No Fluff Accountability
There are many people today who have a very low regard for church membership. This is not at all surprising when you consider that many churches do not uphold God's standard for church membership. Even though the Lord commands the leaders of the church to "put away from yourselves the evil person (1 Cor 5:13)," and even though He has instructed us clearly in Scripture "not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not to even eat with such a person (1 Cor 5:11)," these divine instructions are completely ignored by the fluff church.
If persons are allowed to continue as members of the church even when they engage in behaviour or hold beliefs that are inconsistent with a credible Christian profession, it makes church membership meaningless. If someone is a certified mechanic, you expect him to have a certain level of expertise in repairing cars. But if the certification standards are not upheld, it becomes meaningless to be certified. So it is with church membership.
A church member is supposed to be a person who is reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. If such a person is living in open rebellion against the Lord, it is false for him to claim that he is reconciled with Him. It is wrong for him to be recognised as a disciple of Christ (Luke 9:23-26, Eph 5:5-7). Not that any Christian claims to be perfect; far from it. Part of a true Christian profession includes a frank acknowledgement that we continually come short of God's standard and are in constant need of forgiveness through Christ crucified (1 John 1:8-10). But it is one thing to struggle with one's discipleship, quite another to deliberately live in defiance to the Lord's calling, doing what one knows to be contrary to His commandments (1 John 3:10).
It is the duty of all the members to go to any brother who is living in rebellion to try to persuade him in love to return to Christ (Matthew 18:15, Gal 6:1-2). If the brother refuses, the one trying to restore him is to get help from one or two others in the congregation. If this fails, he is to be taken before the church (before the elders who are appointed to give oversight), and if he still refuses to repent, he is to be put out of the church. Every effort is to be made to restore him, but if he will not be restored, it is wrong to allow him to continue as a member (1 Cor 5:1-2).
For this reason, the Lord has ordained that a plurality of elders be appointed in the church with the task of giving oversight to the congregation (Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:1-4). It is their responsibility to see that those who refuse to repent are removed. These elders are themselves to be held to an even higher standard as is set forth in Timothy (1 Tim 3) and Titus (Titus 1), and are to be removed from their office if they fail to maintain that standard (1 Tim 5:19-20).
The fluff church contests that the exercise of church discipline is contrary to love, but this is bogus. The Lord is the One who has called us to love, and He would never give us instructions that are contrary to the love He has appointed. If you think about it, it is very easy to see that the only loving thing to do when a church member is not walking with Christ is to warn him and to make every effort to restore him. If a person is in danger of ruin and you do not warn him, that is not love. Moreover, it is the only loving thing to do for the rest of the members in the church and for the surrounding community who will get a distorted message about what it means to follow Christ if the impenitent person is allowed to remain a member in good standing.
For additional reading, see:
What Does the Bible Say About Church Membership? By Rev. John Shearouse
What Does the Bible Say About Church Government? By Rev. John Shearouse
Handbook of Church Discipline By Jay Adams