The "Never Understoods" List

[SolaDude]

Were there some things in the CofC that were so off the wall, they were way at the top of your "never understoods" list??

Well, for me I think the patterning thing was near the top....where did the idea of "patterning" the first century church come from anyway? I guess it's like anything else...when you grow up and read scripture, you can't find what they're talking about anywhere....all I see is dysfunctional people....certainly no church to pattern ourselves after....I don't see any "first century church"....I see a bunch of different churches....I see first century writings to INFORM ourselves on what dysfunction is and isn't....but that's about it....

So, anyway...ISTM that the whole Bible exists for us to pattern ourselves after God, after the Son of God.....that sort of thing. What does being a disciple mean anyway...you know, a follower...a follower of a pattern....a follower of Christ....SO, you try to live your life like He did and change your thinking to be as close as possible to His, if you are His disciple....

But really, the CofC does not seem to focus on Jesus Christ IMHO....it focuses on Paul's exhaustive efforts to "right" the wrongs of the first century churches...and in so doing condemns all the "wrongs" of the other denominations around them as if Paul would be writing them long letters, too.....it's like establishing disciples of Paul rather than Christ IMO....

[agricola]

Why, exactly, was it supposed to be the right thing to do, to imitate everything 'the first century church' did? It's two thousand years later. Weren't people supposed to grow? Didn't anybody listen to the parable of the talents? It seemed to me the coc was the servant who buried his talent in the ground, and was happy just to return exactly what he got when the boss turned up again.

See, I didn't take any chances! I didn't lose anything!

[Shrubbery]

Today I heard a sermon on Psalm 127, focusing on the first sentence: "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." They are taking this to mean that the Lord has a blueprint for every single thing and we have to follow that blueprint. And there is a blueprint for our lives, for our marriages, and for the work and worship of the church.

All this right after class discussing Galatians 2 and how we can't possibly be saved by following the Law of Moses. They exchange one law for another and don't see what they've done.

[Opie]

I never really understood the whole pattern/blue print idea either. In fact the idea of patterns/blue prints just seems totally off base to me. IMO it's nothing but a man-made idea, although many in the CoC would deny that it is because they are sure that the One True Church has never ever been influenced by any idea that was man-made.

No where in scripture are we ever called to look like the NT church. What we are called to do in scripture is to look like Christ.

[B.H.]

Somewhere in the New Testament Paul said to follow himself as a pattern.

Then they will take that verse and talk about how there was a pattern of worship (particular way to do things or else!) in the OT. However, that never made sense because the OT wasn't an authority anymore. And Paul probably was talking about his person zeal and piety and not some church order of worship. I bet KLP could give us the exact verse and we'll see if I am right.

Edit: It's I Corinthians 11:1 and its seems it is in context of the verse right before it about not giving offense and causing folks to stumble.

[Struggler]

Never understood the whole pattern business. I even read an article once that said we must "pray for the pattern." WTF?

I never understood why some C of C's felt it was sinful to have a bus or more than one minister on staff or round notes in hymnals. Nor did I get why words like invocation, benediction, hymn, etc. were considered "denominational."

[KLP]

In regards the notion that even looking for a pattern is without basis...here is an construct

God does not change
God gave instructions in OT
Therefore there must be instruction in the NT

Since we don't have the NT instructions written out clearly like in the OT...then look at what was approved by NT Apostles to derive the instruction.

For example, just because one does not have the original blueprints for a part off of a plane from 1915 does not mean the Smithsonian cannot derive a replacement duplicate that functions in place of the original...as the original.

All of this is the premise. And the premise is that God does not change, apostasy is possible/probable based on OT and NT.
God is a just and righteous God who would not hold people accountable for apostasy unless instruction were given and available.
THEREFORE...since apostasy is such a big thing in the OT and NT, then there must be instruction.

That is the thinking. It was well intentioned. But it has led to craziness in the extreme.

Karl Ketcherside had a good bit to say about this crazy thing called Patternism
Here is an excerpt about the CofC split over institutions and orphan homes....chapter on Money Patern
http://unity-in-diversity.org/Books/att ... &width=100%

A perceptive observer will soon recognize that the whole thing centers around how a community of saints may spend its money, and I am quite convinced that the real hang-up stems from a mistaken view of both groups over what constitutes worship of God. Both believe that worship has been reduced to a series of acts performed on the first day of the week, one of which consists of giving money into an institutional treasury to be dispensed by certain functionaries without consent, or even approval of the expenditures by the contributors.

I trust it will not shock you if I say that the entire thing may be a mere cobweb constructed of gauzy filaments of human imagination. In the first place the word "worship" is never once applied by the scriptures to anything we do on the Lord's Day morning. The term "acts of worship" is not in the Bible. The word of God knows nothing of the expression "the worship." It was dreamed up to designate a legalistic arrangement of which the Holy Spirit said not one word. The idea of "five items of worship" as the divine plan, has been sucked out of a factional thumb.

[Opie]

Thanks for sharing the Ketcherside quote KLP. Ketcherside was very accurate in his observations, and that made him a burr under the saddle of many in the CoC denomination.

[Shrubbery]

Thanks for the Ketcherside book link! I had heard about that book recently, but didn't realize it was available to read online!

[Cootie Brown]

The original premise of the restoration movement was fatally flawed from its inception. It was believed all one had to do was follow & adhere to the Bible as literally as possible, because the Bible was accepted as the literal words of God. The Bible was accepted as a literal instruction manual created by God personally for mankind.

Predictably that resulted in the Bible becoming an object to be adored & worshipped. The Bible became God in written form. The Bible is still the focal point of restoration & fundamentalists theology even thought there is a mountain of historicl evidence that proves the Bible is literature, a collection of parables, aka theological myths, but it is not a historical record of anything.

The Bible simply tells the reader how ancient cultures experienced God & what they believed about God. It is not the smoking gun that proves God exist or a secret road map that leads a believer to heaven. That noted, it has continued to retain its sacred status in all versions of Christianity & that is not likely to change.