Our biggest concern for our brothers and sisters in the Church of Christ denomination is the snare of legalism. The Church of Christ denomination seems to be more concerned with the length of your hair than they are the condition of your heart. They tend to strain gnats and swallow camels. They seem to be more concerned with peripheral things and miss the weightier matters. I have seen Church of Christ denominations that knew some members were molesting members of the church and nothing was done about it, but GOD FORBID if anyone puts up a Christmas tree! There just doesn't seem to be any balance.
The Church of Christ denomination claims to be an exact duplicate of the original New Testament church. When you point out how radically different they really are from the original NT church, they blow it off and say, “That was then, this is now.” Well, then don’t claim to be a duplicate of the early church. Facsimile? Maybe. Duplicate? No way.
If the Church of Christ denomination is a duplicate of the original church (and they “speak where the Bible speaks, and they are silent where the Bible is silent") then why don't they:
Greet one another with a Holy Kiss?
Romans 16:16 says, “Salute one another with an holy kiss.”
Why don't they have signs following them?
Jesus said in Mark 16:17-20, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Why don’t they sell all of their belongings and share everything with each other?
Like in Acts 2:45, “And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”
Why do they forbid to speak in tongues?
I Corinthians 14:39 says, “Brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
When someone is sick in your congregation, do the Elders come over and anoint the sick with oil and pray for healing?
James 5:14 asks, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
Why don’t you meet together, everyday like the early church did?
Acts 2:46, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.”
The fact is the Church of Christ denomination sometimes speaks where the Bible speaks and sometimes they are silent when the Bible is silent. The problem is that they are inconsistent. When you ask them if they “Greet one another with a holy kiss,” they will say, “that was just a mid-eastern custom.” But if you ask them if “it is a shame for a woman to cut her hair,” then that is a COMMANDMENT!
The bottom line is that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. It's all about what JESUS did on the cross, not what somebody does in some puddle of water. It's the blood that remits sin, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Even if baptism was essential, 99% of the protestant church is baptized, so like Hebrews 6 says, let's move on! We baptize every single new believer, just like the Lord told us to. But after the baptism, we teach the new convert to move on to maturity. Why keep looking back at your baptism, when you should be looking forward to Jesus.
Too many churches concentrate on the Body of Christ (the church) instead of its Head. It's all about JESUS!
TO MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST:
If you can serve the Lord with all your heart in the Church of Christ denomination and stay strong in Him until the day you die, then stay in the Church of Christ denomination. The web site is not for you, then. It is for people who are in the Church of Christ denomination that are looking for more of Jesus. They are tired of a religion, and want a true, deep, sincere relationship with God. So if you have been wondering, “Is this all there is?” The answer is, no. Jesus has a lot more for you than just a "religion." He wants to have a real, vital, genuine relationship with you, and it is just a prayer away!!
