A NEWSLETTER FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE GREENWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

VOLUME 1 NO. 46                                          January 2, 2005

“DENYING SELF”

PART XIV
BY STEVE NIEMEIER

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24).  This statement also applies to us today.  The question that we must answer is this, “Am I willing to deny myself and take up my cross and follow after Jesus?”  Last week we looked at the thought of us denying self as it pertains to my interpretation of God's promise.  This week let us look at “denying self” as it pertains to “trying something new” in teaching the gospel or raising money for the “work” in a local area.

A brochure came across my desk a while back from the Wall Street church of Christ in Carbondale, Illinois.  At first it looked like an advertisement for a gospel meeting dealing with a “Mission of Love” but closer investigation found something different.  It seems that Wall Street has taken on a “Mission of Love” in their area and is selling “Church of Christ” tee shirts to raise money in order to do this “Mission of Love”.  In fact, the letter with the brochure states that “God is doing a new thing in our midst” and they are really excited about this “new thing.”  The “Mission of Love” they are endeavoring to do seems to be to build a large enough facility that the community will notice “God is doing a new thing” in the community.

Hebrews 13:8-9 states' “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines”  Acts 15:8 relates; “Known to God from eternity are all His works.”  We find that His ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30), made known (Psalm 103:7), not like man's (Isaiah 55:8-9), everlasting (Hab. 3:6), just and true (Rev. 15:3).  Jesus stated in Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Have we missed something?  Are the scriptures that we have not completed?  Was Christ's death on the cross, His burial and His resurrection not enough?  Have we missed the command to sell tee shirts for His cause? Wall Street church of Christ and others must have found a teaching of Christ pertaining to tee shirts and building large facilities so the community can notice “God doing a new thing” that many of us have overlooked in our study of God's word.

Wall Street is not the only group that is trying to “help” God do new things.  Many individuals and congregations are also “pitching in” to assist God as He seems to need help.  Unfortunately, many of us as well as our children will be caught up in these “whirlwinds of personal spiritual gratification” because they seem to be “new and exciting.”  Brethren, whatever happened to teaching the gospel, the plain gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection?  Let all of us “deny ourselves” when it comes to ideas of “God doing a new thing” and get back to teaching the basics of the gospel of Christ.  These “strange and various doctrines are not new” but are a result of unsound teaching.  We are paying the price for not teaching the basic first principles of the doctrine of Christ starting with His authority and going forth from there to the “meat” of the Word.  Oh, the results of not “denying ourselves” in our teaching is bringing forth the fruit of our labor in “strange and various” doctrines and ideas infiltrating the church of our Lord and Savior and it is sad.