Autonomy of the Church and the Teaching of Error

God, in His infinite wisdom, made His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ “to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22, 23). The apostle Paul declared in Colossians 1:18, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.” Jesus Christ does not share the headship of the church with any mortal man regardless of his status of prominence in the religious world. The Heavenly Father has given to His Son “all authority” “in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus Christ is the supreme and only head of the church which is His body. There is another sense in which one finds the word church being used in the New Testament. For example, Paul wrote an epistle to the “church of God which is at Corinth” (I Corinthians 1:1, 2) as well as letters to “saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi” (Philippians 1:1) and “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse” (Colossians 1:2). He also wrote letters to other congregations and to individuals. In God’s design for a congregation he placed shepherds (elders) to oversee the local flock of believers. In Acts 14:23 we find that the apostles “appointed elders in every church.” Paul instructed the overseers from the church in Ephesus in this manner, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28, NKJV). The apostle Peter wrote in I Peter 5:1-4, “The elders who are among you I exhort, I, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” It is reasonable and scriptural to assert that each congregation is autonomous (self-governing) and when fully developed is overseen by men who are called shepherds, elders and overseers.

It is very important that we all understand that a local church has the right in matters of expediency and human judgment to make its own decisions. Another congregation or an individual who is not a member of said church does not have any right to interfere in the business affairs or decisions of another congregation. Christians should be very careful in criticizing the decisions made by the eldership of a congregation. The brethren have the right to make their own decisions as to where they will send their monetary support in the mission field and/or to other good works. They can decide to have their Bible study and worship assemblies at various times on Sunday that might be different from other congregations. For example, I know a congregation that meets on Sunday for Bible classes at 10 a.m., morning worship at 11 a.m. and their second worship assembly at 1:30 p.m. Between the two assemblies, the brethren always share a common meal together. That is a total of 41/2 hours that the Christians are together. That is longer than most churches meet together on any given Sunday. And yet, some brethren might consider this congregation as being unsound for not meeting on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. I worshiped with a small congregation one occasion that met in a house and during the morning assembly everyone sat in chairs in a circle around the table where the Lord’s Supper was sitting. All the people sat during the singing including the song leader except during a song of praise and then everyone stood. No problem. It was their decision and I respected it. In fact, I rather enjoyed the change. I have witnessed the monetary contribution being taken up on Sunday morning just before the closing prayer rather than following the Lord’s Supper. The arrangement of the avenues of worship on Sunday can vary and it is the business of the individual congregation to make such decisions. Some congregations will have Sunday morning assemblies at their building but meet in different homes in the evening. Though I might be inclined to not like that arrangement, I respect the congregation’s decision to do so. After all, how many assemblies did the Lord require of His disciples to meet on the Lord’s Day? Furthermore, in one sense I believe a congregation has the freedom to decide not to do the will of the Lord. Now, I certainly would not agree with that decision but some congregations have decided to do that very thing. For example the church in Laodicea had become so wretched in their sins that the Lord had been left outside of that congregation. In fact, Jesus Christ said to those brethren, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). He further told them that their actions were repulsive to Him and that they needed to repent (Revelation 3:16, 19).

The question is do we have the right to speak out against another congregation when the members are guilty of violating the teachings of the Lord? The apostle Paul warned the Colossian brethren of false teachers (Colossians 2:4, 8) even though he was not a member of that congregation. He also rebuked the Galatians for allowing Judaizing teachers to advance error within the churches in that area, even though he was not a member of any particular congregation among them (Galatians 1:6-9; 5:4). It is therefore possible to speak out against false teachers and unscriptural practices without violating the autonomy of another congregation. However, we should do so in the spirit of Christ without judging the motives of others. So often brethren make blanket accusations against a congregation without proper evidence and thus arouse suspicion among other members of the body of Christ. We should always treat others in the same manner we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12). It is best not to go by ‘hearsay’ when dealing with problems and issues facing the church of the Lord. I find that it is best to use a direct quote from a brother’s writing or speech as to his teaching and the practice of the congregation where he preaches. If a congregation altars the sacred plan of salvation and states that baptism is not essential for salvation, that congregation has digressed from the truth as taught in the New Testament. Should those brethren introduce mechanical instruments of music into their worship assemblies, they have digressed from the biblical teaching on this important matter. Church autonomy was never intended to be a shield for apostasy. Essentially no congregation has the right to suspend or change the precepts of the Lord.

We can understand more fully the wisdom of God in designing the individual congregations to be autonomous (self-governing). If a congregation departs from the truth, it doesn’t mean that every congregation of the Lord will do the same. However, there is a real danger involved when any congregation becomes digressive and that is in its influence exerted on individual Christians and other congregations of the Lord. For example, one very large church of Christ in the state of Texas has announced that it will begin a special service on Saturday nights wherein the Lord’s Supper will be served and instrumental music will be introduced. The preacher of that congregation wrote that he had scores of letters/emails from elders and brethren encouraging such a move. And there are ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ churches located near our Christian and State Universities that are adversely influencing students regarding these and other unscriptural practices. Shall we remain silent while error is being taught? I think not. One of the loud cries of brethren who are guilty of propagating error is that we should respect their autonomy. While we can respect their autonomy we cannot allow apostasy to occur without voicing our disapproval. My brethren we live in perilous times. The church of Jesus Christ is being divided by the doctrines and practices of men. We cannot but speak out against all innovations that contribute to the disunity of the precious body of our Lord.

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