Have you ever noticed that this line of reasoning by the workers appears to be good enough?
“If the denominations do it, we don’t do it.”
It appears that some (most?) of what the first workers decided to do or not do was based on what was done by the other denominations aka “the false churches.” It is sometimes expressed this way: “No, we don’t do that—that’s what the false churches do.” Or, “That’s too much like the “false churches.” No scripture was necessary to further support the practice.
Here are a few examples, in no particular order:
The denominations have names and
we don’t want to be like the “false churches.”
Jesus did not give his church a name, so…we take no name.
The denominations meet in buildings, and
we don’t want to be like the “false churches.”
Jesus said God doesn’t live in temples made by hands,
so…we have no church buildings and meet in homes for fellowship.
The denominations have paid clergy with homes and may marry, and
we don’t want to be like the “false churches.”
Jesus did not command his preachers to do any of these things,
so…our preachers have no regularl salary, do not marry, have no permanent homes, etc.
The denominations are registered with the government, and
we don’t want to be like the “false churches.”
Jesus had no connection to the government,
so…we will have no connection to the government (except when we “need” to register or incorporate in order to get/keep a worker in a foreign country).
Many denominations have infant baptism or dedications, and
we don’t want to be like the “false churches.”
Jesus said nothing about doing this and He indicated there should be a mindful choice given,
so…we will have baptism only when a child reaches the age of discernment.
Some denominations use sprinkling or pouring methods for baptism, and the Bible says that Philip and the eunuch “came up out of the water,”
so…we will only baptize by using the full immersion method so we can “come up out of the water.”
Many denominations use real wine and unleavened bread, and
we can’t do like the “false churches” do.
Even though Jesus used real wine and unleavened bread at the Last Supper,
so…we use grape juice and whatever bread is handy, which is usually leavened.
The denominations teach children about the Bible through their Sunday School programs, and
for us to do that would be too much like the “false churches.”
Jesus did not command that children should be taught on their own level,
so…we don’t have any ministry for children, and besides, there was no Sunday school in the Bible.
The denominations can all trace their churches back to a man who founded them,
which proves they are “false churches.”
Jesus is our founder and our church cannot be traced back to a man,
so…we say our church goes back to the shores of Galilee when Jesus sent out the 12 disciples to preach.
so…we have hidden the man who is our founder so we can appear to be different from the denominations and that makes our church superior to all other churches.
The denominations have heads and headquarters,
so…we claim that our only head and headquarters are in Heaven.
yet we are highly organized and have Overseers and even Overseers of Overseers.
and we even incorporate when the situation calls for it.
The denominations celebrate Christmas as Jesus’ Birthday,
so…since no one really knows the date of Jesus’ Birthday, we don’t celebrate December 25 or Easter as religious holidays; but it’s OK to celebrate Halloween, Satan’s holiday.
Many denominations are very expressive and sing loud and praise frequently with “hallelujah,” and
we worship in quietness and reverence in “spirit and truth.”
so…we removed the words “I’ll shout and sing” from the hymn “Was It for Me?” (New Hymn No. 8; Old Hymn 35)
The other Christian denominations do some things right,
but we do it more correctly and follow Jesus’ teachings the most closely.
so… that makes our church God’s only right way/church on earth.
By Cherie Kropp