How the churches of Christ grew so quickly

 

HOW DID WE GROW?

 

(Note: The following article is from the pen of Alan E. Highers, a close friend since our college days. Alan is a man of deep Bible knowledge who does not speak or write rashly or intemperately, but with due thought to what he says, backed up with decades of experience in preaching, teaching, writing, and combatting false religious teaching. For over 30 years he has been the editor of The Spiritual Sword and  the article is from the January 2022 issue of that publication.  I previously published it in four parts on my Facebook page, and now—by permission of The Spiritual Sword—I use it as this week's edition of Hugh's News & Views.  I believe the article deserves wide distribution and that its message needs to be thoroughly digested. Please give serious consideration to brother Highers' words below).

xxxxxxxxxx

 

About 1965 the United Press International (UPI) listed churches of Christ as the fastest growing religious body in America, based upon a fifteen year survey.  In our modern secularist society, of course, no religious body is growing as it once did.  We live in a time when people do not read the Bible as they once did, people generally are not as religious as they once were, and many people have lost their hunger for the truth.  The challenge for New Testament churches to excel and rise above our worldly atmosphere is greater than ever before.

 

Things We Did Not Have

 

There are several things we know that did *not* cause the phenomenal growth that churches of Christ once enjoyed.  Think of things we lacked during our greatest period of growth since the first century.

 

1. An educated ministry.  In our fifteen year history from 1950 to 1965, we did not have many highly educated ministers.  There were few doctoral degrees (such as Ph.D and Th.D.), yet our rate of growth was far greater than today when we have many such men.  This is in no wise a criticism of education or educated preachers.  It is simply an observation that this is not the cause of our growth.  We experienced great growth when we did not have men who were graduates of Harvard, University of Chicago, or Westminister Seminary.  Many men went out to preach who were self-taught, or who were trained by an older preacher, or who had two to four years at Freed-Hardeman, or Harding, or David Lipscomb (as it was then known).  Yet those men could meet the giants of error on the polemic platform and answer their arguments and give book, chapter, and verse for their positions.  Preachers knew the Book, and they preached the Book without theological sophistication.

 

2. Elaborate buildings and sanctuaries.  The Catholics had their cathedrals, the Mormons had their temples, but churches of Christ met in simple structures and emphasized the message.  They offered Bible classes, gospel meetings, and an informed pulpit.  The drawing power was in the gospel, not in comfortable surroundings and fashionable trappings.

 

3. Formal or liturgical worship.  The Catholics had their statues and images, their holy water and stations of the cross, others had their pipe organs and musical instruments, some had full bands and dramatic venues of entertainment, but churches of Christ grew without these artificial attractions.  Churches of Christ were content to duplicate the worship practices of the New Testament church—singing, praying, giving of our means, partaking of the Lord's Supper, and preaching the word.

 

4. No human creeds.  The Catholics had their catechism, the Baptists had their manual, the Methodists had their discipline, but churches of Christ had only the New Testament.  There was an emphasis on speaking where the Bible speaks and remaining silent where the Bible is silent.  Preachers cited book, chapter, and verse in their preaching.  They urged members of the audience not to accept their word, but to search the scriptures to see whether the things being taught were so (Acts 17:11).  Sermons were Bible-centered and doctrinal.  Warnings were issued against those who "cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned" (Rom. 16:17).  The men in the pulpit definitely were not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16).

 

5. Faith only and "the sinner's prayer."  Some religious groups have grown because they offer cheap salvation and easy grace.  Many have been led astray by their empty promises.  "Just believe on the Lord," they tell their listeners; "that is all you have to do." They forget to tell their followers that they must repent and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).  They urge people to pray, "I am a sinner.  Lord save me from my sins."  Again, they forget to mention that Jesus said, "Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).  Some of the same religious bodies that offer cheap grace for salvation also teach an easy road to heaven; it is called "once saved, always saved."  They contend that  once a person is saved, he cannot do anything to lose his salvation.  So he can live in sin every day once he is saved by "just believing," and still go to heaven when he dies.  No wonder people have been drawn to these churches in large numbers.  It is a fact that churches of Christ do not teach this cheap salvation and freedom to sin.  Our growth was not based on cut-rate commitment to the Lord.

 

Scriptural Growth

 

If we did not grow because of an educated ministry, or elaborate sanctuaries, or liturgical worship, or human creeds, or ease and comfort in religion, what caused the substantial growth which churches of Christ once enjoyed?  The answer ought to be obvious.  In speaking of the work at Corinth, the apostle Paul stated: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Cor. 3:6).  If we will plant and water, God will give the increase!

 

Paul clearly declared how he planted at Corinth.  He stated: "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1-2).  Paul knew that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1 Cor. 3:19).  The world has tried too long to understand God by human wisdom, but we must acknowledge that "the world by wisdom knew not God" (1 Cor. 1:21).  God has ordained preaching to save man—not proclaiming human wisdom, but the word of God pure and undefiled (Mark 16:15-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-4).  We are making a mistake if we are not preaching the doctrine of Christ (1 Tim. 4:16).  We grew because of the stand we took and the doctrine we declared.  Have we drifted away from that emphasis?  If we will plant and water with the word of God, God will give the increase.

xxxxxxxxxx

Words of true wisdom! 

Hugh Fulford