The Name Hang-Up
By Alvin C. Rose, Jr.
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We are the Church of Christ. Whether church begins with an uppercase or lowercase c, church of Christ is the name we wear. Of course, most of "our folks" readily admit that other names are just as scriptural. Church of God, Church of the Firstborn, and the Church are among those listed as being acceptable. But "acceptable" is all that they are, for they obviously are not useable. To suggest using titles other than Church of Christ generally receives immediate rejection.
In Cheatham County, Tennessee, where I live, there are some 12-15 churches of Christ. One Lord's Day, I suggested to my Bible school class that it would be good if many of these churches would "officially" rename themselves. Some could continue to use the title, Church of Christ, as the designation is a scriptural one (in a round-a-bout way from Romans 16:16). But most of the churches could change their names. Then, for instance, we might have churches called: Bearwallow Church of God, Pleasant View Church of the Firstborn, Sycamore Chapel Church of Jesus, Clarksville Highway Church, and Cheap Hill Church of Christ. Now, all of these churches wear the Church of Christ title. But my class (adults) expectedly rejected my idea. "It would be too confusing," they said. "It would be too difficult to identify us as a distinct religious group" (what would we ever do without that 1906 religious census???). "When traveling, it would be hard to locate a 'loyal' church." "Why would you want to do this, anyway?"
Why? It's simply because I am tired of being labeled. We often tell our friends in other religious groups to be "just Christians," and not be Baptist Christians, Methodist Christians, Presbyterian Christians, etc. But we must realize that our friends see little consistency in our suggestion, for they don't see us as being "just Christians," but rather "Church of Christ Christians." We are not even being consistent with ourselves, for we call each other "Church of Christers" (whatever that is).
We often ask, "Is he Church of Christ?" Or we say that So-and-So is a "Church of Christ preacher." Lipscomb is a "Church of Christ college." The Gospel Advocate is a "Church of Christ magazine." There are ten "Church of Christ congregations" in our county. And on it goes.
Can we not see what we have done to ourselves? We have denominated ourselves. My Webster's defines denomination as "a class or kind having a specific name." And Church of Christ certainly has become a specific name for our group. So, by the dictionary definition, our religious group is a denomination. Our friends in other religious groups consider us one, too. And we wonder why "the world" cannot understand our plea to "come ye out from among them" and be "neither Protestant, Catholic, nor Jew," but be "just a Christian." Time and experience should convince us that "the world" does not consider us "Church of Christers" to be "just Christians." They may see us as "those folks who think that they're the only ones going to heaven" or "those folks who don't use music," but let's face it, they don't see us as "just Christians."
And as far as the hard-to-locate-a-"loyal"-church-when-traveling argument, we can't do that now. Just because "Church of Christ" is on the sign outside the church building doesn't mean that it's necessarily "like us." Many a reader of the Gospel Advocate has stopped at a "Church of Christ" to worship, only to discover himself in the midst of
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If we really seek to imitate the first century church (instead of the nineteenth century one), why don't we readily use Bible designations for the church on an interchangeable basis, instead of denominating ourselves with that one specific name--Church of Christ?!