The Difference Between Members And Voting Members – Soo Kwan Lee

Do you know the difference between members and voting members of our church? If you say voting members are simply members who have been at Seoul Baptist for certain period of time, you don’t understand our church system. Or you might say that members are simply those people who have filled out a commitment card. They don’t need to be believers; they may even be from other faiths. Being a member is just an expression of their desire to learn more about Jesus and the Christian faith through our church. Voting members are people who have received Jesus as their Savior, have been baptized by immersion, and have applied to become voting members. If you thought the latter, you understand our church pretty well.

Let me elaborate on what it means to be a voting member.

First, voting members must have confessed like the Apostle Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matt. 16:16-17). They must have accepted Jesus as their Lord and made a commitment to live according to His will.

Second, voting members must have acknowledged that He is the head of the Church (Col. 1:18). Therefore, they must recognize the head-ship of Christ and try to accomplish His will as a member of the church. They must also acknowledge that the church is the body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) and that they are parts of Christ’s body, and commit to living responsible lives to play their part in being witnesses to the world.

Only voting members should be allowed to be involved in church ministries, because doing ministry means being a part of the body of Christ and fulfilling His desires. Only those who have made the confessions listed above can do so. Our church allows non-voting members be involved in some ministries but these are exceptions. Ministry positions such as Sunday school teachers, soloists, and offices of various ministries are only filled by voting members. I encourage people who want to be ministers, not just ministry helpers, to become voting members as soon as possible.

Voting members must constantly be aware that they represent Seoul Baptist church to the outside world. So they must avoid things that may misrepresent the church and ultimately Christ. I want them to remember that doing things like drinking alcohol in public or performing illegal business transactions brings shame to their church and to their Lord.