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“Watch
out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are ferocious wolves”
– Jesus (Matthew 7:15)
“Do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether
they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out
into the world” – John
(1 John 4:1)
A few months
ago I received a letter from a young friend who had moved to a
region of the country far from home. She was looking for a
church and was open to attending something different than what
she had grown up with. My friend recounted her experience in
the following message, which she gave me permission to share
with you in the hope that it will encourage others to “do their
homework” before choosing a church.
"I found a
church that I felt totally at home in. It was a congregation
that had many members, many people my age, lots of kids, lots of
older people, just a vibrant, growing, wonderful church family.
I went to service many times and enjoyed the sermons. Not
knowing much about (this denomination) I went to an inquirers
class. Everything seemed consistent with my beliefs, so I
decided to take the step of joining the congregation. Today was
to have been the day that the church recognized new members.
"So – last
night, I got their monthly bulletin in the mail. To make this
long story short, the bulletin stated their OPPOSITION to what
they called "the five fundamentals of fundamentalism” – the
inerrancy of scripture, the literal virgin birth, the literal
resurrection, the literal nature of Christ's miracles" and one
other point regarding communion.
"I always
thought that the "fundamentals" were a given at any church. It
never dawned on me to ask a congregation or the leaders of a
congregation if they believed in the literal resurrection of
Christ's body. I would have never thought that was debatable!
I spoke to someone before the service to confirm I understood
the bulletin correctly, and she confirmed that I had. She said
it was not part of their theology to be that dogmatic and to
push that dogma on people.
"Looking back
on the sermons, there were times when things were a little
obscure. Now I realize it was because of a lack of commitment
to scripture.
"Therefore I
am continuing looking for a church home. It has proven to be
really difficult here, where there are tons of churches and they
are all so different. I just wanted to pass this story along to
you for when people are leaving the congregation, particularly
younger people & college bound kids. For me, this experience
showed me that you cannot take for granted that any organization
believes the basics of Christianity.
"When joining
a church next time I will ask questions that I before assumed
were a given. Lesson learned - Why would someone even go to
church if Christ's resurrection was figurative and the miracles
were just fables?"
-Dan
Williams
College
Avenue church of Christ
El Dorado, Arkansas |
