Agree that we could use the Lord's Supper as a much more meaningful part of worship. I've seen too many times when it is indeed a ritual, almost like repeating a prayer over and over again, with no heart. Sure I hope each and everyone takes it on themselves to understand what they are doing, but for visitors and the uninitiated the Lord's Supper should unite us, provoke our hearts, and be uplifting all at the same time. More than anything though Love, genuine Love, for each other should be paramount. Love overcomes all.
Thank you, thank you! The sad part is I know people who are letting God lead their daily walk, clinging to every word He says whether written or through the Spirit and putting in the DAILY WORK, that attend a building where music is played. We on the other hand puff up like frogs because we don't play music and then leave Sunday and never spend time with God in his word or lift a finger to look like Christ or do what we need to do to put to death the old man and bring the lost to Christ. Way too many of us are the same person now (maybe worse) as when we came to Christ and yet we preach milk. If this world is going to turn to God, first the people of God have to! Self righteous, unloving people we are..BUT GOD. What if we met house to house and broke bread when we broke bread. Do this is remembrance of Me. As often as you do it. What if when we had company, we collectively reflected on our sins. What would people think. Sometimes Sunday seems like an eternity away. They needed Christ in the first century and now in the 21st century, we just don't.
Not just comfortable, safe. No toes are stepped on, no wallets are closed because of offense, and no sins are spoken against. The perfect combination required by today's church for a "good" sermon.
There are so many other areas that need to be taught, but doing so might break the Eleventh Commandment of "Thou shalt be nice and never offend." One of the greatest sins being practiced in the church today is cowardice. It's rampant among the eldership and preachers, and I don't see it getting any better any time soon.
Good thoughts, please consider this, at our AM worship, we have many visitors who have not been baptized and come from no church affiliation or instrumental/sinners prayer beliefs. We are trying with all we have to set up private studies and fundamental principles classes. We are praying that these will move these folk to obey Christ.
We have 20% (?) of our worship audience who need “milk.” In all our sermons the take away for the listeners must be how they can better know and please the Lord, and that must be the result of every sermon.
I have been saying this same exact thing lately. I’m struck by how much more we talk about the plan of salvation than we do the blood of Jesus. I was raised in the church but this feels like a new development to me. Not to take anything away from the plan of salvation, but without Jesus, it’s nothing.
Great article Jack. The problem is that mainstream focuses on justification as the end without the need for sanctification. There are millions of Christians globally in holy discontent just waiting to be moved to repentance. We are so locked by Satan to believing that the “church” will save us that we have no idea that it is the spirit of Yahweh that moves us. Yahweh only moves in born-again believers. Submission to Yahweh follows repentance. Preaching true repentance, the turning towards Yahweh, by dying to the world and our selfish desires, will bring revival. It starts with us.
Too often we (COC) have converted people to the Church of Christ and not to Jesus.
We emphasize our traditions (aka doctrine) and fail to walk with new Christians as they learn to apply the wisdom of scripture to their context.
The more I learn about the character of God ( Father, Son and Spirit) the less I want to emphasize our traditions.
Our congregation is currently discussing and fleshing out how to express communion more meaningfully and, yes, be the focal point of our time together on Sunday mornings.
After 4 decades in COC I’m searching for more…
(Thank you Church Reset for putting a voice to our journey to “more”)
Different congregations handle things in different ways, for sure, but I have reason to believe many congregations are regularly dwelling on the "hits" of what we do differently than denominations.
I agree with most of your article. However, being fed a regular dose of baptismal doctrine is a good thing. And “anyone who has been attending the church of Christ a couple of months knows these things” is an incorrect statement. Not all do know. I love your writing and how well you express yourself. However, it seems like you tend to find more wrong with the church of Christ than you find what we do right.
I think we do many, many things well (which is why I'm a member). But I don't find much value in constantly rehashing the "why we're right" messages, especially since they can be found so many other places.
I think he is just trying to address problems that are creeping into the church. I've seen problems in our congregation, but as a woman and no husband, I have no say in a lot of things. Things such as memorized prayers, whispering during worship, failing attendance, and others. No congregation is perfect, but some things need addressed. I guess if we offend some, then we are left with none. I have heard the "hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized, and be faithful until death" hundreds of times in the past 77 years, but I really can't remember if I have heard what "being faithful until death" actually means. Not very recently anyway. We think if we have got them baptized, then that is all there is to it. Most new converts are not "faithful." They come (on Sunday morning) when it is convenient, and never on Sunday evening or Wednesdays. Something is needed.
Great comments and I agree with you. However, the eldership is there to listen to the members (flock) they are shepherds of and do their best to assist and teach. Yes, you do have a say in things. Mention your concerns to the elders. They will listen. God bless.
I see I failed to mention that we do not have elders now, as we have very few men, and only one is qualified to be an elder, but as the only qualifed man, we cannot have just one elder.
Just staying focused on Him and trying to be reverent. Years ago, when my dad would lead a prayer,he would go down on one knee. I’ve even thought of raising my hands in worship but that would cause a disturbance and that would not be my intent. I feel we’ve become almost robotic.
Check social media carefully and often to discover what your religious neighbors are being told about baptism, instruments, and ‘such like’ and you may come to understand why some of us continue to hold the truth about these topics before those who are being fed a constant diet of misinformation. It would be a travesty to ignore the constant distortion of truth just because some are tired of hearing it. When you get the message, we can move on. “Leaving the fundamentals, we can move on to Perfection.”
I for one would disagree with your characterization that acapella singing and the plan of salvation is a ritual. I would believe very strongly that those items are matters of faith along with every item of worship. Do we over emphasize from time to time - maybe - but for me I would state that anytime I preach on any item of salvation or worship - it still is preaching what the Scripture says. A preacher also needs to assess his audience as to what should be preached and how he might best proclaim the love and grace of God as he closes his lesson.
Just a couple of opinions here...1) You said, "anybody who’s been a member for more than a month or two knows exactly why we hold those beliefs." I'm not sure about that. If we teach someone through the conversion process, chances are they're processing a great deal of information. ((Another topic worth discussing - how long should we study with someone? How much knowledge is "enough"?)) But, if we're not reiterating the basics as Christians grow, there's a very real risk that many people are going to be influenced by other religious thought and become, shall we say, less grounded in their basic beliefs. I know I've had several members over the years tell me their VERY wishy-washy position on acapella singing, weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, women's roles - you know, "the hits!" - and it's clear they haven't been grounded in these teachings. I think we sometimes ASSUME people know these doctrines backwards and forwards. Yes, our steadfast members maybe don't need to hear it too much, but how many times does God reiterate the deliverance from Egypt to the Hebrew people? That's one of their basic tenets...that's worth repeating. And #2) - I appreciate your thoughts on making the observance of the Lord's Supper "more complete." I disagree with those who say "the Lord's Supper is biblically the focal point of our worship and should take the most time." There's just no Scriptural support for that position. That being said, I do believe a more clear, pronounced explanation of what it ought to mean is in order many times. Too often (in my OPINION) we have our Lord's Supper talks turn into mini-devotionals that just rub shoulders with the true meaning of what we're remembering. Ok - that is all! haha! Thanks so much for your work, Jack!
Also true. I just wonder sometimes if we have a good enough read on the "perpetually immature." I know I've been surprised by some who I expected to be more mature...
Agree that we could use the Lord's Supper as a much more meaningful part of worship. I've seen too many times when it is indeed a ritual, almost like repeating a prayer over and over again, with no heart. Sure I hope each and everyone takes it on themselves to understand what they are doing, but for visitors and the uninitiated the Lord's Supper should unite us, provoke our hearts, and be uplifting all at the same time. More than anything though Love, genuine Love, for each other should be paramount. Love overcomes all.
Thank you, thank you! The sad part is I know people who are letting God lead their daily walk, clinging to every word He says whether written or through the Spirit and putting in the DAILY WORK, that attend a building where music is played. We on the other hand puff up like frogs because we don't play music and then leave Sunday and never spend time with God in his word or lift a finger to look like Christ or do what we need to do to put to death the old man and bring the lost to Christ. Way too many of us are the same person now (maybe worse) as when we came to Christ and yet we preach milk. If this world is going to turn to God, first the people of God have to! Self righteous, unloving people we are..BUT GOD. What if we met house to house and broke bread when we broke bread. Do this is remembrance of Me. As often as you do it. What if when we had company, we collectively reflected on our sins. What would people think. Sometimes Sunday seems like an eternity away. They needed Christ in the first century and now in the 21st century, we just don't.
Not just comfortable, safe. No toes are stepped on, no wallets are closed because of offense, and no sins are spoken against. The perfect combination required by today's church for a "good" sermon.
There are so many other areas that need to be taught, but doing so might break the Eleventh Commandment of "Thou shalt be nice and never offend." One of the greatest sins being practiced in the church today is cowardice. It's rampant among the eldership and preachers, and I don't see it getting any better any time soon.
Good thoughts, please consider this, at our AM worship, we have many visitors who have not been baptized and come from no church affiliation or instrumental/sinners prayer beliefs. We are trying with all we have to set up private studies and fundamental principles classes. We are praying that these will move these folk to obey Christ.
We have 20% (?) of our worship audience who need “milk.” In all our sermons the take away for the listeners must be how they can better know and please the Lord, and that must be the result of every sermon.
Thank you for making us think about this issue!
I have been saying this same exact thing lately. I’m struck by how much more we talk about the plan of salvation than we do the blood of Jesus. I was raised in the church but this feels like a new development to me. Not to take anything away from the plan of salvation, but without Jesus, it’s nothing.
Great article Jack. The problem is that mainstream focuses on justification as the end without the need for sanctification. There are millions of Christians globally in holy discontent just waiting to be moved to repentance. We are so locked by Satan to believing that the “church” will save us that we have no idea that it is the spirit of Yahweh that moves us. Yahweh only moves in born-again believers. Submission to Yahweh follows repentance. Preaching true repentance, the turning towards Yahweh, by dying to the world and our selfish desires, will bring revival. It starts with us.
“The conversion process”….?
Too often we (COC) have converted people to the Church of Christ and not to Jesus.
We emphasize our traditions (aka doctrine) and fail to walk with new Christians as they learn to apply the wisdom of scripture to their context.
The more I learn about the character of God ( Father, Son and Spirit) the less I want to emphasize our traditions.
Our congregation is currently discussing and fleshing out how to express communion more meaningfully and, yes, be the focal point of our time together on Sunday mornings.
After 4 decades in COC I’m searching for more…
(Thank you Church Reset for putting a voice to our journey to “more”)
Ok, that’s all from here too! Lol
Unfortunately, I do not believe people know "the basics" anymore. We've had 20 years of fluff love and acceptance sermons. We are stuck on baby food.
Different congregations handle things in different ways, for sure, but I have reason to believe many congregations are regularly dwelling on the "hits" of what we do differently than denominations.
I agree with most of your article. However, being fed a regular dose of baptismal doctrine is a good thing. And “anyone who has been attending the church of Christ a couple of months knows these things” is an incorrect statement. Not all do know. I love your writing and how well you express yourself. However, it seems like you tend to find more wrong with the church of Christ than you find what we do right.
I think we do many, many things well (which is why I'm a member). But I don't find much value in constantly rehashing the "why we're right" messages, especially since they can be found so many other places.
I think he is just trying to address problems that are creeping into the church. I've seen problems in our congregation, but as a woman and no husband, I have no say in a lot of things. Things such as memorized prayers, whispering during worship, failing attendance, and others. No congregation is perfect, but some things need addressed. I guess if we offend some, then we are left with none. I have heard the "hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized, and be faithful until death" hundreds of times in the past 77 years, but I really can't remember if I have heard what "being faithful until death" actually means. Not very recently anyway. We think if we have got them baptized, then that is all there is to it. Most new converts are not "faithful." They come (on Sunday morning) when it is convenient, and never on Sunday evening or Wednesdays. Something is needed.
Great comments and I agree with you. However, the eldership is there to listen to the members (flock) they are shepherds of and do their best to assist and teach. Yes, you do have a say in things. Mention your concerns to the elders. They will listen. God bless.
I see I failed to mention that we do not have elders now, as we have very few men, and only one is qualified to be an elder, but as the only qualifed man, we cannot have just one elder.
You said what I have thought about often.
This repeat from childhood to adulthood is the reason we get labeled a cult!
It's the right time!
Definitely interested in your ideas. Often, I feel I am not worshipping God in the way He deserves.
How do you mean?
Just staying focused on Him and trying to be reverent. Years ago, when my dad would lead a prayer,he would go down on one knee. I’ve even thought of raising my hands in worship but that would cause a disturbance and that would not be my intent. I feel we’ve become almost robotic.
Check social media carefully and often to discover what your religious neighbors are being told about baptism, instruments, and ‘such like’ and you may come to understand why some of us continue to hold the truth about these topics before those who are being fed a constant diet of misinformation. It would be a travesty to ignore the constant distortion of truth just because some are tired of hearing it. When you get the message, we can move on. “Leaving the fundamentals, we can move on to Perfection.”
We are talking about a congregation, not social media.
I for one would disagree with your characterization that acapella singing and the plan of salvation is a ritual. I would believe very strongly that those items are matters of faith along with every item of worship. Do we over emphasize from time to time - maybe - but for me I would state that anytime I preach on any item of salvation or worship - it still is preaching what the Scripture says. A preacher also needs to assess his audience as to what should be preached and how he might best proclaim the love and grace of God as he closes his lesson.
They are not rituals in themselves. The repeated discussion of them is the ritual.
I personally believe you still have taken this too far.
Just a couple of opinions here...1) You said, "anybody who’s been a member for more than a month or two knows exactly why we hold those beliefs." I'm not sure about that. If we teach someone through the conversion process, chances are they're processing a great deal of information. ((Another topic worth discussing - how long should we study with someone? How much knowledge is "enough"?)) But, if we're not reiterating the basics as Christians grow, there's a very real risk that many people are going to be influenced by other religious thought and become, shall we say, less grounded in their basic beliefs. I know I've had several members over the years tell me their VERY wishy-washy position on acapella singing, weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, women's roles - you know, "the hits!" - and it's clear they haven't been grounded in these teachings. I think we sometimes ASSUME people know these doctrines backwards and forwards. Yes, our steadfast members maybe don't need to hear it too much, but how many times does God reiterate the deliverance from Egypt to the Hebrew people? That's one of their basic tenets...that's worth repeating. And #2) - I appreciate your thoughts on making the observance of the Lord's Supper "more complete." I disagree with those who say "the Lord's Supper is biblically the focal point of our worship and should take the most time." There's just no Scriptural support for that position. That being said, I do believe a more clear, pronounced explanation of what it ought to mean is in order many times. Too often (in my OPINION) we have our Lord's Supper talks turn into mini-devotionals that just rub shoulders with the true meaning of what we're remembering. Ok - that is all! haha! Thanks so much for your work, Jack!
Fair points, though I believe those who are perpetually immature need more one on one focus rather than sermons.
Also true. I just wonder sometimes if we have a good enough read on the "perpetually immature." I know I've been surprised by some who I expected to be more mature...