Purity in Docrine

In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us (Titus 2:7-8).

The year was 1882 and samples of a fairly new brand of soap were sent to college chemistry professors and some independent laboratories. They compared this new soap with castile soaps, which were the standard for that day. The soap proved to be 99.44% pure. “99.44% pure” became so associated with this brand of soap, that even today, it is part of the registered trademark for Ivory Soap.

For the sake of this article, I want to compare Ivory Soap to the Church of Christ/Christian Church. And then I would like to use the Bible for the standard of purity. Just how pure is the church in doctrine? What is the standard we use to measure our purity?

I am afraid in many Churches of Christ/Christian Churches “purity in doctrine” is no longer important. At least that seems to be the case as I surf the internet and view some of the websites of our churches. One would think that if “purity in doctrine” was important to them, they would not put up some of the very weak statements of faith that I read. Many of them are so weak, in fact, they could be accepted in almost any denominational church. It is almost like they are embarrassed to make the connection between faith, repentance, confession, immersion, faithful living and our salvation! I personally agree with the Apostle Paul when he writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). What has happened to the boldness to share THE faith once delivered? Whatever happened to “purity in doctrine”?

One would also think that if “purity in doctrine” was important, they would not put some of the links on their websites that I find. I have been on some church websites, that if they didn’t teach faith only doctrine in their statement of faith, it was simply one or two clicks away because of a link purposely placed on the website. Whatever happened to “purity in doctrine”?

One would also think that if “purity in doctrine” was important, churches would use extreme caution when choosing curriculum for classes or which internet site or book to get the sermon from! Many of my brethren in Christ would much rather study from a “faith-only” book than a good solid book in line with the Scriptures! I have to wonder if some would rather study these “faith only” books or websites than to study from the Bible itself! We hand out false teaching in books and videos and then say we will adjust the materials to match the Scriptures. But I ask again: Whatever happened to “purity in doctrine”?

One would also think that if “purity in doctrine” was important, we would be extremely careful about the missions we support. Shouldn’t we only support missions that are going to promote New Testament Christianity? Isn’t “one Lord, one faith, one immersion” still essential in our missions? Shouldn’t our missions wear the name of the Lord instead of some denominational name? The Apostle Peter wrote, “if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name” (I Peter 4:16). Whatever happened to “purity in doctrine”?

In fact, I wonder sometimes if we have not changed the standard. It used to be that the BIBLE was our only source of authority! I believe some churches would rather use something written by Rick Warren or Bill Hybels as the standard, rather than the Word of God! If someone tries to point out the errors within the theology of men like these, they are labeled a legalist! I say, if that is the definition of a legalist, THANK YOU for the label! I would rather be simply classified as a Christian, though!

The church here at South Side, nor myself, is in no way perfect. But I would pray that we would try to stay pure to the Scriptures. The Apostle Peter encourages us to “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (I Peter 2:2)

Seeker Sensitive?

Several months ago I was giving someone a tour of the South Side church building and when they walked into the auditorium they said, “Wow, this looks like a church”. I am not sure exactly what they meant by that, but I assume the pews, the stained glass windows, Bibles, hymnals, communion table, baptistery, pulpit, gave it away! But there are many in the Churches of Christ trying so hard to not look like a church. They don’t want to offend the “unchurched” (not my word, but their word). This type of thinking is called “seeker sensitive”. It is a very popular approach to the church today—popularized by the likes of Rick Warren and Bill Hybels.

Although not all churches doing some of the following things are “seeker sensitive”, these are red flags that a church is leaning that way:
* Moving or eliminating the communion table
* Promoting casual dress—including the evangelist in the pulpit (no suit and tie anymore)
* Removing the pews
* Adding lots of multimedia (movie clips, etc)
* Shortening sermons
* Using paraphrases instead of reliable translations in preaching and teaching
* Removing an invitation
* Often participate in interdenominational activities (The “seeker sensitive” often believes that we are not to judge other people’s faith)
* Expanding the song service, usually with contemporary songs on a screen
* Eliminating the eldership and promoting coaches
* Replace “saving the lost” with “reaching the unchurched”
* Evangelist becomes “the pastor”.

We saw a good example of this as we were traveling back from Delmarva Family Camp. We went by a church which had a sign outside of it that read: A church for a people who don’t like church. A church with a sign like that, seems to be a church that does what it can to be a “seeker sensitive” church. When I mentioned this to someone at South Side, they said, I wonder if there will be a heaven for people who do not like heaven.

By studying the sermons of the Old and New Testament, I wonder how many of the spokesmen for God were “seeker sensitive”? I would venture to say that even Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount would not be classified as “seeker sensitive”.

I wonder just how “seeker sensitive” the prophet Elijah was. I am sure these words were said in a way as to not offend the idol worshippers of his day:
Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened (I Kings 18:27).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!

I wonder if we would classify John the Immerser’s sermons as “seeker sensitive”? When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming out to be immersed, he said to them:
You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham (Matthew 3:7-9).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!

How about the “seeker sensitive” sermon of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified and Be saved from this perverse generation! (Acts 2:36, 40).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!

It is interesting that the Apostles were not afraid of offending the lost—and even after offending them, 3000 people were immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins on that day!
I want to be part of a church that is not necessarily “seeker sensitive” but rather is promoting the plan of the New Testament! I am glad that South Side is the latter!

And besides all this, the true “Seeker” is God! He is seeking fellowship with the church! He is seeking and saving those who are lost! He is seeking faithfulness in the church! He is the one and true living God who does not wish any to perish, but for all to come to eternal life. He is the God who seeks the lost and wants them to believe and be immersed in order to be saved—and if someone disbelieves that he should respond to the Gospel, he will be condemned (Mark 16:16).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!

The Love of Preaching

I love to hear good, solid, biblical preaching. You would expect to hear that from your preacher, though, I suppose. It is great to have many of you here at South Side that are as excited about good biblical preaching as I am. If you are like me, you expect to hear a good sermon when the church meets; whether on Sunday morning or evening, or at the county meeting. In fact, you may be disappointed when there isn’t a good, challenging message. Now there is nothing wrong with a few good songs, but nothing beats a good Bible-based sermon!

Along with this love to hear good preaching comes a lack of much patience for preaching that is not sound. I would much rather listen to a boring, but solid biblical preacher who stumbles on words than to listen to a polished preacher who may be able to motivate you, but couldn’t pass Bible 101.

I suppose that is why I love to go to family camps. From 9 AM—9 PM, with the exception of a few breaks, one can enjoy getting into God’s Word. I wish more from South Side could join my family as we travel to Delmarva and Hillsboro this month. I believe between the preaching, music and fellowship—you would love the camp meetings!

This is my twentieth year attending Hillsboro Family Camp in Ohio and my first one in Delmarva. And this is my first time to be asked to speak (at Delmarva). I consider it quite an honor to be on the same program as Lee Mason, Raymond Bennett, Kevin Yeager, and many others. I pray that I represent our Lord with my finest. And I also pray that I can do my best in representing South Side Church of Christ.

God has used preaching throughout human history to get His message out. Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” in II Peter 2:5. And of course Solomon considered himself a preacher as recorded throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. John the Baptist was a preacher. Even Jesus, Himself, was a preacher. One of His greatest sermons recorded is in Matthew 5-7: the Sermon on the Mount.

The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth in I Corinthians 1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”.

Of course proclaiming the good news is every Christians’ ministry. Jesus commissioned the disciples to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

It was the Christians who “preached the Word” as they scattered away from Jerusalem because of persecution (Acts 8:4). Simply put, they shared the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with everyone they had opportunity to talk with. And I am confident that they told the lost what they needed to do to be saved as they preached Jesus.

It has been wonderful to see several Christians here at South Side be excited about the Gospel! I pray that this trend will continue. You want your family, neighbors and friends to hear about the “one Lord, one faith, one immersion.”

One last thing: pray for boldness in preaching. But be prepared, because when you share the Gospel, you may be rejected. We should expect that because the early New Testament preachers were rejected. For that matter, Jesus Himself was rejected.

But there is great joy, even in heaven, when a sinner obeys the gospel. This makes any rejection worth the effort! May we continue to preach and teach the good news in all of it’s clarity!