From experience the phrase We go by the Bible is usually spoken by one who doesn't. I reference myself as one in the lead of such a grave mistake.
That phrase was expressed by this new convert at my first family reunion once attending the CoC. It was good for immediate separation for such smugness is not from Jesus.
We go by the Bible needs the interpretation of our camp. It means we go by a few things in the Bible and then we also go by several things not in the Bible but others spoke as if it was in Holy Writ.
For instance, let's take the drinking of alcoholic beverages. In an elders' meeting it was discussed that consuming such was sin. Understand, I don't drink as I continue this discussion. I pointed to scripture that such a stand wasn't there. His response? Well, it should be.
We go by the Bible is a noble goal; really a holy one. The goal isn't the spoiler. The statement of untruth by those of us spouting it may be. The reason? Because we go, not by the Bible, but by a mixture of Scripture and tradition....a very strong mixture.
We should continue to strive to function from biblical discourse. It is the inspired Word of God. Nothing about that has changed. With Bibles in our laps, to assume that sitting in rows three times a week without a piano, but with communion on Sunday, is going by the Bible is simply a glaring hypocrisy.
All of that can be done without the Jesus of the Bible as the centerpiece. This is a grave mistake from which I have suffered my own consequences of deadness to the Spirit and so do many of the rest of us.
3 comments:
Amen brother! I came to this conclusion a while back. It led to my being fired in the CoC.
Amen!!!
This is from an article on The Gospel Coalition site about the different types of churches that church planters have to be careful they don't plant. One is the "restorationist" church model. Read it and see if you think it's accurate of the cofC. I think it's amazingly dead on....:
4. Planting a restorationist church
This church plant is an attempt accurately to recreate what the church was like in the first century, to restore apostolic Christianity. Churches like this tend to spend a lot of time trying to identify precisely the patterns of New Testament practice. Of course it's vital to be biblical. But replicating apostolic norms can be a futile exercise, not least because there seems to have been quite of bit of diversity within the New Testament. And that diversity existed because apostolic churches were adapting to their contexts, both to the people within the church and also to the people they were trying to reach.
The real danger with the restorationist mindset is that you become inward-looking. You end up having long debates over how exactly the New Testament churches celebrated the Lord's Supper rather than throwing yourself into evangelism. You become like the people described in 1 Timothy 1 who are more interested in winning converts from within the church than winning converts to Christ.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/01/09/five-church-planting-dangers/
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