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When God Thinks of the
church of Christ
by Gardner Hall
* When God thinks of the
church of Christ, He thinks of saved individuals
(Acts
20:28).
When men
think of the Church of Christ they think of parties, either a broad
conglomeration of alliances such as the "one cup Church of Christ," "liberal
Church of Christ," "conservative Church of Christ," etc. or one of those
parties individually.
* When God thinks of the church of Christ, He thinks of a number of
individuals unknown to men
(2 Tim.
2:19).
When men
think of the Church of Christ, they think of a loose association of local
churches whose numbers can be approximated, for example 1,260,838 in the
United States according to Mac Lynn’s 1994 directory. Perhaps they will
focus more on the numbers given for a more narrow association of churches
("non institutional," "one cup," "no class", etc.).
* When God thinks of the church of Christ, He sees an indivisible body
composed of individuals with different levels of spiritual growth
(1 Cor.
1:13; 2 Peter 3:18, Rev. 2,3).
When men think of the Church of Christ, they think of a group of local
churches that has divided through the years over issues such as instrumental
music, premillennialism and institutionalism. They say that the "next thing
that will divide the church" (the conservative alliance, or collection of
churches) will be the marriage, divorce and remarriage issue.
* When God thinks of the church of Christ, He thinks of those growing in
Him with obedient hearts in spite of imperfections
(John
17:6).
When men
think of the Church of Christ, they think of those who conform to unwritten
creeds composed of doctrines that "leaders" have declared to be essential.
*
When God thinks of leaders in the church of Christ, He thinks of spiritually
poverty stricken servants, who are "last" in the minds of men and yet whose
quiet examples transform others
(Matt.
5:3,16;19:30; 20:25-28).
When men
think of leaders in the Church of Christ, they think of editors of papers,
leaders in colleges or well known preachers who hold many gospel meetings.
* When God thinks of the Savior of the Church, He thinks only of His Son,
Jesus Christ.
When men
think of the Church of Christ, they think of an alliance of local churches
that David Lipscomb "saved" from the Missionary Society, Foy E. Wallace
"saved" from premillennialism and other leading editors have "saved" from
other dangers.
*
When God thinks of where to find the church of Christ, He thinks of the
hearts of men
(1 Samuel
16:7).
When men
think of where to find the Church of Christ, they think of church
directories.
* When God thinks of the church of Christ, He thinks of those who have
responded to the spiritual attraction for those who are of good ground - the
gospel of Jesus Christ
(Romans
1:16; 1 Cor. 2:2).
When men think of the church of Christ, they think of an alliance or
movement that itself is the primary attraction to those who are of good
ground.
* When God thinks of the church of Christ, He thinks of a glorious body
of saved individuals who are allowing themselves to be transformed into the
image of His Son, in spite of the wrangling and political maneuvering of men
(Eph. 5:25,26; 2 Cor. 3:18).
When men think of the Church of Christ, they either think of a religious
movement that has fragmented itself into dozens of warring factions, each
claiming to "have" the truth on dozens of difficult issues, or they think of
one of the factions.
What do you think of when you think of the church of Christ?
Other
Articles by Gardner Hall
Caiaphas
Clapping in Worship
Is the Bible a Blueprint Book?
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