THE CHURCH OF CHRIST —WHAT IS IT? (Part 2)

By Bob Myhan

The church of Christ is not a denomination. It is the Lord’s church. Jesus prayed that all the saved might be one, even as He and the Father are one. He did not estab­lish any denomina­tion. Nor did He authorize denominationalism. De­nomina­tionalism pro­motes di­vision and is there­fore antithetical to Jesus’ prayer for unity.

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS THE FAMILY OF GOD AND CHRIST

Paul wrote to young Timothy,

“These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct your­self in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). 

While the origin of the word, “church,” is uncer­tain, some have suggested that it came from the Greek word, “kuriokos,” which means, “of or pertaining to the Lord” [e.g., “Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor. 11:20), and “Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10)]. It is used to translate the Greek word, ec­clesia [which means, “the called out”], where the reference is to those who have been “called out” by the gospel. When Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18), He was saying, in effect, “On the basis of the truth you have just confessed [“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”], I will call out my people.”

Thus, those who have been called out of the world by the gospel are the family, or house, of God and Christ. These are also referred to as “the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10), “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19), and “the whole family in heaven and earth” (Eph. 3:15). Con­sider the following incident.

While He was still talking to the multi­tudes, behold, His mother and broth­ers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" And He stretched out His hand toward His dis­ciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. 12:46-50).

Jesus also told His disciples,

“Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hun­dredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:29-30). 

The point, of course, is that, if it hap­pens that we must turn our backs upon our natural families in order to be what God wants us to be, we have a spiritual family, the family of God and of Christ. Dear reader, are you a member of the household of God? Are you sure?

[To be continued]

DIVORCE FOR $600

By Kent Heaton

In our fast food society of drive-thru service, microwave dinners, plastic money and ATM’s serving our financial whims of fast cash now – divorces can be secured for a few hundred dollars. The sign was simple - it was a direct statement: “Divorces for $600.” What the sign did not say was the price paid when a divorce is granted. For a “fist full of dollars”, a divorce could be secured and lives could go on with their self-centered and self-indulging desires of self. For a few hundred dollars, the summation of heartache, pain, sorrow and tears dries upon a few signatures of ink. .

A divorce is not the beginning of something but the end. The finality of a divorce is the culmination of two lives that began in earnest to love and cherish one another yet fall to the prey of self-interest. It is not about blaming others or the ills of society. A failed marriage is brought about by the lack of commitment on the part of either the one or the two. Egotism drives a man to leave his wife for another woman. Selfishness poisons the love of two people who are seeking not the welfare of their love but the desires of their own hearts. Six hundred dollars hides the true cost of what a divorce will do to a family.

"For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" (Malachi 2:16). Why would Jehovah God hate di­vorce? He knows the breakdown of the family element when two people divorce. God created man and woman to be one. In creation, Adam said of the woman newly created: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Genesis 2:23). God desires this union for all marriages - it is a union of two hearts that become one.

The Holy Spirit continues: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:24, 25). Di­vorce destroys that joining and the blending of the flesh. There is no shame in the union of a man and a woman. God hates divorce because it destroys the happiness of the home. The cost is high especially for children of divorced par­ents. How difficult it will be for the father to “not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and ad­monition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1). Mothers would struggle to guide their children in the example of truth and righteousness.

Divorce leaves a scar that is almost un­bearable and $600 will not buy the hap­piness lost. In many cases, divorce de­stroys a soul by its action. Jesus said, "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18). An unlawful divorce ends in eter­nal heartache. Even with the allowance afforded by God (Matthew 19), sin can destroy the eternal happiness of the guilty party. What a high price to pay.

Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for for­nicators and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13:4). &