A friend sent me a link to a “church of Christ Sound Congregation finder!” Facebook group (as of March 6, 2023, it has 2,860 members). As its name indicates, the page was formed as a way to find churches which are “sound” (meaning correct). Its “About” page has reads as follows:
This page is dedicated to finding sound and faithful congregations of the Lord’s church. The problem comes when one’s definition of sound doesn’t fit with Scripture. Here is a list of guidelines to help us understand what this group is looking for in a sound congregation. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but rather serves as a general jumping off point. If a congregation does not meet these biblical standards then please do not recommend it here in this group. God Bless!
This and the following quotes are from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1359912634139083 accessed March 6, 2023
Before we continue, I want to agree that we do have problems when our definition of “sound” doesn’t jive with Scripture. More on that in a bit. Let’s continue with their list of what they believe “sound” looks like:
Each congregation that is recommended should preach the whole council of God in a loving manner.
Okay, that’s broad. I am fairly certain most churches of any hyphen or name would agree. (As an aside, I’m pretty sure they meant “counsel” and not “council.”)
The singing must be completely acapella. Likewise, they must teach that instrumental music in the worship of God is sinful.
So not only must musical instruments be absent from their assemblies, but a church must publicly teach that such worship is sinful—even though the Bible does not state that. How exactly are we defining “the whole counsel of God”? I guess it’s the whole counsel plus what other rules we can extrapolate.
They must believe that Jesus only established one church, His church, and that denominationalism is sinful.
They believe their churches, which are all named “church of Christ,” do not fall under the definition of “denomination”—even though the term literally means “to name.”
No women in leadership roles (elders, deacons, ministers, leading prayers, serving on the Lord ’s Table, etc.)
No non-institutional, one cup, saints only benevolence, non-cooperation, and non-Bible class congregations can be recommended on this page.
Interesting. I grew up in non-institutional churches, and, in fact, I’m still with one today. They have excluded my church (and many with which I’m familiar) with a click of the keyboard. I worship with a good friend who was raised in a non-Bible class church, and he and I now worship together in harmony, each putting up with the other’s viewpoint. But neither of us is welcome on this church of Christ group.
No congregations that separate the young children during worship (children’s church, children’s Bible hour, etc.). Please note that this is during worship only, separate Bible classes do not apply.
Various Truths they must teach:
– The Holy Spirit guides through the Word and does not directly operate on the heart of a Christian.
– God created the world in six literal twenty-four hour days.
– Fornication is the only accepted reason for divorce and remarriage.
– The use of beverage alcohol is sinful.
– The Bible is the complete revelation of God’s will. It is verbally inspired and inerrant.
What did you think of that list? Is this how you would define “sound congregations”?
Compare Ancient Creeds
Interestingly, the Bible never uses the term “sound congregation” or “sound church.” It talks of “sound doctrine,” “sound words,” “sound in faith, in love, and steadfastness,” and “sound speech.” This term is found mostly in the letters to Timothy and Titus, and it means “healthy.”
It is good to be with a spiritually healthy church. But how can you tell if a church is healthy or not? I would want to know if the members, the leadership, and the teaching and preaching were healthy. The maintainers of the list above attempt to provide a rough checklist of what they consider to be right doctrines, but they fail to include some of the most important gospel distinctives, and they include some rather random (pet) subjects.
Early councils of Christians met to discuss “What is sound doctrine?” They were dealing with various heresies, many of which had to do with the nature of who is God and who is man. Their investigations, meetings, and councils produced creeds (“I believe” statements) which represented the agreement of the majority among the various Christians at the meeting. One of the earliest creeds is the Apostle’s Creed, which most Christians have heard:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen..
An even earlier creed was the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
The early Christians centered themselves on a proper understanding of God: He is three in one, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I won’t print them here, but the Anathanasian Creed and the Creed of Calcedon went further in their language affirming the deity of each person in the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as well as boldly affirming the humanity of Christ Jesus.
Creeds of Churches of Christ
As I read the rough creed on this Facebook page, it rings rather hollow to me. We are arguing over whether a church can send money to an organization, whether we think it’s right or wrong to have Bible classes, and whether it’s sinful to drink alcoholic beverages? These are the signs of a healthy church?
Churches of Christ may claim they have “no creed but the Bible,” but they shoot themselves in the foot with lists like the one above. Some claim churches of Christ do have a creed, it’s just not written down. However, many have compiled unofficial lists, and where lists match alliances form. This Facebook page hosts many members of churches of Christ who agree on those things listed, so they have formed alliances, recognizing one another as “sound churches” and engaging in cross-church fellowship. Their list expresses what they believe, includes some, and excludes others. I fail to see how this is not a creed.
Creeds are not necessarily evil, but they become evil when they cause divisions among God’s people where there should be no divisions. The only worthwhile creeds are those which accurately and faithfully summarize Scriptural truth. As soon as we write a list which gets outside of God’s boundaries or sets up boundaries where God never has, we err and will likely cause divisions in the body of Christ.
In the next installment, I plan to share what Paul writes to Timothy and Titus about being “sound,” attempting to examine biblical words in their natural habitats.