I am "One of Them"

Have you ever been accused of “being one of them”? Years ago, at a Church of Christ/Christian Church preachers’ meeting, I was sitting across the table from a preacher when he asked me where I was the “pastor” at. I responded, “I am the evangelist at . . . “ In a sarcastic tone of voice he responded, “Oh, you are one of them”. I guess that I am “one of them”! And quite frankly, I am proud to be “one of them”!
One of the things that has frustrated me the most in ministry is when other evangelists cannot get the terminology right. I heard once about a “pastors and elders” conference being held at one of our Bible colleges. As I reflected in my mind about the Scriptural teaching on eldership, I thought it was redundant to say “pastors and elders” seeing that the words are talking about the same thing! Words convey thoughts and ideas and are a great way to teach.
Being practical with teaching and preaching is an important part of ministry. As I have shared many of those great Restoration principles with the congregation, some have inquired how to put those principles to work in daily life. How can we share those principles with the people we come in contact with?
I keep coming back to the fact that it starts with the words we use. Words are a simple way to teach people outside of the church basic biblical truths. One of the slogans that came out of the early days of the American Restoration Movement was, “Do Bible things in Bible ways and call Bible things by Bible names”. This is a simple principle that can help us teach others about what New Testament Christianity is all about.
Here is a simple illustration of how this works from the church office: A salesman called the office one morning and asked to talk with the “pastor”. Pat, our secretary, politely told him that none of the pastors are available because the word pastor in the bible is referring to the elders of the church and none of them are in the building. She did not go back to the Greek language and explain how the word “poimen” is used in the New Testament for elders. She didn’t have to! Pat went on to inform the gentleman on the line the “evangelist” was in, if he wanted to talk to him. What a great opportunity to teach that basic restoration principle for calling “Bible things by Bible names”. Of course the salesman was confused as he talked with me. Towards the end of the call, he called me “pastor”. Then he tried to correct himself when he said, “I mean elder”.
Words are so important and a great way to teach. A person does not need to know the Greek and the Hebrew to do it. Neither does a person need a Bible college education to teach using words. In fact, I believe that some Bible college educations have created some of the mess we are in with bad terminology!
Here is another illustration to make the point:
Several years ago a young man, who knew that I was a preacher, came up to me and asked me where was “my church”. I looked surprised at him and responded, “I didn’t know that I had a church”. I kind of caught him by surprise because he begin to wonder if I was still preaching. I told him that I did still preach—but I preach at Christ’s church and not mine. As the elders at Bolivar, PA, would continually remind the congregation that it wasn’t their church! Jesus died for the church! The elders did not die for the church! Simple words that taught a great lesson!
Someone once got confused with a visiting song evangelist. This confused member of the congregation told one of the children to stop “running in the church”. The song evangelist, teaching using words, simply said that it was impossible to “run in the church”. He went on to explain that the church is the people and you cannot run in the people (church). Simple words teaching a simple Biblical truth.
Scott Sheridan, a preacher friend of mine in Seattle, once wrote an article titled: Sloppy Terminology means Sloppy Theology. How true that is! Scott writes:
The Church has become extremely tolerant of sloppy terminology and sloppy theology. I hear it almost everywhere I go, everything I read, people I speak with, etc. I am not talking about major issues, necessarily. Although you can hear some out-and-out heresy in some of our pulpits, that is not what I am talking about. This article deals with some sloppy terminology that good-hearted people use from time to time. Nevertheless, just because we may not be discussing major heresies does not mean that it is not an important matter.
Scott hit the nail on the head! Unfortunately, the worse our terminology gets, the worse our theology can get. We start to actually believe the things we are saying. Or we say that they are not that important anymore. Or we say that they are just words. I have been hearing this about hymns during my entire eighteen years of ministry. I can point out how unbiblical the words to a hymn are, and the response is: “it is just a song”. Sloppy terminology means sloppy theology. It definitely can eventually lead to sloppy theology! Be careful of the words you use! If you use the wrong ones, you may convey a thought that is not Biblical.
Just “one of them” with you too, I hope!

Kevin

Constitutional Lessons

OK! This article really isn’t about the United States Constitution. It is about the South Side Church of Christ Constitution and By-Laws (1979 Edition). I will be the first to admit that I have never been a big fan of Constitutions and By-Laws for churches unless they are VERY well written. I understand that many were written, though, to protect congregations from denominational takeovers of property, finances and doctrines. Some were written because their state mandated they have some as an organization.
I have to admit, though, I really like the way our Constitution starts out. And you know what I like about it the best? The best part is that Article One and Article Two (Section 1) cannot be amended in anyway! That is a good thing, because those first few paragraphs are filled with sound Biblical doctrine. Here are a few things you will find (if you ever read your copy):
First is the NAME of the congregation! The congregation will always be known as the South Side Church of Christ! I am glad that the drafters of our constitution started off with this! In recent years many churches of our brotherhood have changed their names. The only problem is if Danville all of a sudden moved south of the church building. I don’t expect this to happen, but because we cannot change the name, we would be simply known as South Side Church of Christ on the north side of Danville. That would be fine with me as long as we continue to wear His name as a congregation!
Second is the PURPOSE of our congregation! Many of our churches have sent $1000’s to the denominational world to find out what their purpose is. You don’t have to buy a book or wait forty days to find out the purpose of South Side! All you have to do is look at our constitution (and they are free)! Saves us a lot of money and time! The constitution says our purpose is to “conduct a church”. Pretty simple, huh? But what did the writers mean by that? Good question (and you didn’t even have to wait for Ask the Preacher Night to get the question answered)! In fact, I don’t have to dig and study very much at all, because they told us what they meant by “conduct a church”. Here is what they meant, in their own words:
* We will be “known among religious bodies as the church of Christ”,
* We will have “Local autonomy” (self-governing),
* Members are known as Christians only,
* CONGREGATIONAL in form of government,
* No creed or articles of faith, other than those contained in the New Testament,
* Primitive ordinance of BAPTISM by immersion,
* Primitive ordinance of the LORD'S SUPPER shall be observed on the FIRST DAY of each week,
* Independent of any denomination, State or National, Ecclesiastical or other type of religious or quasi-religious organization,
* We are not to “support the United Christian Missionary Society or any other agencies of the ‘Disciples of Christ’ denomination, in any manner whatsoever”.
WOW! That says a lot about our congregation and the ones who put together this document. The last item listed above speaks of the time period they drafted the constitution, as many of our churches and colleges were taken over by the Disciples movement. Many of our congregations placed statements like these in constitutions to protect themselves.
Third is Membership Requirements of the congregation! The writers of the constitution wanted to make sure that South Side Church of Christ always had the same membership requirements as those given in Scripture. It was not open for our own interpretation!
Invitation to membership shall be extended to all:
* To those whosoever will believe with honesty and sincerity, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the Living God,
* To those who “confess this faith before men”,
* To those who are “fully repentant”
* To those who are “subsequently immersed in water into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins”.
Sounds like the back of the bulletin (and the other side of this newsletter where the plan of salvation is laid out)! The message has not, and will not change at South Side! It is the same message that was taught in the New Testament! This message cannot be changed!
Oh, yes, the drafters of the constitution did allow for transfers, but only to those who had followed the New Testament pattern! Good for those authors of the constitution!
* To those who “by transfer of membership by letter, or statement of membership from a sister congregation of the Church of Christ holding identical membership requirements”
* To those who “by reaffirmation of faith and transfer of membership from another church where said candidate for membership has been previously immersed in water, “into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit””.

Standing firm on His Unchanging Word with you,

Kevin