Why Join a Church?

Since most of the practical benefits of church membership seem to be available to those who might be termed “regular attenders”, especially those who are very involved in what the church is doing (serving on a team, part of a small group, etc…), what is the point of having a formal, covenant church membership?
The covenant is the main point. For an illustration of this, think of marriage. A couple that is “just living together” might appear to have all the practical benefits of marriage, but that relationship is lacking the solemn, public commitment to one another before God and other people that a marriage covenant entails. A new family is being formed as covenant vows are made during a marriage ceremony, not a biological family, but a covenant-based family.
The same is true of the Church, which is the new family of all who are Christians (Mark 3:32-35). It is a family that has been formed and made possible by the covenant promises that God has made to us through Jesus Christ. It is a covenant-based, covenant-created family. So, the primary reason for joining yourself to the church in covenant membership is that covenant church membership puts the glory of the covenant love of Christ for His people on display.  We see this in John 13:34 where Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Simply put, these verses mean that the Church is supposed to define God’s love for the world. When people outside the church look at the church, they should see a very clear picture of God’s love on display. Since God’s love for us is a covenantal love, we define that love most accurately to the world by loving one another with a covenantal love.
Displaying the glorious beauty of God’s patient, committed, never-ending, firm, gentle, strong, and costly covenant love; this is what church membership is all about!