According to the New Testament, what constituted membership in the Church?
"Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:46-47
"But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand." Acts 4:4
"And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number," Acts 5:14
"Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. ... The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith." Acts 6:1, 7
"So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. ... And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. ... It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord." Acts 9:31, 35, 42
"And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ... for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord." Acts 11:21, 24
"In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. ... After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch," Acts 14:1, 21
"So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily." Acts 16:5
"Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men." Acts 17:12
Do you see any hoops to jump through mentioned in any of those passages with regard to Church membership? Do you see any mention of membership applications, membership classes, waiting periods, voting, approval boards, or any other such practices? No, I did not think so. In the Bible, upon one's confession, and subsequent baptism, one became a member of the Body of Christ, that is, the Church. When you repent and put your trust in Jesus, and are born again by the Holy Spirit, you are immediately placed into the Body of Christ and need not join another one.
Where in the New Testament does it teach that men must join as a "local member" (with the many extra unbiblical rules) into the Christian gathering they attend? No preacher can give a biblical answer to this question. "Local membership" is not "assumed" or "implied" from various Bible passages, as some preachers have attempted to argue. Many will attempt to say, or infer, that if you are not part of a "local body," then you are not truly in Christ, or that your Christian life is "defective" somewhere. However, this is a logical fallacy; it is manipulation. Provide a single chapter and verse reference that says anything of the sort. I challenge you!
Memberships the way they exist in the majority of religious organizations today were invented by man in order to control people. Memberships today resemble country clubs, gyms, and the like. Man has added membership applications, membership classes, waiting periods, voting, approval boards, and various other denominational rules. Memberships today ask you to swear allegiance to a particular religious organization and usually include a section that says something along the lines of, "I agree to financially support such-and-such religious organization," pertaining to your continued "tithe." (For more on this, see The Biblical Place of Tithing and Tithing is Taxation.) Some religious organizations will even chase you down if you have not paid it, and will even punish you (they attempt to call it "discipline") until you have paid it. Does that sound very Christ-like?
Ever since the idea of "local body membership" was introduced decades ago, preachers have used it as a means to control congregants. They use this unbiblical practice of "local body membership" to lord it over the people, force their unbiblical ways upon the people, take more control, and even to get money out of those who are its members. This practice is shameful! Nowhere in God's Word does it support additional local man-made membership steps. Today's memberships enforce man-made rules upon you in order to control you. Such religious organizations are not teaching you the biblical 'one Body' of Christ.
One of the early church fathers (Augustine?) came up with the concept of the "universal body" and the "local body," but this is contra Scripture. Paul made it abundantly clear that there is "one Body" (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 6:16; 10:17; 12:12-13, 20; Eph. 2:16; 4:4; Col. 3:15). The fact of the matter is extremely simple: if you are in Christ, then you are a member of the true Body. You need not be a member of any other.
As part of the true Body of Christ, biblical membership involves intentional commitment to every other member. Look up every "one another" passage within the New Testament. That is what each member of the biblical Body of Christ is to be committed to. Biblical membership also involves intentional obedience to the Word, intentional submission to one another, and intentional discipline against ungodly conduct. Scripture says we are to keep each other accountable, and to be accountable to each other. If you are not willing to do this, then you might want to examine yourself to see if you are truly in the faith. If I travel to India and meet a fellow Christian there, I am accountable to him and he is accountable to me. We have a common bond that unites us. In our local assemblies where we congregate, these elements are present without the need to swear people to them.
When Jesus returns, is it going to matter if your name was on a particular religious organization's membership role? No, not in the least. The only thing that will matter is whether your name is found written in the Lamb's Book of Life. If your religious organization claims to "do everything by the Book," then why are they not practicing membership (or even baptism) in accordance with the Book?
There were local congregations in the Bible, just as we have today, but do not be deceived; there is only one Body, and Jesus is its Head. Not some CEO-preacher or some denominational organization such as we predominantly see today. If persecution struck the church in Rome, forcing its members to flee, they would simply attend other congregations wherever they could find them, and they were not required to apply for entrance or to switch locations. They just started attending and were welcomed; no strings attached. There is one Body of Christ, and it exists all over the world. If I am traveling, or moving, and find a congregation in Zimbabwe, I should be able to join and participate without restraint. I should be welcomed upon my profession alone. I should not have to jump through various hoops first and have some committee vote on whether I can attend or participate. Such is unbiblical, ungodly, and unChrist-like.
Are you a member of the Catholic body? the Lutheran body? the Calvinist body? the Anglican body? the Presbyterian body? the Baptist body? the Methodist body? the Pentecostal body? Or are you a member of Christ's Body? Who do you follow? God? or Man?
Let us start following the Bible and the practices of the early Christians, instead of adding our own man-made traditions to the mix the way the Pharisees did. Let us experience the Christian life the way it was originally intended. Away with tradition, and back to the Bible!