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I didn’t know which category to list this under. It’s not Final Season, and I don’t consider the Church of Christ to be “Wolf-like Sheep”. So I put it under Misperception just because why not. I really should make a Miscellaneous category (this post inspired the Miscellaneous category)…
Anyway, I have been considering making this post for a very long time, but I didn’t know how to do it without making it seem like I was calling the denomination a satanic cult. True, I have tons of criticisms about them, but I don’t think that low of them. I believe many of them are still saved, it’s just that their teachings can be very dangerous.
As I’ve said in previous posts on this site, I was raised in the Church of Christ. I grew up being told that that is the only right denomination, and that if you are a Baptist or Methodist or anything other than Church of Christ you’re going to hell.
I remember one time in particular at the church I went to when I was in high school. The youth minister took the youth group to a youth retreat (youth youth youth youth youth…yeah, how many more times can we squeeze that word into this sentence), but he didn’t know until we got there that it was being sponsored by a Baptist Church. When we got back home the church body (the parents and elders) yelled at him for “endangering the souls of our children!”.
While at that retreat, after the youth minister realized his “mistake”, he forbade us to sing along with the songs they sung, which was accompanied by music. This is another major issue with the denomination. They claim that because the Bible doesn’t mention using music during worship, that it’s a sin to do so. There was even one time when one of the elders of the church went up after service to announce he was stepping down as elder and as member of the Church of Christ to go start a new church. The only difference was the use of music. During his announcement, he called out two other elders who felt the same way, as well as a few regular members. Immediately after service, those elders and members were kicked out by the remaining “musically pure” elders.
In the 25 years I attended Church of Christ, I never heard a preacher really dig into the Word. They would read the “popular” verses and talk about why those are good verses. Not only that, but every single Church of Christ I’ve been to have been filled with judgmental people. They’d judge for the littlest thing. I’d wear a hat in the building and be told it’s disrespectful to God to wear a hat in the building. I’d point out that when Moses approached the burning bush God told him to remove his sandals, and that they’re wearing shoes in the building. They’d glare, then huff and storm off. I’ve been asked to leave more than one Church of Christ simply because I was tapping my foot along with the beat of the song. Even though there’s no music, there’s still timing in the song, but apparently musical logic is a sin.
It wasn’t until 2014, when I willingly stepped into a Baptist Church for the first time, that I finally found the real Truth. You’re saved by faith in Jesus, not by not playing music or being a member of the Church of Christ (denomination). You have to be a member of the Church of Christ (body of Christ), but no one denomination is right.
The first couple of weeks at Grace Baptist Church, I felt very uncomfortable during the singing part, because they used music. But within a month I relaxed and now it feels weird NOT having music when singing to God. It’s been a year and a half since I made the switch, and I’m still struggling with a lifetime of conditioning to believe a certain way. It was pretty much discouraged in the Church of Christ to study for yourself, because the preacher will tell you everything you need to know. At my church, and in the podcasts I listen to and other pastors I listen to, they all tell you to not just take their word for it, to research this for yourself.
The pastor at my church (and the podcasts and everything mentioned above) not only covers more of the Bible than I’ve ever heard covered in Church of Christ, but they dive deep and get to the true meaning of the Scriptures. Not only by looking at the original Greek and Hebrew to figure out what was actually being said, but also looking at the scientific, archaeological, and historical evidence that backs up the Bible 100%. When I shared all of this with some of my Church of Christ friends, they turned it all away, saying it’s wrong to go by anything other than what the Bible itself says.
Which is why I say that even though I attend a Baptist Church, I am not a Baptist. I am a Christian. If the pastor says something that goes against the Bible, I’m going to go with what the Bible says.