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?

 

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