Why I am not a "Church of Christ" Preacher

Now that I have your attention, please follow me through a Biblical line of reasoning. In order to do this, I would like you to forget everything you have ever heard or thought (if you can) and simply open up your Bible and see if the things that I say are true (Acts 17:11). The purpose of this statement is to challenge members of the Lord's church to understand how to communicate the truth about the church as God would have it. I would also like to appeal to any reader concerning what the Bible actually says about the church to examine their faith in light of the Scriptures.

People often try to put me in a box. I am a preacher, and they want to know what I teach and what I believe. If the answer to their question is anything other than the Bible, then I need to quit being a preacher and do something else...

1. I am not a "Church of Christ" preacher because the Bible does not tell me to be one. The Bible commands every Christian to spread the gospel (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 8:4). There are some who will make this their life's work, and receive wages for doing so (Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 9). I tell people I am a gospel preacher. I am not interested in any doctrine except the Bible.

2. I am not a "Church of Christ" preacher, because I do not want to give the false idea to the world that I am a part of a denomination. Everybody, I love you enough to say this to you, so listen to me. God is opposed to denominationalism. Jesus prayed for unity (John 17:20-26). That unity can only be found in the Bible and can only be realized in the one church that Jesus built (Matt. 16:18). If you are a part of a denominational church, you need to leave it and seek the church that Jesus built.

3. I am not a "Church of Christ" preacher, because I am not even supposed to be a "Church of Christ" person. I hear stuff like this all the time: "Well I was raised 'Baptist', my wife was raised 'Church of Christ.'" Such a statement is not based on any idea that is Scripturally accurate. The Bible does not authorize or teach a person to be "Catholic, Methodist, Mormon, Baptist, Church of Christ..." But we are told the first disciples were called "Christians" (Acts 11:26). They were also "saints" (Phil. 1:1), because they had been sanctified by the blood of Christ.

4. I am not a "Church of Christ" preacher, for the simple fact that some people would like to make me a denominationalist in order to try and justify there own decision to be one.

Some who read this article may get angry. This is not my intention. My intention is to challenge you to think and to study. There are others who will read out of this what they want and spin it to justify their own ideas about religion (They may be in a "non-denominational" church that accepts any and every doctrine). I cannot do anything about the condition of anyone's heart. But I do believe there might be a person out there who will read this and open their Bible and learn the truth about Jesus and the church. There is more I can say, and I am willing to discuss this with you readers anytime.

Let me end by saying that I am blessed to be a gospel preacher. By the grace of God and by my obedience to it, I am a member of the one church you can read about in your Bible (Eph. 4:5). This one church loves the Lord with all of its being (Matt. 22:37-38). This one church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). This one church follows the pattern of the apostles and the teaching of the New Testament (Acts 2:42). This one church teaches the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, knowing that just any doctrine will not do (2 John 9). This one church aims to please God alone and rejects the division that mankind has inserted in the religious realm. I am not a "Church of Christ" preacher - as some would like to label me. But thanks be to God I am a gospel preacher, and a member of the "church of Christ" (Rom. 16:16).

"...So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." ~ Acts 11:26

"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." ~ 1 Pet. 4:16