In my line of work I often
hear this comment and others similar to it. “All churches worship the same
God”, “Go to the church of your choice”, “The church is not important.” It
is very distres-sing to hear such comments, especially in light of God’s
word. Let us allow the word of God, God’s standard, answer this and other
questions.
In the gospel according to Matthew 16:13-19, Christ declares to
Peter that upon the rock of his confession (verse 16, “Thou art the son of
the living God.”) Christ would build HIS church. Firstly, it should be
noted that Christ declares ownership to the church that He built. It is
also important to note that the Messiah did not use nor authorize any name
for the church that He built. It is therefore, unscriptural to claim
ownership or to use any human name for the greatest institution built by
divine hands. It should be understood and accepted that Christ died on the
cruel cross of Calvary to purchase His church with His own blood (Acts
20:28). Therefore, the question: "is the church important?", should be
answered that it was important enough for Christ, He died for it.
Another crucial aspect of Christ’s church is that the church is the
body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). If Christ is the body, then Christ
must be the head of the body, “...gave Him [Christ] as head over all
things to the church.”, Ephesians 1:23. Paul further asserts, through the
Holy Spirit inspiration, that there is but ONE body as there is ONE
Christ, Ephesians 4:4. With these scriptural evidences it must be
understood that Christ did not authorize “religious polygamy”, that is
denomina-tions.
The word denomination itself has the con-notation of division, is
the body of Christ to be divided, if so where is Bible authority for it?
Also, the Holy Spirit declares through Paul that Christ is the head of the
church. Hence, is there scriptural authority for a national head-quarters,
board of directors with presidents and vice presidents. Etc., if so, where
is the book, chapter and verse? No, my dear friends, indeed there is no
Bible authority for any blatant deviations from God’s perfect plan, He
needs no advisors. “The churches of Christ salute you.” Romans 16:16.
(Article was published in the Scout newspaper, Franklin,
Indiana, on October 7, 2000.