[Church_of_Christ] Re: Are we misunderstanding the scriptures?
Greetings Beth, ED here,
Beth: You referred to what you are teaching as, "accepted "traditional" positions." That is the problem facing the churches of Christ today.
ED: I do not mention "accepted universally" or "universal tradition" as proof. The scripture is proof. But when I question something that is universally accepted, I want to be very sure I have thoroughly studied the matter before I reject it. There is ususally a good reason something like this is universally accepted.
Beth: As many have stated on this topic we are no longer under the law. There is no cut and dried rules. The "ONLY" thing we are "COMMANDED" to do in scripture is to meet to exhort one another.
ED: You have been led to believe this and it is simply false. The church is translated "assembly" and it is elsewhere identified as "the house of God", an allusion to the OT temple and what went on in the temple, worship. Elsewhere, we are all stones making up the temple of God, in shich we lift reverent praise to God. I can worship God alone, just as I am churched alone. But only when my stone takes its place together with all of the other stones making up the temple of God am I the temple of God in the fullest sense. I am a part of the assembly because I belong to it, but I am only assembled when we are gathered together. The first takes its meaning from the second and divorced from the second it loses its meaning!
Beth: . . . We have become so :"ritualistic" in what we call worship that it doesn't even resemble the early church.
ED: I would like to know what you have found in our worship that the NT assemblies did not do.
Beth: The early church loved one another enough to sell all they had and give to those who had none. We sit in a pew between 2 people and when we leave we haven't got a clue about what the needs of those 2 people are. Are they comtemplating suicide...having marital problems ...financial problems....
ED: I am sorry that has been your experience. It is not mine. We love one another. We help one another. We are there when needed. Our worship is a joyful expression of the salvation within. I honestly am sorry for your bitter experiences.
Beth: . . . Yeah! we have all the answers and anyone who interprets scripture different that we do are wrong and condemned to hell if they don't change their thinking and come around to our way of thinking. As for IM...we have been programmed to think of the melody as an instrument that accompanies us in singing. I finally figured out that I make melody in my heart and it doesn't matter if I am singing with or without an instrument. I don't believe that God cares what is playing in the background when I'm singing...he only listens to my heart and the melody within me. Just my opinion and not trying to "BIND" it on anyone.
ED: Whoever has been condemning to hell anyone who disagrees with them, has overstepped their bounds. Last I heard, the Lord will judge us all. Some men's judgment precedes them to judgment, but that certainly doesn't apply to folks who are trying to serve the Lord and who don't understand everything; like me. As for IM, I choose to remain within that which I can identify as early Christian practice. Others go beyond. It's that simple.
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