I should hope a “Church of Christ” is exactly what the name implies. However, this is a question I’ve not been asked very often during several years ministering with congregations using the name CHURCH OF CHRIST or CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
This fact may be true, in part, because I have not been dogmatic and used the name "Church of Christ" as a divisive issue around other believers because our use of this name for the church is intended to bring believers together and not create another sectarian division.
Therefore, if I or another preacher were to give the distinct impression that somehow our fellowship has attained an “exclusively right,” for using this terminology, we would automatically destroy the original intent adopted by congregations which gave up denominational names in favour of using New Testament terminology such as "Church of Christ" or "Christian Church".
If our fellowship thinks of itself as being "the only true body of Christ" (wherever you see the name), we have blatantly denominated ourselves from all other believers!
This name issue reminds me of children playing the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” They know where the tail belongs, but whenever sincere religious leaders choose to use spiritual blindfolds for choosing a church name - it’s hard to determine if the tail (name) will even get placed on the donkey!
Do you follow my analogy here? Do you really believe there is something wrong with being a church of Christ? I certainly don’t, and am not ashamed to belong to him and him alone! Whenever believers are divided over the clear teachings of Christ they are listening to Satan’s deceptions and lies rather than listening to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Next Page
