By What Authority part 2

In an article produced in the Abilene Reporter News, by the title, Instrumental Music Coming to Highland church of Christ, Loretta Fulton described the behavior and attitude of so many in our world that have chosen to follow the practice and ideas of the world rather than standing firmly on the B.I.B.L.E. The main issue under discussion is the use of the instrument of music in worship. However, I want to discuss a few other items during our study because the author promotes the ideas that are prevalent in society that the church of Christ is just another denomination. 

In the first paragraph of the article, the author described the entrance of a band into worship by saying, “Longtime members of the Church of Christ (not church belonging to Christ but “Church of Christ” using it as a denominational name) may be stunned a year from now when they walk into the primary worship space of one of their flagship churches (using the Highland congregation as one that is high in the hierarchy among the denomination by her speech when the truth is each congregation is autonomous) and see an unfamiliar sight — a bandstand.”

In the second paragraph she writes, “A cappella music has been a tradition (no ma’am it is the authorized form of worship God has required of His people) and hallmark of the denomination (this time she doesn’t hint but comes right out with it) from its beginnings in the Restoration Movement of the early 19th century (I am not a member of a movement but was baptized into Christ and added by Him to the church established on His promises, purchased with His blood, and which began on the Day of Pentecost after His death, burial and resurrection as recorded in Acts 2).

Later in the article she writes about ACU saying that it is affiliated with the churches of Christ. I will talk more about the things mentioned in regard to ACU in further articles but let me just say that colleges, schools, and educational facilities for general studies are extensions of the home, not an extension of the church. Additionally, the church is not to get it’s marching orders from a school but instead is to follow the instruction of God found in the Bible. It doesn’t matter what any school would want or what some board declares is acceptable. It only matters what God has authorized. In the discussion about ACU and its students supporting the move by Highland, we are told that instrumental music is included in the Thursday chapel sessions that students attend. The school’s position shouldn’t matter to an eldership or a congregation. The Bible is our source of how we worship God.

Additionally, since they consider us to be a denomination, they use the fact that congregations in larger cities use instrumental music so then it must be authorized for all congregations. The author brings up a congregation in DFW called The Hills (formerly Richland Hill church of Christ) as an example. The group at The Hills went through a similar process as the Highland congregation. Jonathan Storment (the preacher at Highland) used to be the preacher at The Hills. He stated that some opposed the decision but “now they like what they see.” The authority is not the opinions of men.

Amazingly, they even bring in denominations and sinful satellite churches as examples of authority in using the instrument. Many of the ACU students attend Grace Fellowship (a satellite church which is a “ministry of Highland”), Beltway Park Baptist Church, United Methodist and other denominations so they can have worship the way they want it.

What we do in worship is not determined by denomination, tradition, other congregations, a movement, a university, student opinion, preacher opinion, or denominational practice. Our worship is only to follow the authority of God (John 4:24).