Thoughts on Fellowship
W. Carl Ketcherside
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The rise of this society, if we only look back to the drawing of the lines of demarkation between it and other professors, is of recent origin. About the commencement of the present century, the Bible alone, without any human addition in the form of creeds or confessions of faith, began to be plead and preached by many distinguished ministers of different denominations, both in Europe and America.
With various success, and with many of the opinions of the sects imperceptibly carried with them from the denominations to which they once belonged, did the advocates of the Bible cause plead for the union of Christians of every name on the broad basis of the apostles' teaching. But it was not until the year 1823, that a restoration of the original gospel and order of things began to be plead in a periodical, edited by Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia, entitled "the Christian Baptist."
He and his father, Thomas Campbell, renounced the Presbyterian system, and were immersed in the year 1812. They, and the congregations which they formed, united with the Redstone Baptist Association; protesting against all human creeds as bonds of union, and professing subjection to the Bible alone. This union took place in the year 1813. But in pressing upon the attention of that society and the public the all-sufficiency of the sacred scriptures for every thing necessary to the profession of Christian character, whether in the private or social relations of life, in the church or in the world, they began to be opposed by a strong creed-party in that association. After some ten years' debating and contending for the Bible alone and the apostles' doctrine, Alexander Campbell and the church to which he belonged, united with the Mahoning Association, in the Western Reserve of Ohio, that association being more favorable to his views of reform.
In his debates on the subject and action of baptism with Mr. Walker, a seceding minister, in the year 1820, and with Mr. McCalla, a Presbyterian minister, of Kentucky, in the year 1823, his views of reformation began to be developed, and were very generally received by the Baptist society, as far as these works were read.
But in his Christian Baptist, which began July 4, 1823, his views of the need of reformation were more fully exposed; and as these gained ground by the pleading of various ministers of the Baptist denomination, a party in opposition began to exert itself, and to oppose the spread of what they were pleased to call heterodoxy. But not until after great numbers began to act upon these principles, was there any attempt toward separation. After the Mahoning Association appointed Mr. Walter Scott an evangelist, in the year 1827, and when great numbers began to be immersed into Christ under his labors, and new churches began to be erected by him and other laborers in the field, did the Baptist associations begin to declare non-fellowship with the brethren of the reformation. Thus by constraint, not by choice, they were obliged to form societies out of those communities that split upon the ground of adherence to the apostles' doctrine.
The above poses some real questions if we dare face them honestly and fearlessly. Since there was no separate religious group known as "The Church of Christ" when Alexander Campbell commenced his work of reformation, was the church of Christ in existence? If not, why did Daniel say it should never be destroyed nor left to other people (2:44)? If the church was in existence, where was it, what name did it wear, and who composed it?
Did God have any children from the close of the first century to the start of the nineteenth, or was Jerusalem from above sterile and barren for seventeen hundred years? Since there was no separate and distinct organization known as "The Church of Christ" during the Dark Ages, to what did the martyrs belong who were put to death by papal Rome, and who are described as "those who keep the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ?" If those same people were on earth today would you fellowship them as children of God?
Was Alexander Campbell a child of God while in the Redstone and Mahoning Baptist Associations? If not, how did he
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If Campbell were alive today would he be regarded as a Christian by any group of "The Church of Christ" which exists as a result of his pioneer efforts? If he preached among the Baptists, and affirmed there were some Christians among them, would not the "Church of Christ" now do as the Baptist Church did then, and "begin to declare non-fellowship with the brethren of the reformation?" If so, does this not indicate that "The Church of Christ" is a sect now, as the Baptist Church was then? It is not necessary to call to our attention that the church of Christ is not a sect. We know that. We believe that church was in existence before Campbell began his reformatory work. We do not think there has ever been a time in the Christian era when the church of Christ ceased to be. Our Lord has never been a head without a body, a ruler without a kingdom, or a shepherd without sheep.
But we are confident that, if those who composed the body of Christ on earth in 1750 A. D., were alive in 1959, they would not be recognized by "The Church of Christ." Nor would Alexander Campbell find a welcome in any of the two dozen factions which grew out of his efforts to unite all believers in the Lord. What is the basic error in our present thinking? We think that it is very apparent. Until it is removed we will continue to drift toward sectarianism because of the spirit we manifest. We will divide and subdivide every time a brother learns a new truth. Study this statement very closely. We have confounded the Restoration Movement with the church of the New Testament, and we think of it as identical with the church of Christ! Perhaps no greater error ever plagued a religious people!
The church of Christ is unchanged and unchangeable. It is the body of God's dear Son, who is ageless and timeless. In every century that body on earth has included every saved person, every surrendered soul. The Restoration movement is fluid and changeable. It is the attempt of honest and sincere men to recapture the spirit and form of primitive Christianity, believing it is the hope of the survival of truth. Men must alter their thinking and perspective as they learn more about truth. But the greatest and most tragic error in our generation has been calling that movement "The Church of Christ" and concluding that all who are in it are faithful to the church of Christ, although they may bitterly oppose restoration of that church.