"Issues"

I was asked to generate a document on what in my opinion are issues in the church, and my opinions about them. So here it is:

My initial feeling on the word issues is not a positive one. I believe that we spend too much time on “issues” to our own detriment. At times we can be too busy arguing among ourselves that we miss golden opportunities to save souls and do good to all men that the Lord has put in front of us. However, since asked, I will put my beliefs on issues down on paper. I consider this somewhat of a “fleece before the Lord” because I believe that not many conservative churches would hire me, although my practices are actually quite conservative, with one notable exception. The difference, in my opinion, is how I relate to others who do not agree with me. So without further ado, here they are:

DENOMINATIONALISM: The one true church, the one established by the power of the Holy Spirit on the first Day of Pentecost after the Resurrection, is not a denomination. That is not to say that some Churches of Christ are not de-facto denominations. What I mean is this. Every person who believes in Jesus Christ and is immersed in water is a member of the church that Jesus established. Even if they are worshiping in what we fallible men call a denomination. I believe that there are churches that do not bear the name Church of Christ that are part of the Lord’s church. The practices and teachings of the Church of Christ are, in my opinion, the most biblically correct, however.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Given the absence in the New Testament of any command to worship with the instrument, I do not think it is right to do so. However, there are others who have different takes on scripture and as such I will not condemn them for doing so. I heard their arguments, and although I do not agree with them, there is enough logic in them to see that they arrived at that conclusion honestly and not through some evil intent to do whatever their hearts desire with regards to worship. A Capella music in the church is a traditional teaching which I entirely subscribe to.

FALSE TEACHING: We in the Church of Christ are, in my view, too quick to slap the false teacher label on those we do not agree with. A certain measure of grace should be given, as we are not inspired men who have a God-given guarantee that all of our doctrines are correct. As such, we should not make perfect worship beliefs and practices a test of fellowship. I have yet to see an example in the New Testament (Nadab and Abihu do not apply in my opinion, for reasons of specificity) where a person was condemned for worshiping wrong. To me, false teaching means teaching things such as that Christ did not come in the flesh, or that he is not the Son of God. Something that goes against our interpretation can never be termed false teaching, unless we claim direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

HOLY SPIRIT: Speaking of the Holy Spirit, I believe that He is part of the Godhead and as such is active in the world today. Many say that He is merely the written word, ie the bible. I view this teaching as heresy, one of the few heresies we can claim in reference to the Spirit, considering the complicated nature of the study. God rested in the seventh day. That was a one time affair, and never repeated again. God works through the Holy Spirit every day.

MDR (MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, REMARRIAGE): The “traditional” teaching on this subject has many logical and biblical holes in it. By the traditional teaching we redefine repentance and make it into penance, by following it we are forced to do illogical and unbiblical things, by defending it we are forced to invent a concept (marriage in the eyes of God) that is not present in scripture, and by appointing ourselves the arbiters of marriage do irreparable damage to people and their families, and forbid people from entering the kingdom of heaven. Those who teach this malicious doctrine will have somewhat to answer for on the last day.

SUMMARY: With the possible exception of the MDR question, I am conservative in my teachings and practices, but merciful and gracious with regard to how I treat others who do not agree with me. I am not a legalist by any stretch of the imagination, as you can probably tell. I am long on grace and short on judging others. I believe the evils of legalism are exactly why the Church of Christ in America is in decline, and will continue to decline overall until certain attitudes are corrected. If a church is interested in growing, the answer is simple: extend as much grace to others as you would have extended to you. Trouble is, many times we are so correct that we believe we don’t need any grace for our doctrines or practices. I am a fallible human being and despite teaching most things the Church of Christ teaches, I will allow that I could possibly be wrong and in need of GRACE from our Lord in order to be saved in the last day.

If any congregation reads this and still wants to hire me, then I would have no problem working with you at all.

Learn The Strong Man's Lesson

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" - Hebrews 12:1

As Christians we are called to be "in the world but not of the world." The problem is that so many of us are both of the world and plagued by besetting, habitual sins in our life - those habits that so easily ensare us and cause our loss of effectiveness as Christians, not to mention our eternal destination.

There are a large amount of programs that are designed to help individuals deal with specific problems in their lives. Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, along with many other similar but faith-based programs.

Yet we continue in these problem situations, seemingly bound in chains to serve them in anguish all of our days. We, like Paul lamented, are caught in the trap of "I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing." (Rom 7:19, NIV)

For those of you caught in this perplexing and discouraging trap, stick around. This is not meant to be a how-to on defeating "besetting sins" but rather, some food for thought. Call it a devotional attempt.

I think one of the problems we have is that we do not truly accomplish Step 1 of the programs I have mentioned, which is admitting that we are powerless over whichever sin it may be. Oh we may think that we have admitted it, but have we really? If so, then we haven't turned it over to the one who is All-Powerful in our stead? In short, I don't think we really have learned the lesson of The Strong Man.

In the Parable of the Strong Man, found in Matt 12:29, Jesus says "how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house." (NIV) Many read this parable without even knowing what it means, and carry on to the next verse to continue reading, without giving it a second thought.

In this passage, Jesus was just accused of casting out demons in the name of the devil. After a discussion about Satan being divided against himself, Jesus offers up verse 29. The verse is a summary of what Jesus just said. In this parable, Jesus is the man entering the strong man's house. The strong man is the devil. Plundering his house represents Jesus destroying the works of Satan. This is entirely fitting, because Jesus is the only one who is strong enough to defeat all, yes ALL the works of Satan.

So, if we are still beset by the sin that so easily entangles, as the writer of Hebrews said, perhaps we should consider that it is a two step process.

1. First we have to come to the conclusion that we are absolutely, entirely powerless against whatever it is that has you beaten down in discouragement. We all say this. We talk a good game, but really most of the time what we mean is, we are powerless until the next time we have to deal with it, then we can just make a better effort on our own.

2. The second step answers the question, "If we are not powerful enough to overcome, then who is?" Simply stated it is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as described in Revelation. So, not only do we have to admit our own powerlessness, we also have to put it on the one who is All-Powerful. Notice what the Hebrew writer continues to say in verses 2-3 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Let's step up and admit we are simply not strong enough to go toe-to-toe with our enemy. He can run roughshod over us any time he chooses, simply because we allow it. What we need to do is earnestly go to God in tearful prayer, admitting our inadequancy, thanking Him for The One who is All-Powerful, and enlisting His help in conquering the devil. He knows how to do it. He's done it before. He's doing it now. And He will continue to do it.

Now, I'm not saying this is the end of the entire problem for you. But it is the only possible beginning of the solution that can end up successfully. Anything other than Jesus will not be able to tie up the Strong Man. So enlist the help of the one who has destroyed the works of the devil. Now is not too early to begin.

Greater Things

There is a song which I particularly like. It's called God Of This City by Bluefoot. The chorus goes like this - "Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city." This song captures a key component, maybe even the key component, to a Christian's life.

If you are a follower of Christ, please allow me to take you down this logical progression. As Christians, we are looking forward to a home in heaven. In the meantime, like Abraham, we should consider ourselves as strangers and wanderers on the earth. Just wayfaring pilgrims moving through this world. But if our home is in heaven, and we are not in it, there must be some reason, correct? There is something specific, a definite why, as to the reason we continue to wander.

It goes without saying (mostly because Paul already said it), that with all the troubles and toils we have in life, it would be far greater for us to go to be with Him. That being the case, there must be something undone, something we are expected to do. And considering where we could be instead on this earth, that something must be very important.

God has done great things throughout history and He continues to do so. But here is the thing - He needs our cooperation in order to do the greatest thing, which is to bring the word of God to others, through showing it or through outwardly teaching it. Great things will be brought about by this, as He Himself has promised. His word will not return to Him empty.

The end goal of everything in life, if we are having the correct attitude, is for God to be glorified. There can be no higher accomplishment than to bring God glory, whether it be through telling others about Him, whether it be by living a good life and being an example, whether it be from showing love and grace to others, or any number of other ways that God is glorified. When Jesus asked His Father to glorify His (God's) name, he replied "I have both glorified, and I will glorify it again." It is a certainty in life the name of God will be glorified and praised.

So lets resolve today to being active participants in the greatness and glory of God!

Alcohol and The Modern Christian

The alcohol debate has been around since time immemorial. I also realize this could be a potentially controversial topic, but the Lord put this on my heart to write, not the specific words mind you (I'd be the last one to claim to be an Inspired writer) but the general idea. So without further ado the question to be answered is "Is a Christian allowed to drink alcoholic beverages?"

Not wanting to confuse the matter, I will say the answer out of the box is both yes and no. Further explanation is definitely required, so I will get right to it.

I do not take the position that alcoholic beverages are evil in themselves. Neither do I think that the wine Jesus made was non alcoholic. I find that suggestion to be far fetched. There are passages in the bible that condemn the sin of drunkenness, but none that make drinking a glass of wine or two out to be a sin. There are various studies and essays abounding on the internet if one desires to delve into a study of that nature. What I choose to focus on is not "is it lawful?" but rather "Is is wise or advisable?"

Paul said that everything is lawful but not all things are "profitable" (1 Cor 6:12). This means that in matters of Christian liberty, wherein we are dealing with a topic that is not addressed in the scripture, we need to use biblical principles and wisdom (the art of right living) to determine the best course of action for ourselves.

With all these things in mind, I want to put down five principles that will lean us strongly towards a wise and profitable answer. And just let me say that over the years I have been on either side of this issue, but in the words of Regis, this constitutes my "final answer", for the reasons listed below.

First, we have the matter of context. Back in the first century, wine was what people regularly drank, like water is to us today. There was no social stigma attached to it, like there is today. In short, claiming they drank wine in the old days is not a reason to drink it today, because the context is completely changed. I would dare say if the context were the same, we wouldn't even be having this discussion at all.

Second, Jesus warned about causing children to stumble. He said whoever causes a child to stumble, it would be better for him to be drowned in the sea (Matt 18:6). When I was a youth, I went on a week long hike in Yosemite with my best friend from church, an elder, and a deacon. We hiked 70 miles in a week and at the end, both the elder and the deacon had a beer. I remember it clearly, it was Bud in a can. I personally did not stumble or lose my faith over that, but I easily could have. Unknowingly, they had presented me with a heavy question I had to ponder for myself. I was 16 at the time and you know how teenage boys are, I was going to figure it out for myself. Exactly 30 years later I finally have. But it very well could have had disastrous effects. I know in my heart these men were good Christian men and they had no intention of presenting me with a spiritual dilemma, but I do not think it is particularly wise to take such a chance with the faith of a young person.

Paul further charges us to be mindful of the faith of our weaker brethren. Read Romans 14, especially verses 13 - 15. "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this - not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything is unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food (or alcohol, or anything else, RDE) your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died." (NASB)

Another thing to consider are those outside the church. It's one thing to not want to appear snooty and stuck up in your religion, but it's another matter to cause a bad name to be hung upon the church because of your actions. If you are a Christian then you are part of an organization, and like it or not your actions can serve to bring either credit or discredit upon that organization. Although I am not saying alcohol use in moderation is not in and of itself wrong, the appearance you give to those outside the church can make it a wrong activity at certain times.

Finally and what I consider to be most importantly, God gives us a better alternative. In Ephesians 5:18 Paul urges, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein there is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit." Being drunk or even being under that legal limit, is the devil's substitute for being filled with the Holy Spirit. God wants you to be filled with His Spirit, to be able to praise Him from the heart, have joy in the Lord, and serve him to the best of your abilities. Wherever in the bible God gives us an alternative, the wisest path is to take that alternative.

In closing, let me say that although I do not believe alcohol by itself is wrong, I do now believe that it is highly inadvisable and unwise in most situations. When we consider drinking, we need to ask the questions of ourselves. Is it the wisest thing for me to do in this particular situation? Will I cause another to stumble or bring a bad name upon the church if I do so? Am I choosing God's best for me at this time, or am I choosing the devil's substitute ? I believe the answers to these questions will lead us to a wise path, one in which we will completely avoid alcohol use. If you happen to disagree as a Christian, I do not condemn you. The choice is yours.

What Is Right With The Church

Every now and then it is a good thing to re-examine your beliefs with a critical eye. But it is just as important to dwell on the positive. With that thought in mind, I present to you 10 things that are right with the church. By church, I mean the Church of Christ, the body of immersed believers I have been a member of since I was a teenager, ie long ago and far away.

1. The people, by and large, love others. Sure, with any group there are those who are on the judgment side of life. You won't have to look far into the denominational world to see that for yourself. I believe that the church over the years has taken a bad rap due to some misguided people not treating others right. But the vast majority of church members have a true love for others.

2. The church goes by the Bible as the only guide to faith and practice, which is the only true safe way to go (2 Tim 3:16). This practice is often derided by others. But when you think about it, do we really need some random guy or group of guys telling us what to believe? I don't really feel comfortable saying you need the bible plus "this list of official beliefs put out by the conference or council." Often there are things on these lists that run contrary to the Bible. I don't think we modern men know better than God.

3. In the church, there are no human mediators between God and man. The bible says there is "one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ." (1 Tim 2:5)

4. One of the distinguishing marks of the church, is that it is one of the few (possibly only) group that believes Acts 2:38 means literally what it says. "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Some people say the for in that verse means "because of". If that's what the Spirit meant, then that's what the Spirit would have said. The most natural reading of a scripture is usually the correct one. More on this in another blog.

5. The church does not include instrumental music in its worship services. This to me, is not a salvation issue, but in this case I reserve the right to change my mind. It is pretty clear throughout the Old Testament that God does not hate musical instruments. But there is a startling lack of mention in the New Testament of instruments. The one instance you will find, is at a funeral party where the people made fun of Jesus for saying the dead girl was only sleeping. They laughed him to scorn. (Matt 9:23-25). Also, there is no evidence of the early church using any instruments at all. It is very clearly an innovation of man, and anyone who says otherwise simply does not know the historical facts, or is being dishonest.

6. The church strives for the simplicity that was present in the New Testament church. It is apparent from the New Testament that God loves pure and simple worship, and that is what we strive for - to be as close to the practices of the New Testament church as possible. The more complicated it gets, the harder it is to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

7. While certainly not perfect, in my studies it is the most doctrinally correct I have found. There are other churches who introduce man made teachings and practices (see Matt 15:9), and while I have found what I personally consider to be some man made teachings in the church, the instances of it are certainly minimal and the church by and large strives to avoid such things. Some denominations seem to have no such problem with it.

8. The church takes the Lord's Supper every week. While some take the Lord's Supper every quarter, in an attempt to avoid it becoming a routine with no meaning, it is clear that the practice of the early church was to do it on the Lord's Day (Acts 20:7). There is no reference to quarterly celebrations of it, so we must take it to mean they did it every Lord's Day. The Lord's Supper is a part of worship, just like singing and prayer. Would we pray only every quarter? Sing? I would hope not. So why shouldn't the Lord's Supper be every week just like the other elements of worship?

9. There are no litanies in use. Litanies are certain things you say at certain times, but most important to me, litanies are pre-planned sermons. Some denominations will tell you what you have to preach about on what day. No evidence of that ever happening in the early church at all.

10. The church leadership structure is biblical. A pastor is not a preacher or minister. A pastor is an elder/bishop. They are all the same office. In the bible, they are to be men only, and they are to be a plurality. An eldership is a group of men responsible for pastoring/guiding the flock of God. He is not the preacher, he is one of the pastors (again, plural). Now, we can call things what we want, I get that. But some denominations bind the requirements of a pastor/elder on ministers, which is biblical not correct. So let me break it down like this:

Minister = Preacher, Evangelist

Pastor = Elder, group of spiritual guides (same thing as "bishop")

Deacons = Servants. They serve the church under the elders/bishops/pastors, administering the routine business of the church.

Definitely you will get more on this later, I've been meaning to offer a word study of this, which is the only way that people will see that a pastor is not a preacher, nor a preacher a pastor. This is very important and I promise that I will get to it in the future, Lord willing.

So that's it for now. I commit this writing to your edification. Until next time, God bless you all.

Is The Church Of Christ A Denomination?

In religious terms, a denomination is a religious group that has its own interpretation of religious faith and usually its own organization. The word tends, for some, to carry a negative connotation. Non-denominationalists believe that any church with a man at its head is a wrong church. They believe that set creeds are wrong and that you should be able to go directly to the Bible for religious answers instead of a group of fallible men.

There are two main groups of Christian worshipers who claim to be non-denominational. The larger is the Roman Catholic church. In their belief they are the true church handed down via the apostolic fathers, therefore all other Christian faiths are denominations. I am not here to address Catholicism. Some of my brethren might well like to launch into tirade to detail all the disagreements they have with Catholicism, but I would much rather be productive in dialog with others, promote understanding, and generally be at peace with all men (Rom 12:18). Now I have just branded myself a heretic. I kid. Mostly.

The other group is known as the "church of Christ", always with a lower case c. This is the only group who's correctness I am concerned with, since I am a part of it. So the question remains. Is the church of Christ a religious body named and ruled by men, following a set of creeds and traditions? Yes, and no.

Insofar as a concept, in other words that Jesus established His church on the day of Pentecost after his Resurrection, ruled only by Himself, dispensing liberty and the ability to reason out the scriptures without men telling you what you must believe, the church of Christ is not a denomination.

Practicality is another matter, and in this department I believe we are slipping, if not already slipped, into the very thing our staunchest Christian warriors have labored so diligently to prevent.

First, let's take the name. The Good Lord never saw fit to designate his Church with an official, God sanctioned name. The church is described many times in the New Testament, but never do these descriptions come close to being an official "name" of the church. The name or description most used in the New Testament is the "church of God". Well, that's no good, somebody has that one. So we settled on Romans 16:16 where we find the phrase "the churches of Christ salute you." This is why we always use the lower case c. Otherwise we couldn't claim it was a name, could we? Ever since I was a boy, I have been dubious about our misuse of this particular scripture. It is not a name, it is a description.

Now let me be clear. I don't mean to say that calling a church by the name "church of Christ" is wrong. Every congregation has the right to name itself. But there is one thing wrong with our usage. We force it upon others. Any congregation of our number which decides to abandon the misuse of Romans 16:16 and call itself simply, for example, "Jonesboro Church" is automatically condemned by many as a body of people who have fallen away from the truth. Really? Are our churches autonomous? They're supposed to be. So where do we derive the right to tell another body of believers what name they should put on their sign? Those congregations who have this mindset are denominations in practice, and I lovingly invite them to adopt a more restorationist stance in their dealings with others.

Another sign of denominationalism is a certain set of creeds. That is, a set of beliefs that congregations and individuals are expected to believe and obey if they desire to be a part of the particular denomination. We proudly say, as we have for years, that we do not have any creeds. "No creeds but Christ" was and is our battle cry. Fine and well, but how about instrumental music in worship? I'm not here to argue for or against it, although I will say this - I am against it. The point is this - any congregation who would dare to bring in a mechanical instrument of music into their worship service will be quickly and summarily condemned by a large number (majority?) of church of Christ congregations. These congregations (the ones doing the condemning) either have already, or are in the process of, slipping into denominationalism, the thing they claim to loathe. I would ask again - are congregations autonomous? Then why does one congregation want to tell another how to conduct its worship service?

How do you feel on the MDR (Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage) question? Do you believe that God's law concerning marriage applies to all men, or only to Christians? Is it permissible to eat in the church building? Can a Christian drink in moderation? Is it allowable for a Christian to use tobacco products? These questions are just a drop in the bucket of what some congregations want you to agree with them on before you can be in their fellowship. The congregations who expect this kind of towing the line are in fact, denominations.

I believe it is time for us to make up our minds. Are we to embrace denominationalism? Or are we to stop acting denominational? Which will it be? Right now all we appear to our good neighbors is hypocritical, by denying the very thing we practice. So we can either stop practicing or stop denying. The New Testament church is too important an entity to be overtaken by issues. There are souls to be saved, and broken hearts to be mended.

Judging Others

I promised last column to do a word study concerning elders and pastors this time around, but something came up. This column is in response to a question, which to paraphrase, was "Why are the younger generation of Christians less judging of other people than the older generations?"

I will attempt to answer this without being overly wordy and still get in the information I need.

Back in the time of Christ, there were different sects of the Jews. Before I go any further, I want to say that by no means to I mean to say that being judgmental started here. The attitude has been around for eons. It is merely a convenient jumping on point for the brief discussion.

One of those sects was called the Pharisees. They viewed themselves as the keepers of the laws, so to speak, and tried to conduct themselves in such a way as to never become close to transgressing God's laws. IE their attitude was good and noble to begin with. However, over the course of time, thinking of yourselves as being good at keeping the law tends to lend itself to pride. Pride in turn gives way to looking down upon others who don't share your same views. The Pharisees even made their own "traditions" in order to keep people from even coming close to breaking the law, and in turn were condemned by Jesus for "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" and for causing countless people to stumble. Today, people in the Christian society who are said to be judgmental or legalistic are said to be practicing "Phariseeism".

Then Christ came and established his church. Over time that church became corrupted with all sorts of practices and teachings which were unauthorized by Christ or the New Testament authors. These abusive (see Martin Luther, etc) teachings and practices were justified under the banner of "traditions" (there's that word again).

Then came the Great Reformation, followed in America and other places by the Great Restoration. These movements were about seeking the truth according to the simple teachings of the gospel of Christ, and restoring the church to its primitive and natural state. As we have noted previously, seeing yourselves as correct and following the laws of God lends itself to pride. After a brief period of relative unity in America of those professing New Testament Restoration values, division sprang up. Naturally, each group thought they were the right ones, but although separate they somehow managed to pretty much not remand each other to the fires of hell.

Then came the 20th century, especially the second half of the twentieth century, when certain men, under the guise of logic and plain "biblical" teaching, began to steer people away into a legalistic, condemning brand of Christianity. Most people today who are condemning of others are from that certain heritage.

However, I do not believe these people are in the majority, but I do think it is sad when we take it upon ourselves to sit in the judgment seat of Christ and proclaim to someone "You are going to hell." What you have effectively done is to make some sort of final pronouncement upon a person and by your actions have cut them off from any further discussion about God.

As Christians, it is our duty to inform others about Christ and his church. The way we do this is by two way discussions, not by moral pronouncements that alienate others. You may have given up on a person, but don't you presume to think that God has given up on them. The only way to maintain a positive influence upon another is to stay in their circle of influence. You clearly cannot do it if they have long ceased listening to you.

I hope this has served to answer the original question in a sufficient manner.

This is Russell Easley, urging you to seek the old paths.