How much agreement to join a church?

we do it very simply. When the person comes requesting membership, a deacon sits down with them to listen to their personal testimony. If they can give a clear presentation of how they were saved, than they are accepted. If they are not already baptized (by a Baptist church, whether our own or another one) than we baptize them, usually that night.

 

Bapmom: "If they can give a clear presentation of how they were saved, than they are accepted."

Who defines what is "clear"?
I know a lot of people who went through all the right motions. They grew up in a Baptist church, they attended Sunday school, they walked down the aisle, they said they were accepting Christ, they were baptized. They were active in choir and church activiites. They just never got around to that part about surrendering their life to Christ. BUT - by being IN the church, they eventually came to REALLY know Christ.

I know people who didn't go through the traditional actions. They were drug addicts or alocholics or unwanted children or abused spouses who, one day, gave their life to Christ, and the next day, asked if they could join a church and become Baptized.

Who judges whose faith is real?

 

A few weeks ago my family joined a new church because we moved recently. During the time of giving testimonies when the last lady was to give hers she said, "I guess tonight is the night." She had heard everyone's testimony and realize she did not have one. God orchestrated that. The person leading started with the person next to her and ended wiht her. She gave her life to Christ during that time.

 

Texas,

when asked those who are saved are able to give a clear testimony of how they were saved. There should be no problem with asking a person if they know this for sure. I should think it should be the ONLY criterion for church membership, but it most definitely SHOULD be A criterion.

If the person lies that is between them and God. If for some reason their salvation is not clear in their own mind, than what better opportunity to help them clear it up than by having a deacon discuss it with them?

Here, I'll give you MY clear testimony. I was raised in a Christian home, and in churches where the gospel was present. When I was around 8 or 9 years of age, I realized that I had never actually personally talked with Jesus about making Him my saviour.....Im using different terminology because so many object here to things like "accepting Jesus into your heart" but that is essentially what I did. I realized I had never been born again. This was the Holy Spirit's convicting, although it was not a very emotional moment, it was really pretty calm. I stopped right then and prayed to Jesus, telling Him that I wanted Him to be MY saviour, and that I wanted Him to come into my life.

Having been raised in a Christian home already, and still being very young, there was not a huge change in my life at that point. Although there were some things that definitely were different. I was not as oversensitive about things as I had been before, and the guilt of "all my sins" was no longer hanging over my head as it had done before.

I really don't understand your objection to our way of seeing members brought in....if you are objecting to it, that is.

We have no long list of specific doctrinal issues that they must sign off on, most have no idea of their stance on these things, and will not for quite some time in their Christian life.

Yet to have no criterion at all for membership, as in salvation, is not right. Churches must be made up of a regenerated membership. We have to have some way of attempting to make sure that is true. Asking a person for their testimony is really the only way to do that.

 

I am not objecting, BapMom, I am clarifying with caution.

Your explanation sounds very much like I feel it should be. Basically you take a person's word for it. My earlier concern was the indication that someone had the authority to "test" that confession somehow. It seems I misunderstood what you said earlier.

See, I believe that there are millions of people like you out there. People who grew up in God's house and didn't know God - until one day they made it personal. I worry that if we try too hard to "weed out the fakes" we'll end up losing them to the world.

 

Bapmom,

Not trying to stir anything up but was curious if every member had to be baptized in a Baptist church or could it be a baptistic church? I've heard of a few churches that do that but have never gone to one. Mainly because I was not baptized in a baptist church, although I am now a Baptist minister. Just curious.

In Christ,

Brooks

 

Thank you Texas. I appreciate that. You are right now, we do indeed take the person's word for it. I agree with you.


untangled,
I believe that we would require baptism in a baptist church...although not sure if we knew the church specifically and knew it was baptistic if that would make a difference or not. I actually don't think it would.
We are also different in that being baptized at our church does NOT automatically make you a member. You can do both at the same time, but they are kept separate in records.