Perpetuating Myths
A new member of the churches of Christ will be bombarded with myths about the churches of Christ by various people in society. These myths include: “you think you are the only ones going to heaven,” “you do not believe in the Holy Spirit,” “you do not believe in the Old Testament, and “you do not believe in music.” A member of the church soon realizes that these myths are false. But where do these myths about the church of Christ come from? It seems that we are responsible for these myths in society. Of course there is ignorance on the part of the world concerning the beliefs of the churches of Christ, but sometime we have perpetuated these myths through evangelism.
When we define the nature of the church by mentioning half of Acts 2:38, the reference to baptism for the remission of sins, without including the statement concerning the Holy Spirit, we give the connotation that we do not believe in the gift of the Holy Spirit. A non-Christian that looks up the verse in the Bible will wonder why this reference to the Holy Spirit was not included in the evangelism material. One could easily infer that the churches of Christ do not place an emphasis on the Spirit. Also, we perpetuate the myth that we do not believe in the Old Testament when we produce material that states that we are “New Testament Christians Only.” A member of the church would understand what this phrase means, but a denominational individual or a non-Christian could rightfully infer that we do not believe in the Old Testament. The phrase “New Testament Christian” seems to indicate this clearly.
In Evangelistic material, the church must reframe from using slogans that take some understanding of the churches of Christ doctrine to comprehend accurately. The converted understand that “New Testament Christian” means that the New Testament provides the guiding pattern for the church of the 21st Century, but to a non-Christian this phrase seems vague and misleading. Also, in Evangelistic material, we must reference the entirety of a verse and not just the section that we are highlighting. The reason is that someone that looks up the verse might think we are hiding something or we are not focusing on all of the scriptures. It gives the impression that we are picking and choosing sections in the Bible that we agree with. A slogan or a half verse might make complete sense to the converted in the church but for a outsider to the churches of Christ this presentation of the gospel is perpetuating myths about the churches of Christ that are not true. We include these lines and phrases because we are coming at the material from an insider’s perspective. Never has a non-Christian written evangelistic material for the church. In writing material, one must seriously consider the phrases and the verses that are used to minimize the confusion concerning the nature of the church.
Related posts:
- Writing a Paper on Unity in Christ: A Biblical Model for Unity
- Evangelism of the Converted by the Converted
- Little Guys Shooting Big Guys
- Struggle for Existence–Part 2
- A BASIC LIBRARY FOR CHRISTIANS
About The Author
This is part two of the last post. There will be one more post along these lines.
In evangelistic material or in the material that goes on our website pages “About Us”/”What We Believe” I believe it would be better to tell the entire scope of our beliefs in a narrative/story form without any paranthetical citations of scriptures. We can place a disclaimer that our belief is based upon scripture alone. But we can also add an open invitation to study with anyone who would like to know how we arrived at the conclusions in our belief statment (told in story form).
This would accomplish two things. First, I believe a running narrative that is both comprehensive and coherent will make more sense than 10 or so line item propositional statements. Secondly, this will eliminate what appears to be a bunch of proof-texting of the Bible which I believe models a bad approach to reading scripture.
Any ways, I will try to post an example of what I mean by a belief narrative on my blog tonight as an example.
- Rex
Thank you Rex.
If I had no idea about scripture/church and somebody basically said Chapter four, paragraph three sentence 2 tells us how to do this part of church and chapter ten paragraph one sentence three tells us how to do this part of church, etc–I’m pretty confident I’d think folks were dishonest, manipulative and stupid.
FYI, I posted on my blog my own example of telling our beliefs in a narrative fashion.
http://www.kingdomseeking.wordpress.com
-Rex
Matthew,
Great post! I would like to use this article in my bulletin. So I hear you are going to Castlerock. My wife is from CO and she went with a mission team to Ganna from the Castlerock congregation.
amen, exactly, very good thoughts
If we want to admit it or not at one time these myths had some validity. In various congregations they are still true. It is now very hard to make generalizations about the churches of Christ as a whole.
You stated in the part 1 of this blog that our visitor packet material was targeted to the unsaved, unchurched, and I wish it was so in every instance. The truth is, we are careful to state what we state so that no other ‘sound church visitor’ will take us to task over some split hair. It is a sad truth that there are people who visit us in passing and make judgements on how ‘sound we are’ by simple things such as mission statements on visitor packets, whether we do it the way they do back home, and such things as that.
For a group of congregations that call themselves autonomous, there seems to be a faction of men who want to oversee more than their home church. I have been called to scripture by visitors who are appalled that we have a kitchen and fellowship area (don’t you have kitchens at home?), that I actually will ask a woman (widowed) about her terminally ill daughter at the end of services (woman speaking in the church), and the best of all… we had 4 songs before the Lord’s Supper, not how they did it at home. Somehow the ‘everything in decency and order’ scripture covers that one.
If our evangelism truly is an outreach to the lost, why not just say that we are believers, once lost but now reunited to our creator, seeking to follow His will, and reflecting the glory of His son Jesus. We seek to show to the world who He is by who we are. That is about what we are all about, isn’t it?
On a side note, how does a Canadian born Preditors fan transfer to Denver hockey? Good luck with the move.
Jimbo
Matthew said, “When we define the nature of the church by mentioning half of Acts 2:38, the reference to baptism for the remission of sins, without including the statement concerning the Holy Spirit, we give the connotation that we do not believe in the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
question, just what do you see as that gift.
The gift of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew about Acts. 2:38
Acts:2:38: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
(you shall receive Jesus Christ as your savior)
Jn:3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(Jesus the Son, Jesus the gift of God)
Jn:4:10: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
(Jesus the Son, Jesus the gift of God)
I don’t believe Acts 2 and Acts 8 are talking about the same gift. Acts 2 does not say when you are baptized you will receive the power of the Holy Ghost/the “indwelling” , it simply says you will receive the GIFT that was given by God through his Son (everlasting life). I do believe the gift of power, the indwelling was received through the laying on of hands by the twelve, the apostles. And the inspiration by Jesus Christ of the apostles, please remind me of any instances I have missed. Or any occasion where we are promised the “indwelling”, at baptism.
Acts: 8:15: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
17: Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
18: And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19: Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
What the church used to teach, and a few still do, The gift of the Holy Spirit/God , is Jesus his only begotten Son. Which we acknowledge and receive as our Lord and savior at baptism. No special earthly powers when we arise from that water. Just a cleansed soul, and that is enough for me.
In considering how some members of the church explain their faith, and how it is often put into print, I believe that the “unchurched” and even members of denominations think, “Yeah. So?” When we justify why we don’t use instruments with Ephesians 5:19, many are not impressed. “Can I not make melody in my heart with an instrument?” I’m sure is the response given by many. Despite the importance of book, chapter, and verse, some couldn’t care less about the authority of scripture. Therefore, when speaking to someone today, I believe we should do so with the intent of showing them the value of how we live and why we believe/teach the way we do. Why does singing without instruments in worship and observing the Lord’s supper every Sunday make such a difference? I’m afraid that many today don’t think too much of authority so unless we can answer the previous question, many will stop listening.
Laymond,
I think we both agree that we are promised the Holy Spirit. Though there is not a uniform consistency in Acts as to when the Holy Spirit is received, 1st Corinthians 6.19 and Ephesians 1.13-14 seem to be very clear that the Holy Spirit is dwelling (abiding, residing, etc…) with in the believer. Beyond this, the function of the Holy Spirit is supportive of the indwelling view. Perhaps ‘indwelling’ is not the best experssion for what we are speaking of (that is another discussion) but at the present moment it seems to be our best expression for this gift.
As I have argued in other discussions, we spend way to much time trying to parse and dilineate the exact moment at when we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. At some point it appears as though we are trusting more in our intellectual ability to precisely determine when and what God is doing than simply surrendering ourselves in faithful obedience to God and trusting him to do as he has promised even if we do not fully understand the precise time when those promises will be fulfilled. In other words, let us just concentrate on being faithful disciples and trust God to do as he has promised.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Just read Bobby V’s blog post, “Let it be.” So I will just let it be. It is hard to just let it be when Rex rants that one can’t know “when” they are in Christ and it doesn’t matter “when” one is saved. Let it be when Joe shows his superior experience and third generation”knowledge.” Just let it be, OK
Rex, I was thinking on just how to respond to your belief (as I see it) that we are wasting our time when we search for the truth about God and the true translation of just what is said in scripture. And along comes my buddy Sonny, who in my opinion is not known for his tact, and said in his own way what I was thinking
but that as it may be, Scripture was not silent on the subject of knowing God, who we are placing our trust upon. Since we were discussing the book of Acts we shall remain in that book of knowledge.
Acts:17:29: Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Acts:17:30: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
I am not a preacher, but Sonny, Matthew, and you are, and the last thing I would presume to hear out of a preacher’s mouth would be we don’t need to know. If we don’t need to know, just what is your job? please explain.
Honestly, I was hoping no one read “my” rantings this morning. As always when I hit that submit button I said, “I wish I had not said that.” “It helps no one, especially not me.” Rex and Joe if you have the ability, look over my lack of tact that Laymond mentioned. I really hate to be known as the brother with no tact. . Matthew if you read this before others respond delete my post above. If not I will suffer the judgment of it. I stand that we can and should know when we are saved. It is when we by faith are immersed into Jesus Christ. Our sins are forgiven and we have been at that moment born again.
Joe, especially forgive my nastiness with words. All through worship this morning I kept thinking I wish I had just let it be. I mean let it be without my crude remarks.
Sonny, sometimes it pays to cut directly to the chase, as you are sometimes known to do, We love you brother, and I always look forward to what you say next. As we look at some of the things Jesus said, there weren’t very tactful either, but like you they were always truthful, may God bless.
This is from my friend Jonathan Jones’ blog. I am pretty much with him on this issue.
In the Greek readings class that I am currently taking, we recently discussed the difference between an “objective genitive” and a “subjective genitive.” Please don’t stop reading! This little technical nuance helps us to better understand what the Bible teaches us about the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of a Christian.
The genitive is the case in Greek that normally indicates possession. In translation, you usually put the English word “of” in front of a genitive. For instance “faith of Christ” would be a genitive. That seems easy enough. But in this example, is Christ performing the action of faith (i.e. “the faith Christ possesses”; subjective genitive), or is Christ receiving faith (i.e. “I have the faith of Christ”; objective genitive)?
This discussion directly relates to Acts 2:38, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” What does this verse mean by “gift of the Holy Spirit.” If this phrase is a subjective genitive then Christians receive some type of gift (i.e. forgiveness, salvation, etc.) from the Holy Spirit at baptism. Yet, if it is an objective genitive than Christians receive the Spirit (Himself) as a gift at baptism. The first option would seem redundant since the verse has already made the promise of forgiveness of sins clear. There seems to be an additional gift beyond forgiveness that is promised.
Grammatically, it is possible that this phrase could be an objective genitive and might be rendered “you will receive the Spirit as a gift.” This is a possible translation, but is not settled by this immediate context. However, as we continue reading the book of Acts we discover that this is the most probable meaning. In Acts 5:32, the Apostle Peter affirmed, “and we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Here, the clear meaning is that God gives the Holy Spirit Himself as a gift to those who obey. This verse supports Acts 2:38 as being a promise of the “Spirit as a gift.” Along these same lines, Paul later affirms that the Holy Spirit within us works along side of our own spirits, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16).
What’s the point? First, my Greek class is not an entire waste! Second, Christians are given a wondrous gift when we are converted–God’s Spirit Himself is dwelling within us helping us to fight our battles against temptation (cf. Rom. 8:11) and helping us in our prayer lives (cf. Rom. 8:26-27). God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within us is the very mark of our eternal inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14)! Praise God for his wondrous gifts! First his Son, then his Spirit!
It’s nice to see that your Greek class was not an entire waste (smile). Seriously, you did a good job in explaining the gift of the Holy Spirit, Matthew.
Maybe Australia is more “unchurched” than America… but just to sound a note of doom, I think “evangelistic materials” are largely a waste of time… except for those rare occasions when someone is “ready to go” in terms of responding to Jesus.
I think the evangelistic task has gotten a whole lot more complicated as we deal with increasing numbers of thoroughly unchurched people (and I would hope the unsaved concern us more than persuading other Christians to think like us). This means we need to think less like scribes and pharisees and more like cross-cultural missionaries.
What are the hopes, aspirations, use of language, hearts desires, and windows to the gospel of the cultures in which we find ourselves? Are we willing to befriend unbelievers for the long haul, or are we over-busy with our holy huddles?
I think more relational effort and less stress over the precise wording of this or that tract is what is required of faithful Christ-followers.
Quote Matthew:
“What does this verse mean by “gift of the Holy Spirit.” If this phrase is a subjective genitive then Christians receive some type of gift (i.e. forgiveness, salvation, etc.) from the Holy Spirit at baptism. Yet, if it is an objective genitive than Christians receive the Spirit (Himself) as a gift at baptism“
Matthew, I noticed the small but powerful word “IF” in describing the “GIFT” this to me indicates indecision in understanding whether the subjective or objective is being used here. I prefer to see it as the subjective, why, because I like to think the total bible is written in contextual informative verse. First we need to agree on just who the Holy Spirit is, I believe it is Jehovah referred to in a descriptive manner, just as God, The Father, the creator, are all descriptive of the one superior being.
OK, I give credit for research and the knowledge of the Greek language, but if we try hard enough we can make anything mean most anything.
Quote “Yet, if it is an objective genitive than Christians receive the Spirit (Himself) as a gift at baptism“
Matthew, can you please explain, what gift is spoken of here (continuing in Acts) .
Acts: 10:44: While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45: And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46: For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
47: Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
48: And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
Question,( Was this gift given during baptism, after baptism or maybe even before baptism?) let me say I believe the word “received” in 47 could easily be replaced by “accepted”
If they received the Holy spirit at baptism, as you say, what are they to do with the one Peter said they had already received?
Laymond and Sonny,
The both of you are missing what I am saying. I am not saying that we do not need to know God nor did I say that one cannot know when they are in Christ. What I am saying is that we can spend so much time trying to parse, disect, and exegete certain passages in the effort to know EXACTLY WHEN God is acting that we wind up placing our faith (trust, confidence) in our intellectual ability to ‘get it right’ rather than placing our faith in God to do as he has promised to do. This is problematic because at the end of the day, we will not ALWAYS get it right. Wouldn’t it be a shame to stand before God on Judgment Day and to find out we did get it wrong and our plea to God was that we were faithful to him but his reply was “No, you were faithful to you intellect!” So rather than worrying about getting precisions right, why don’t we just repent, be baptized, strive to live our new identity as good disciples, and trust God that he is forgiving our sins and giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit (whether that is an objective or subjective gift:-))?
Is that more clear as to what I am saying?
Sonny, I did not take your comments as a rant lacking in tact!
Rex
Rex, I understand where you are coming from, we have no personal eye witness proof, we only have faith in what is written by others. but we do all have beliefs, some we have formed some we have been taught, but a person who has taken on the job of teaching others, should study continually to learn what is right to teach, and not be afraid to say I don’t know.
Laymond,
I agree with everything you said in your last response. I do try and learn, I do try to faithfully teach what I have learned which I what I believe is right but I have also learned that I do not know everything about God (how, when, why he works) and I am not afraid to say that. I learned this lesson when my son died. Prior to my son’s death, I thought I understood everything about God. My wife and I prayed for a healthy son who would grow up to love and serve God. We did not believe such a prayer was selfish in any means. Yet our son, Kenny, did not live. We still do not understand why his life was cut so short. I nearly lost my faith in God because I could not understand what God’s purpose was in allowing our son to die. It was a former professor of mine, Dr. John Mark Hicks, who sent me back to Romans searching for the God who works everything for the “good” for those who love God (Rom 8.28). After reading, re-reading, and re-reading Romans, it occured to me that the ‘good’ God was working was redemption. God was working to bring about the redemption of those who love him and this is what God was interested in – my redemption, our redemption. That was a freeing moment when I learned to have faith in God again. From that time on, I no longer needed to understand the precise moments as to how, when, and why God was working out the every little details of his salvation plan. I knew that if I would just trust God (faith), God would complete his task (working the good – redemption – out to its finished goal) even if I could not understand (i.e., parse, discect, exegete) every little detail of how God was bringing this about.
What does that have to do with Repentance and Baptism? Well, I am all for Repentance and Baptism because I believe both are commands of God (non-options) in scripture. I believe the biblical data teaches that repentance and baptism both proceed the gift of salvation(i.e., “for the forgiveness of sins”, “into Christ”, etc…) and that is what I teach others. However, could I be wrong? Humility moves me to accept my incorrectness as a possibility. What if I am wrong? Well, that is where it comes back to faith. I would rather just focus on keeping my faith in God – loving, serving, and obeying him as best as I know how – and not worry about whether I have parsed, discected, and exegeted his scripture with perfection. I trust that God will, over time, continue to teach me where I am wrong. In fact, part of my daily prayer is that God will have grace upon me when I am wrong but will also GENTLY teach me when I am wrong.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Rex, I’ve got a story that evidently parallels yours in many respects. Along the way, I’ve learned more and more that God is the perfect teacher whom I trust–rather than trusting my ability to perfectly teach Him to others.
Eddy said, “I’ve learned more and more that God is the perfect teacher whom I trust–rather than trusting my ability to perfectly teach Him to others.”
Well said!
Rex
Rex. I can’t think of any thing that would shake the faith of a Christian more than the loss of a child, (God bless you)especially a person who believes God controls every aspect of their life here on earth after baptism, If one believes that Acts 2:38 tells us that God comes to dwell within our body at baptism to look over us, then it is easy to see how that person cannot accept tragedy in their life, or if one believes that Jesus was talking to the average Christian, when he said ask and you shall receive. You ask, yet you do not receive. How many times do you ask without receiving before you begin to doubt? That is exactly what I am talking about, we need to learn all we can about the God we worship, and just what he promised us at baptism. before we accuse God of breaking his promise, when there was no promise. (at least not one that is collectible in this life)Look at the pain and suffering, and ultimately the horrible death the apostles, and John the Baptist suffered. Jesus didn’t promise us a rose garden, as a matter of fact it was the opposite.
I feel like I just read a blog entry from the friends of Job! Some folks have all the answers and others cry, “Lord I believe but help my unbelief.”
Laymond,
I will be the first to admit that there is a lot I do not know about this gift of the Holy Spirit. I do believe that reception of this gift is a promise God has fulfilled but such fulfillment does not relenquish suffering in this world. I believe the Holy Spirit is God’s promise that redemption is a reality for those in Christ. As far as Acts 2.38 is concerned, I do have questions as to what degree this promise was individual or communal. The church is a community and though I believe the Holy Spirit dwells within each believer, I believe it dwells within the church as a community empowering the church to be witnesses to the ends of the earth (which is what we see in Acts). But there are still many questions I have. Interestingly, in the congregation where I serve we have a member who is always telling me stuff that he learned about the Holy Spirit but these are all ideas that God spoke to him personally, so I sort of let all that go in one ear and out the other.
Grace and peace,
Rex