Hi,

I'm curious about the reason why we join a church. By "join" I mean to officially become a member as opposed to continually attending. In many (most?) ways, whether one is officially a member of a church or not has almost no bearing on one's week-to-week life in a church.

Currently, I am still a member of my last church in the U.S. It's been almost two years since I've been there (except for one visit). The first year I was in Japan I sort of bounced around some churches and didn't find one I liked. The last year I've been attending a very good church and recently have talked to the pastor about becoming a member and he asked me, among other things, to write a short statement about why I wanted to become a member of the church. This got me thinking about the above question.

I do think it's important to join a local church and have felt for a while that I should officially join this church. It's a bit silly (IMO) to keep your membership at a church you haven't attended in years. I'm having a hard time laying my hands on Biblical instruction concerning this area however. Are there any clear commands in Scripture that instruct one to join a church (in an official capacity)? Would constant attendance as a non-member eventually become a sin if continued indefinitely? Other than having voting rights in the church, what are some differences that may arise in one's church life related to whether or not one is a member or not? Looking forward to your answers.

John