Why Is that Congregation Different?

 

Introduction

A statement I once made holds the truth to Christians and the Church; All Christians assemble as the church of Christ, but not all churches of Christ are Christians. It seems confusing at first but once you dissect it, you’ll understand better.

In our previous article, we discussed how the church of Christ is not a denomination; that it goes to the original source, the bible, for guidance. Here, we see where some churches of Christ lean away from scripture and chase after denominational trappings.

 

Why have you done this?

In the book of Judges, the children of Israel began to go in their own direction of what God told them to do. Here’s the key passage: Judges 2:1-2, Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you. 'And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?”

They no longer wanted to do what God commanded. Instead, “…everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6) This is not 100% true of those certain congregations of the churches of Christ. Here’s what the scriptures say…

 

Speak the Same Thing

In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, He immediately addresses a big problem in that congregation. Here’s verses 10-13, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Just because this letter was sent specifically to the Corinthians doesn’t mean that other congregations in that area didn’t get to read it also. This is one of the ways they were able to “speak the same things”. This is what unified all churches back then and the way we unify today. Grant it, we’re not exchanging letters with one another; we’re following the bible and the bible only.

 

Subtle differences seen in some local congregations

Most of their services will be according to the pattern but you might notice some subtle differences.

Softer Preaching: Although they will still preach from the bible; citing book, chapter, and verse, they won’t emphasize the subject of sin and the need to repent. These are those who like the phrases: Preach the Man, not the Plan; Preach the Savior, not Salvation; Preach Christ, not the Church.

The glaring problem with this is that you can’t separate Jesus from the other subjects. Jesus provided the plan (Mk. 16:16; Mt. 28:18-19), Jesus is the way to salvation (Jn. 14:6), and Jesus is the head and body of the church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18).

 

Absence of The Lord’s Invitation: We’ve previously discussed the Lord’s Invitation at the end of the sermon and, though it isn’t officially part of the worship period, it is no less important. Congregations might skip it because they don’t want to make people uncomfortable to come forward and confess their sins. Others might drop it simply because the sermon ran longer than normal and “we don’t want to agitate the group anymore than they already are with a lengthy sermon.”

When you put feelings first then you’re not obeying God’s commands (Mt. 15:8-9). Look at what Jesus said in Mt. 23:13-36; he starts out by calling the scribes and Pharisees, “hypocrites” and escalates from there: Blind guides (vs. 16, 24), Fools and Blind! (vs. 17, 19), Brood of vipers (vs. 33). Jesus pointed out wrongdoing, so should we. The invitation is essential and is still necessary even today.

 

Avoiding Doctrinal Issues: Like soft preaching, some don’t want to upset people by preaching on sin, divorce and remarriage, same sex relationships, etc. Their response to this is that it should be taught in private and not in the public assembly. They’ll say, “we might have visitors who fall in one of these categories and we don’t want to run them off.” That’s the same thing as saying, “We don’t care about your sins, we’ll accept you just the way you are.”

Just because Jesus ate with sinners doesn’t mean he accepted them for what they were. He took the time to teach them of their error and to set them on the right path to Heaven (Jn. 14:6). He also said in Mark 2:17, “…Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Shouldn’t we do likewise? Paul confirmed this in Acts 20 verses 20, 26-27, “how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house…Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.”

 

Conclusion

There are, of course, other examples including: potlucks in the church building, funding of orphanages and senior living quarters; and money to bible colleges and/or schools. These are manmade organizations which shouldn’t be funded from the church treasury. We’ll look at those in a future article.

Before joining a local congregation, even if it says Church of Christ on the door, make sure they are following God’s word and ONLY God’s word (1 Cor. 4:6; 2 Jn. 9). Otherwise, you’ll just be joining another denomination.