Articles
What Do We Use To Measure With
In just about any town in America, there are churches who are known as "the more conservative" or "the more liberal (progressive)" of a denomination. Unfortunately, we know this to be true of the Lord's Church as well. People assign these additional descriptors based on what is normally a comparison to the way the "other" religions tend to progress (or regress as the case may be).
While the world would look at either as OK, the Church needs to not follow that distorted line of thinking. Our measuring stick needs to be whether the Church is acceptable (to God) or unacceptable, is it right or wrong, is it scriptural or un-scriptural in what it teaches and practices. Has our doctrine become tainted by the world's views when it comes to what the Church does in worship and in practice and teaching?
God has given His instructions. What we do should be authorized by Him, and Him alone. Without God's authority on such matters, it all becomes simply one man's opinion over another. When we start to think we can improve on God's plan or instruction, we start down a long and winding road that has no end to what is allowed, because to some people, anything goes as long as we are offering it in service to God. We know full well, He tells us in His Word, that such thinking is fatal in our Christian walk with Him. (1 Cor 14:37, Rom 16:17-18, 1 John 1:3, 1 Cor 14:34, John 14:26)
Many years ago, a group of believers recognized that things had moved so far from what the Bible teaches, that it was necessary to restore the New Testament principles. That restoration movement brought back adherence to what God teaches and authorizes, from which we in the Church today continue to try and restore and adhere to. As we see others move in the opposite direction, let us strive all the more to practice and teach nothing except what God has authorized.
