White Park Church of Christ (Podcast Show Notes)

SFTB Podcast Show Notes

Episode 1: Introduction & What is the Church of Christ?

The purpose of our premier episode is to introduce you to who we are and what we mean with the term church of Christ

My name is Dean Sebourn evangelist at the White Park Church of Christ. The other host, Jéan Pardue, also a member of the White Park Church of Christ. Our goal in this and all subsequent podcast are to discuss spiritual matters in light of what the Bible alone reveals.

If you are interested in getting to know our host better you can friend Dean on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter. You can also join our facebook group to interact with Dean and Jean, commit on podcast, suggest future topics, and more.

In this episode I referred several times to an article written by Steven Rudd. You can read the full article "God Never Named the Church", and I encourage you to do so.

This episode was broke into four categories:

What does the term church of Christ mean?
Is the church of Christ just another denomination?
Is the church of Christ a cult?
How can we identify the church of Christ?

What does the term church of Christ mean?

In some instances a physical destination was associated with a local congregation (cf. I Cor. 1:1-2; II Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1-2). This is were we get the term White Park.

There are many misconceptions about the church of Christ. Many times this is do to confusing us with other religious organizations that use a similar name. Some examples are:

International church of Christ (a.k.a. Boston church of Christ or Crossroads Church of Christ)
Church of Christ Scientist
United Churches of Christ
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Church of God in Christ (C.O.G.I.C.)
etc.

While these, and other, organizations have some similarity of name they are vastly different in beliefs and practice than what we understand the church of Christ.

Considering the parts of the phrase "church of Christ.:

Church
Modern dictionaries give many definitions to this word and not all match the way in which it was used in New Testament times. One definition given defines church as "a building for public Christian worship" (Dictionary.Com). The word church in the bible is from the Greek word ekklesia which is an assembly. The church is not a physical building (cf. I Pet. 2:5)

The church is also synonymous with body (cf. Eph. 1:22ff; Col. 1:18, 24). One head goes with one body.

Of
The word of is a preposition with many uses. The manner in which we are using it in the term "church of Christ" is to denote possession. We are speaking of a body or group of people that belong to someone. The some one is denoted in the last word of the phrase.

Christ
It was not the scope of this lesson to cover all that the Bible has to say about who Christ is. We can say briefly that he was the son of man and is the son of God, savor, Lord, Prince of peace, Emmanuel, and much more. Future episodes of SFTB will certainly address who Christ is.

Some may get the misimpression that we believe that the term "church of Christ" is the only scriptural term to use. Jéan and I do not consider the phrase "church of Christ" to be a name at all but rather a descriptive term. There are many descriptive terms used in the Bible which are applied to the church. I reference you to the article "God Never Named the Church" again for a listing of these terms. When we use the term "church of Christ" we are merely speaking of the church that belongs to Christ because he built it (Matt. 16:18) and he died for it (Acts 20:28).

SFTB Podcast Quiz Answers and Bible Reference

Is the Church of Christ Just Another Denomination?

Most people view the church of Christ as just another denomination started in the 1800's. This is a misconception bred by the idea that all churches are denominations and that the terms church and denomination are synonymous. Denomination is defined as, "A large group of religious congregations united under a common faith and name and organized under a single administrative and legal hierarchy" (Dictionary.Com).

Problems with Denominationalism

Organized into a hierarchy not authorized in the Bible.
Violates the Bible teaching of One church
No example of any New Testament Christian being part of a denomination.
Denominationalism by its nature is divisive. (cf. John 17; I Tim. 3:15)
Denominationalism comes from the desires of men not the authority of God.
Jesus was pleasing to God without being a part of any religious sect. We can be pleasing to God without denominationalism.

Arguments Against Denominationalism

We are to have one doctrine (Tit. 1:9; 2:7; Rom. 6:17).
There is only one faith (Eph4:5).
There is to be unity (Eph. 2:14-16; Gal. 3:28).
We are to speak the same things (I Cor. 1:10; Pil. 3:16).
Christ said unity would show the truth to the world (John 17:21)
Divisions in the body are condemned (I Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3-4)

Non-denominational Christianity is possible if we follow the Bible pattern alone.

Is the Church of Christ a Cult?

Why do some people think that the church of Christ is a cult? Some think this because they have been told this by someone else. Others think this because they disagree with our understanding of the scriptures. Confusion with other religious groups of a similar name also leads to confusion.

What is a cult?
The technical definition is what we used and divided it into its various components discussing each in turn.

"an instance of great veneration of a person, idea, or thing"
- In a traditional cult this may be towards a person such as David Karesh or L. Ron Hubbard.
- The only persons we venerate is God the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. The ideas we follow are those from the mind of God as recorded in the scriptures.
"any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employees methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific."
- This is a fitting description of the "Church of Christ, Scientist" but we are not associated with them in any fashion.
- The Christian may use modern medicine (cf. Col. 4:14; I Tim. 5:23)
- We also recognize the power of prayer (cf. James 5:13)

The term "cult" brings up many negative connotations. We are simply trying to be what the Bible reveals.

How Can We Identify the "church of Christ"

Just having the sign "church of Christ" above the door won't positively identify the church that truly belongs to Christ. A church may label itself "church of Christ" but be something else completely.

Identifying the Lord's Church

Requires investigation. Is it what we see in the New Testament.
Do they worship by the pattern left in the Bible?
Is there Adherence to the apostle's Doctrine

NEXT EPISODE: Baptism