acts 5:1- 11).

Catholic — This term means “universal” and has qualitative and quantitative attributes. Qualitatively, the church is catholic (universal) in that it is complete, all-encompassing, and lacks nothing.

Quantitatively, the one true Church is called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified by the Holy Spirit (see Luther’s explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed in the Small Catechism) from among the people of the entire world — literally, “all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). This catholic (universal) church is distinctly Christian (1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20) but is not locally present merely because of the claim of a congregation to be Christian. Rather, the church catholic exists locally where orthodoxy (the one, true body of doctrine presented in Scripture, over and against all else) is maintained.

Note that there is some confusion among American Christians about the word catholic. Because of the size and influence of the Roman Catholic Church, and the colloquial use of the term “Catholic” to refer to that church body, most people think catholic always means “Roman Catholic.” It does not. Eastern Orthodoxy also uses catholic in the proper name, “The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the East,” as do other church bodies. Catholic means “universal,” as de- scribed above.

Apostolic — This means that the one true Church was established by Christ through his followers, the apostles, and maintains the strict orthodoxy of Christian doctrine as expressed in Holy Scripture.