Articles
The Church Of Christ Believes
I recently read an excellent article by Whit Sasser. He tells about a radio talk show where a caller was asked by the host what the Church of Christ teaches on an issue that had been raised. The caller was a little unsure, so the host asked an assistant to call a local Church of Christ to find out. Sasser then writes, “While I listened to hear what the response would be, I knew that whatever answer was given, it might not hold true for me.”
You simply cannot look at a single congregation designated “Church of Christ” and determine what the “Church of Christ” believes on any given subject. Sasser then gave an excellent example. “Imagine, if you will, two very influential non-Christians in the first century talking about the Nicolaitan philosophy and one asking, “What does the Church of Christ believe about it?” The other says, “Let’s find out.” So, they contact a leader of the church in Pergamos and he says, “Yes, we believe that doctrine” (Revelation 2:15). They then begin to spread the word that this is what the Church of Christ believes about the Nicolaitian doctrine. However, imagine you are member of the Ephesus church of Christ and you hear that. Because this doctrine is false, you have learned to hate it (Revelation 2:6). What the Pergamos church of Christ believed or practiced did not hold true for all churches of Christ.”
This helps us to see something beautiful God did when He designed local churches. He designed each local church of Christ to be independent. They did not join together to form a larger organization. In the first century you could not say with certainty that
Someone has demonstrated this wonderful independence in this way. If you have a window with a single pane and it cracks, the crack can run through and destroy the whole pane. In contrast, if you have a window with nine separate panes and one cracks, the other eight are left unaffected. Only one needs to be repaired. God’s design is like the latter. If one local church teaches error, it stands alone in its error. The other churches are independent and do not have to follow suit. Every local church can remain true to God’s word. And they must!!
It follows then that our chief concern is what the Bible teaches and not what “the church of Christ” teaches. It has been my aim in every local church to simply preach what the Bible says and encourage the church to act upon it. If we do that, we can be sure the church will be one that is pleasing to the Lord and can truly be called a “church of Christ”.
Sasser concluded his article by saying, “By the way, the ‘church of Christ’ person contacted by the radio station – I did NOT agree with his answer.” That makes our point. We are not looking for what some “church of Christ person” may say about some matter, but rather what the Bible says. The Bible is our standard. Let us be committed to it.
