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Is Franklin Drive church of Christ a Denomination?
Is Franklin Drive church of Christ a Denomination?
A denomination is defined as “a religious group, usually including many local churches”[1]. Each year, new groups open their doors while others close theirs. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations and organizations in existence today[2].
Without a doubt, included in that number is the church of Christ. While it may be true that some religious groups who refer to themselves as the church of Christ are in fact a denomination, is that true of the Franklin Drive family?
First, the scriptural church of Christ is not a denomination of human origin. There are many groups who claim to follow Jesus yet their beginnings are of the wrong time and the wrong place. It must be pointed out that Christ never said He would build a denomination, but rather would build His church. In Matt. 16.18, Jesus declared, “...I will build my church...” and sometime later He did just that in the city of Jerusalem, ca AD 30 (cf. Luke 24.46-47; Acts 2.5, 41, 47). In fact, this creates a problem for those groups established after the Lord built His church. Consequently, any religious group which has its beginnings in another city, at another time, and with another founder other than Jesus, is not and cannot be the church that Christ built.
This eliminates the Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Nazarenes, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, United Church of Christ, etc. from the church that Christ built because these all started after the right time, in the wrong city, and with a human founder. Furthermore, these groups not only branched off the Catholic denomination starting around the early 1500s, they are not even found within Scripture! Reader, please note that the preceding comments are a matter of history and fact. Are we willing to bet our salvation on a church we cannot even read about in God’s word? Simply put, the church that Jesus built is not of human origin.
Next, for the church to exist Jesus had to shed His blood. Yet not one drop of Jesus’ blood was used to purchase a denomination! Paul taught the Ephesian elders, “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 [Christ, who was God] which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20.28). Thus, Christ shed His blood from His physical body for His spiritual body! This is evident in that God did not make Jesus head over a denomination, but rather His own body, which is the church (Eph. 1.22-23). Subsequently, the Scriptures teach there is only one body, that is, church (cf. Eph. 4.4) and that He is not the Savior of any denomination, but of His body only (Eph. 5.23).
Further, for us to be a member of the Lord’s body, we must be added to His church. As we come to Christ in trusting faith, obeying Him in water baptism for the forgiveness of our sins, Christ automatically adds us to the church He built some 2,000 years ago (Acts. 2.38, 41, 47; 1 Cor. 12.13). Interestingly, when the gospel began to spread people were not walking around asking, “Which denomination are you a member of?” nor did anyone ever hear the words, “I’m a Methodist”, or “I’m a Lutheran”, etc. Simply put, our Lord never added anyone to a denomination and, as a matter of fact, there were no denominations to be added to.
The Scriptures imply that once added to the Lord’s church by our obedience, we must join ourselves to a local church (cf. Acts 9.26-28). It would do us well to remember that when Jesus said, “...I will build my church...”, He was not talking about a building but a people (all the saved of all time). Likewise, the local church is not a building, but rather a localized group of saved people that have been called out of darkness (cf. Col. 1.13). We see many local “churches of Christ” all throughout God’s word (cf. Rom. 16.16; 1 Cor. 1.2, etc.). For example, when the church began in Jerusalem (Acts 2), it was both the church in its universal and in its local sense, for only in Jerusalem were there any saved souls. Once the spread of the gospel went forth into other cities and towns, where the gospel had not been, local churches of Christ were planted and began to grow (cf. Rom. 16.16). Many specific examples can be seen in the book of Acts. When Paul arrived in Philippi (Acts 16) there was no local church. However, as he taught and households responded to the gospel, then the church of Christ began in Philippi. They were “of Christ” because they were baptized into His name and they belonged to Him (1 Cor. 1.13; 6.20, etc.). Ten to twelve years later, Paul wrote a letter to the local church in Philippi (Phil. 1.1).
We find that wherever Christians take the gospel, there the Lord’s body is established. Since Christians are to teach the commandments of Christ (Matt. 28.18-20) and since the church belongs to Him, we are content to give the church the designation it deserves: the body of Christ.
Essentially, the Christians that meet in Texarkana, AR did exactly what Paul did in the first century. They studied God’s word, stood for the truth, and evangelized the lost in this community. Thus, the church of Christ had its beginnings in Texarkana, AR at the local courthouse and eventually on Franklin Drive where the building is located. The Franklin Drive church is not a denomination, for Jesus is our purchaser, builder, head, and Savior. We submit only to Him and only do that which is authorized by Scripture (Col. 3.17). We are content with being just Christians as individuals and as a church, the church of Christ. BG
[1] Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
[2] http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/p/christiantoday.htm
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