"I'm Resigning My Church Membership"

I once had two families leave the church and both stated that they were “resigning their membership.” I do not know about you, but there is something about those words that just does not resonate very well with me. As one wise pastor used to say, “It makes my pinger go off.” It rings of an employee leaving a job, or of a coach stepping down from leading a sports team, or of an officer in the military resigning their commission.

But does not the idea of resigning church membership sound foreign to the church of Jesus Christ? To that which is the pillar and ground of the truth? To that which Christ purchased with His own blood? To that in which God set you at one time earlier?

Is “resigning membership” a biblical way to leave a church? If it is not, what is a church supposed to do about those who employ this mode of exodus?

It is my experience that the common response is that churches simply let the issue go and remove the individual and family from the membership role and part ways amicably. But would that be a biblical response, particularly for the pastor who is supposed to be a shepherd?

I must confess that if I were a hireling, that would be the easy thing to do. My flesh would be glad to respond that way because it is the easiest way to handle such situations. I do not enjoy this type of conflict resolution any more than the next guy. But pastors by definition are not hirelings, but they are shepherds.

If a Christian resigns their membership without giving any cause or without giving a biblical cause, ought not a true shepherd then seek to call them to repentance and restoration? Is that not what the straying individual desperately needs? Does not the Bible and simple shepherd-ology reveal that when a sheep strays, they often are straying of their own willful and sinful choice? Does that mean that they are to be just left to go their own way without any attempt being made by the shepherd to bring them back to the fold?

Moreover, would not such action as resigning membership without cause be seen as a trespass against the church and perhaps also against the pastor?

In both cases above, I believed that was indeed the case and began the process for restoration as divinely given in Matthew 18. In both cases, when I went alone (18:15), no reason was given for resigning. In one case, I was totally ignored. In the other case, I was informed by the individual that they were not accountable to me and never viewed themselves as being accountable to me. Furthermore, that they join a church how and when they want. They went on to say that they also will leave a church how and when they want and are not obligated to provide me with any reason. I was even accused of running a cult when I explained that this explanation could not be accepted by me nor our church. I think this little episode is very revealing about the typical Independent Baptist church in America. A pastor who refuses to accept an unbiblical membership resignation is deemed to be so strange and out of place that he must be running a cult or something.

Notwithstanding, I then followed the Scripture in both situations and went with two faithful witnesses from our church. In one case we were totally ignored and in the other, we were told to never come back to the individual’s property ever again without being invited. So the result of two witnesses was not encouraging – and still, I (now we) have yet to be given any biblical reason for membership resignation and in one case, given nothing at all!

So both matters were brought before the church (Matthew 18:17). The most troubling aspect of this whole situation was not so much the “resigning of the membership” matter, although that was bad enough, it was that the biblical procedure for reconciliation within the church was totally ignored. It was as if it were some obscure Old Testament process buried in Leviticus somewhere not applicable for today. Their attitude towards the church, towards the pastor, and towards Christ was so apathetic that they did not even have the courage or inclination to explain themselves from a biblical position.

The procedure in Matthew 18 was given by Christ to His assembly for the express purpose of dealing with offenses in a just and objective manner. When Christ moves a person to leave a church (of which He is allegedly supposed to be the Head), He will lead them away biblically. If Christ is truly leading them away, then they should not have a problem working through the process of Matthew 18. If they are not willing to even attempt to work through the Matthew 18 process, what does that communicate about their “membership resignation”?

Sadly, this situation is extremely common today. Professing Christians join a church on their own, too often for selfish reasons, without the Lord Jesus truly being involved and thus they leave on their own without the Lord being involved. This leads to the faulty position and practice manifested in responses such as, “I’ll come when I want and leave when I want.” Which I must admit, seems to be the normal approach towards church membership rather than the exception!

My purpose and plea in this article are that any pastor who reads it will study and then teach the church how to join and leave according to the Scripture. I am aware people will still leave un-biblically anyway, even after sitting under such teaching, but at least the truth will have been clearly laid at their feet.

I plead also with the church member. I beg you to leave a church biblically. If you cannot support your case for leaving Scripturally, do not leave. If you cannot work through the process of Matthew 18 and be vindicated by the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, then recognize that God is not leading you away but that someone else is leading you away!

Joining a church, which is the Biblical expectation for the believer in this dispensation, ought to be done in confidence believing that God has set you in that particular body. Leaving then ought to be conducted in like manner. That is, by God Himself taking you out of the body, and He will not do that for an unscriptural reason!