Justin Taylor agrees with Al Mohler on the necessity of believer’s baptism as a prerequisite for church membership. (I’m setting aside the issue of the Lord’s Supper for now.)
Both reference a withdrawn proposal by the Elders at Bethlehem Baptist Church (BBC). The issue is: Should churches whose elders already lean towards a baptistic position (i.e., baptist churches) require believers baptism for membership?
To get a handle on the topic, here are three statements I think both sides would agree upon:
1. Membership in a local church is very important for all Christians.
2. Churches need to elevate membership to the proper place it deserves. The withdrawn BBC proposal is an attempt to do this.
3. Including someone into membership at a church constitutes a public proclamation that the leadership has no credible grounds to doubt that the individual is regenerate.
Now the question we’re struggling over is: Which priorities should be upheld by our ecclesiology?
1. Professing Christians being members of local churches (possibly paedobaptist churches, should they so choose).
2. Professing Christians who attend a particular baptist church (or might someday attend a particular baptist church) being able to become members at that baptist church.
3. Professing Christians being baptized on the basis of a Scripturally-informed conscience (in other words, being baptized as believers).
I would rank them in this order of importance: 3,1,2. The BBC proposal seems to rank them: 2,3,1.
An autobiographical note: Though my name is on the withdrawn BBC proposal, I do not (now) support the proposal. In July of 2005, I had the honor of being asked to provide editorial assistance to John Piper, a pastor for whom my love and respect is beyond estimation. Due to my high esteem for Pastor John, I agreed, though I had not yet given thought to the weighty matters involved. In early October 2005, after the proposal had been approved by the BBC elders, I came to disagree with it, given the priorities I highlighted above. I regret that I came to such convictions so late and so slowly in the process, and am grateful to dear friends on both sides of this issue for the time they’ve invested discussing these matters with me. As an apprentice in The Bethlehem Institute, I have undying respect and admiration for Pastors John Piper and Tom Steller. I am grateful for their partnership in the gospel and their love for truth. Because of their graciousness, we are able to disagree without rancor or insecurity (as Dr. Mohler also notes). The BBC Elders withdrew the proposal in December 2005.
A few other resources:
Russell Moore has a good article on this topic. (page 9)
And there is an outstanding discussion between Mark Dever, Lig Duncan (a Presbyterian), C.J. Mahaney, and Al Mohler on cooperation between churches. It was available on CD at Together for the Gospel, but I cannot find it on the Nine Marks website at this time.