A Church That Is Congregational The word congregational is defined as, church government placing final authority in the assembly of the local congregation. While Christ did not choose to name his church congregational, he did create it to have that type of organization and government. Most churches have national or international governing organizations that control the affairs of all their member congregations. It may seem strange to talk about a particular congregation being self-governing, but consider the following truths from Gods Word. • God made Christ head over all things to this church (Ephesians 1:22). No provision has been made for any man or group of men to assume that role of authority. To do so is presumption against Christ our king. • The apostles Christ chose oversaw the church in its infancy, but successors were not selected as they passed from the scene. Their understanding of the gospel and their directions for the administration off it were recorded in the books and letters they wrote and left behind them. These twenty-seven documents were preserved and codified in our New Testament. No contemporary man or woman can truthfully claim to wield the authority of an apostle of Christ. In fact Paul warns against such false apostles (II Corinthians 11:13). • We read nothing in the New Testament of Christ about sessions, assemblies, conventions, synods, convocations, councils and the like. These are all creations of men to enable them to exercise control over the congregations of disciples. • We do read that the apostles appointed elders in every church (Acts 14:23) and that those elders were to oversee the affairs of their congregation (Acts 20:28), but of no other. From Acts 6:3-6 see learn that a congregation is capable of choosing its own leaders. Thus a congregating of Christians, with its own internal leadership, is fully capable of being and doing everything that Christ expects of them. • One of Satans greatest victories came the day he convinced followers of Christ that they must have an umbrella type of governing authority over them. All the Evil One has to do is capture the head of the organization and he automatically has control over all the churches under him. If you would like to see a church that is truly congregational in organization and government, visit a Church of Christ in your community. If you have difficulty locating a group of these Christians, e-mail us and we will assist you.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 09:36:32 +0000