04.03.08

WWCofCD?

Posted in Church Life at 2:55 pm by Anthony

 A few days ago I was in Walmart and I ran into an older gentleman that I had known years ago at another church in the area. I had not seen him since the early 90s, so I gave him a rundown on my life since then – our years in Africa, my marriage, my children, and our work here in Albany. Then he asked, “So your wife’s a Christian?” I joked, “Yeah, she’s even a Church of Christ Christian.”

He didn’t think that was funny. He began to talk about his fear that we as the Church of Christ are losing our identity. I knew where he was coming from and listened respectfully. I agree we should know more about where we come from as Restoration Churches and value that heritage. I believe that we can learn from other groups, but I also believe that we have a lot to offer. I don’t want us to lose our identity as Restoration churches.

But I also see a danger – a danger in deriving our primary identity from the “Church of Christ” as a heritage, and being as sectarian and divisive as the churches that the early Restorationists left. Let’s make sure that we who are in the Church of Christ are really focusing on Jesus Christ himself.

When we were in Africa, young Christians would sometimes ask us, “How does the Church of Christ _____________?”  You can fill in the blank with just about any practice a church might engage in.  Pray, sing, take the Lord’s Supper, give, evangelize ….  The question always drove me crazy. 

If we are focusing on Jesus, then the question “What would Jesus do?” becomes a much more important question than “What does the Church of Christ do?”  Because the Church of Jesus Christ should always do what Christ would do.

Permalink