A little clarification
About three months ago, I wrote a blog post about the Church of Christ, predicting its demise. The comments in the post mostly agreed with my position, and aside from my dad, nobody really talked to me about it too much.
Since the post was published, I’ve received several emails from people who disagree strongly with my position. This wasn’t unexpected, I suppose, but the sources of a couple of the emails certainly were.
I don’t want to apologize for a majority of the content in the post – I still stand by the points raised.
However, I would like to apologize for the offensive and strong headline. I wrote it with the intention of capturing readers’ attention. It was intended to be strong. But I fear it was so off-putting as to render the content of the post unreadable for some.
I would also like back off of my “prediction” that the Church of Christ is done for. There are certain types of Churches of Christ that are certainly doomed. But not all of them. There are Churches of Christ that will thrive and grow in the coming years.
If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email.
The Church of Christ is done for
I’m a lifelong member of the Church of Christ denomination (yes, yes, I know it’s not a denomination). I’ve attended a pretty broad spectrum of CofC’s – from the incredibly hateful and legalistic to the more progressive, open-minded kind. Which basically means they’re fine with clapping during worship AND after baptisms.
Because of my relationship with the CofC, I take pride in what it brought to the Protestant discussion – mainly its insistence on the Bible as its only creed. At the same time, I’m painfully aware of its shortcomings – mainly the inconsistencies that arise when taking the Bible as its only creed.
I bear no ill-will towards the Church of Christ. It has created what I believe to be a solid foundation for the rest of my spiritual journey, instilling in me a desire to know God’s word, understand it to the best of my ability and apply it as best as possible.
But, I think the denomination as we know it is done for.
The reason – as I see it – is three-fold:
- It is known for what it opposes rather than for what it stands.
- The core values of the Church of Christ are no longer relevant to today’s Christians.
- At the fundamental level, innovation is abhorred and tradition is adored. (Hehe – I like rhyming.)
I’ll go into depth on each of these in an upcoming post.
Am I way off? Are these three things unique to the Church of Christ or do they accurately describe issues facing a number of denominations?