|
A Church Among
Churches
One of the most common expressions that I heard growing up in the
institutional Church of God was the following:
“The Church of God is just not a church among churches. She is
the Church.”
This was usually followed by a roaring round of vocal confirmation
by the saints.
So, what does this statement really mean? How is the Church of God
not a church among churches? What makes the Church of God so
exclusive?
Let’s break this expression down and look at it piece by piece.
Consider the following excerpt that was taken directly from a blog
that I found online. For purposes of illustration, I am removing the
particular name of the specific church referenced in this excerpt,
but I will identify the Church at the end of the excerpt. Compare
this writing to what has been said many times from Church of God
pulpits with reference to the Church of God.
Begin excerpt:
The {Name of church} is not a denomination, nor is she merely
a church among churches. She is the Church, the one and only true
Church. Christ said, ‘I will build my Church’ (Matthew 16:18), not
churches, not denominations.
St. Paul wrote that the Church ‘upholds the truth and keeps it safe’
(1 Timothy 3:15). Christ said, ‘The gates of the underworld can
never hold out against it’ (Matthew 16:18). The Church Christ built
cannot err in matters of faith. Christ is with his Church always
(Matthew 28:20); how can she err? The Holy Spirit will lead her to
the complete truth (John 16:13); how can she teach error?
Which Church is this? The Church of the ages - she was present in
the first century since Christ, and the fourth, and the tenth, and,
yes, is present now in the twenty-first. No other can meet this
qualification. She is the {Name of church}.
Only by Christ can men be saved (Acts 4:12). And, as the {Name of
church} is his body (Ephesians 1:22-23), outside her there is no
salvation.
End
excerpt
Surprise! The church referenced is the Roman Catholic Church! She
too claims to be the only true legitimate church and shuns the idea
that she is “merely a church among churches”. It is for this reason
alone that the Roman Catholic Church, though the largest church in
existence, refuses to join the World Council of Churches. Roman
Catholic teaching says that there are no other churches. According
to her official dogma, she is the one true visible church and
outside her “there is no salvation.”
But she is
not alone. Many churches claim the same thing. For the sake of time,
consider the following two examples:
(1)
International Churches of Christ (Boston Movement) -“This is
not just a church among churches. This is not just the best thing
going in Tulsa. This is the movement of God, and we’re calling all
who will be true disciples to align themselves with this movement of
God. You think this is a church among churches, you can’t be a
disciple. If you think there’s other churches out there you can go
and be a part of and be just as good and just as saved...you can’t
be a disciple.” (Nick Young, Friday Evening Message, Tulsa
Reconstruction Weekend, Sept 1992)
Ref:
International Churches of Christ (Boston Movement)
(2)
Churches
of Christ believe that they are not merely "another denomination".
Rather they claim that they are the one true heir to the 1st century
church and thus they are not a church among churches, but the sole
body of Christ here on Earth.
Ref:
Churches of Christ
So, without any additional research, we have readily identified 4
churches that claim to be the true church and reject being labeled
as merely a Church among Churches; (1) the Church of God, (2) the
Roman Catholic Church, (3) the International Churches of Christ
(Boston Movement) and (4) the
Churches of Christ. How can this be? Does God have 4 churches? Does
He have 40 churches?
4,000?
Clearly, God only has one church and when a particular church group
claims to be that one church in its entirety, they are by default
forced to claim that all other churches are false churches. Further,
since all other churches are false, the concept of simply being a
church among churches is repulsive, and is therefore rejected. Who
wants to be one of many?
Hence, the expression “The Church of God is just not a church among
churches. She is the Church.”
So, what makes the Church of God so special and unique?
Let’s examine key components that make up the Church of God and see
if we can find anything exclusive within them:
(1)
Doctrine
– Every single doctrine that is taught in the Church of God can be
found in the denominational church world. There is no single
doctrine that is unique to them. In fact, there is no unique
doctrine that originated within the Church of God. All of their
doctrines were simply taken from others churches. Therefore,
doctrine cannot be the determining factor that separates the Church
of God from other churches.
(2)
Membership Criteria
– The Church of God takes great pride in proclaiming that it is a
church where “salvation makes you a member”. They reject any method
of church joining. Are they alone in this practice? No. In fact,
many churches also reject the concept of joining the church,
recognizing that God adds to the church when one is born again of
the Spirit of God. However, while the Church of God does not believe
in church joining, their bylaws usually defining who is considered a
voting member and who is not. So, the method of membership is not
unique to the Church of God.
(3)
Church Government
– It is quite apparent that the method of governing within the
Church of God is identical to most every Protestant denomination.
While usually denied, the same hieratical structure found in
Protestantism exists within the Church of God. Typically, they have
a single Pastor as local head of their congregations, ministerial
helpers to assist the Pastor, and trustees (deacons) to execute the
business affairs of the congregation. In this, they are just like
all the other churches.
(4)
Church Order of Worship Services
– While the Church of God takes pride in noting that they allow the
Holy Spirit to direct their order of worship services, and therefore
they do not operate from a written program, there is clearly an
unwritten program of operation that exists. Most every service flows
in the same manner of most Protestant services, i.e., opening
song(s), prayer, special singing, offering, message, and closing
invitation. In reality, there is nothing unique as to the order of
worship services. The same order is found throughout Christendom.
(5)
Strong focus on material/temporal concerns
– The Church of God is quick to note that the Church is not a
particular building, yet like virtually every religious
organization, they place much emphasis upon meeting routinely in the
same building, week after week. Like most every church, their budget
is largely consumed with material expenses to support the local
infrastructure and building expenses. In this area, they are no
different than most every religious organization.
(6)
Ordinances
– The Church of God practices three main ordinances, namely, (1)
water baptism, (2) Communion, and (3) feet washing. None of these
ordinances are unique to the Church of God. Most every church
practices water baptism (in some form) and they participate in
Communion periodically as well. Many even practice open Communion.
Most every Anabaptist church practices these same three ordinances,
and in the same manner as the Church of God. Therefore, the keeping
of Ordinances is not a differentiating factor between the Church of
God and other churches.
(7)
Standard of Dress
– The Church of God places much emphasis on the outward standard of
dress and teaching of modesty. Yet there are many churches that
also hold outward standards of dress and believe in modesty. In
fact, many churches are much more conservative than the Church of
God. This certainly is not a factor that makes the Church of God
unique.
(8)
Teaching on the Church
– The Church of God takes pride in its teaching on the church. She
is viewed as the exclusive Bride of Christ and much time and effort
is spent on defining the characteristics of the church, such as the
name of the church, the foundation of the church, the door to the
church, the unity of the church, etc… Yet all of these teachings are
quite common in the religious world as well. In fact, there are
scores of churches with the same name as the Church of God. This is
not a differentiating factor.
(9)
Holiness Teaching
– The Church of God believes in holiness, i.e. purity of heart and
life. She believes in sanctification and being set apart for service
unto the Lord. In this the Church of God is not alone. There are
many holiness churches within Protestantism, many of which are
conservative holiness. The doctrine of holy living and experiencing
freedom from sin is not a unique teaching of the Church of God.
While a small minority within Protestantism, many churches place
great emphasis on godliness and holy living. No uniqueness here.
(10)
Prophetic Teaching
– The Church of God is amillennial and interprets prophetic passages
in the book of Daniel and the entire Book of Revelation as a
historical symbolic picture of the church from her infancy until she
is taken up to glory at the second coming of Christ. This same view
was very popular during the time of The Great Reformation and many
mainline Protestant churches yet hold this teaching and
interpretation of scripture. Further, many Adventist churches and a
few other Protestant churches hold the Book of Revelation to be a
symbolic book and interpret the symbols in a nearly identical
fashion as the Church of God. The prophetic teachings of the Church
of God are a little different, but certainly not unique.
(11)
Nondenominational
– The Church of God recognizes the error of denominationalism, or
the separating God’s people by placing unnecessary barriers between
them. God’s church should exist as one body, with no factions or
schisms. Further, as Christ is the Head of His church, and since He
resides in heaven, it is unnecessary to form an earthly
headquarters. But even this conviction is not unique to the Church
of God. There is an increasing amount of churches who share this
same conviction, the Church of Christ being one of the larger bodies
who are nondenominational.
(12)
Upholder of Truth
– The Church of God claims to be the pillar and ground of the
truth. They believe that the doctrines that they adhere to and the
collection of their convictions and practices as listed above makes
them uniquely “the Church” and that they are the only church who is
really upholding truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
In making this claim, they are not alone as most every church makes
the same claim. In reality, upholding the truth is simply upholding
Jesus Christ and His teachings. Interestingly enough, it has been my
experience that the teachings of Jesus found throughout the four
Gospels receives very little emphasis among the Church of God.
Making the claim to be the sole upholder of the truth is certainly
not unique to the Church of God.
So, we have examined Church of God doctrine, membership criteria,
church government, church order of worship services, strong focus on
material/temporal concerns, ordinances, standard of dress, teaching
on the church, teaching on holiness, teaching regarding prophesy,
being nondenominational & upholding the truth….. and we have not
identified one single area that makes the Church of
God unique or different from other churches.
Therefore, how can it be claimed that the Church of God is not a
church among churches? Their system of religion is quite common
throughout Christendom.
While the Church of God reformation movement may have started out
with the best of intentions,
today it has become
something that the original pioneers stood strongly against.
God’s call for Christians who are caught up in the institutional
Church of God is just the same as the call to all Christians
scattered throughout the other institutional churches. That message
is to serve Christ in freedom. It is a call to worship Him in spirit
and in truth! Allow Him to fully be your Head and to equip and place
you in His body wherever He sees fit. Abandon the institutional
Church of God system and live in freedom in the church of God, that
worldwide divine, living organism for which He purchased with His
own blood.
-Dale Rude
Click Here
to download a .pdf file of this entire article |
