Is Your Church the Only True Church [1]

Is your church the only true church? Does your church boast of its distinctive doctrine, heritage and spiritual devotion? Do you think the teachers of your church tradition are more right than the teachers of other church traditions? These attitudes persist within Christian fellowships with varying intensity; and hinder Christians from earnestly seeking unity and truth. The truth is this. On the night before Jesus was crucified, during the Last Passover Supper; he prayer for unity for all his disciples and believers (John 17). When you embrace Christian unity you embrace the heart of Christ for all his people.

[1] Pilgrimage to Christian Unity is Copyright © by D. Bryan Buttram, November 2006, with substantial revision in June 2007. Please see the full essay: Essay on Christian Unity. The footnotes of my paper contain important reference information. I exhort you to be noble-minded and search the scriptures. See Acts 17:11.

Buttram, Bryan.

Christian Unity Excerpt

On the night before Jesus was crucified, during the Last Passover Supper; he prayer for unity for all his disciples and believers. When you embrace Christian unity you embrace the heart of Christ for all his people. The practice of spiritual maturity according to the divine pattern of Christ in the New Testament is also the solution to practicing Christian unity; not a system of select commands, examples, inferences and preferred interpretations that we can never completely agree upon. The day of unity will never arrive so long as the unspiritual mind prevails, choking the Christian brotherhood with sectarian arguments and prideful judgments against any who reasonably disagree. However, the spiritual mind of Christ overcomes the fleshly nature that breeds unspiritual interest in controversies over the Biblical pattern. What then can Christians do to help all who sincerely call upon the name of the Lord to realize more of the unity that Jesus himself prayed for? First, Christians must seek the spiritual mind of Christ. Christ’s mind would enable mature and proper judgments — not infallible — regarding all matters of spiritual things expressed in spiritual words. Whatever differences existed between various groups, the mind of Christ would help them to approach one another with the common goal of unity in Christ. Second, Christians must build upon the one foundation of Jesus Christ with care to edify and not to destroy. Christ’s mind is marked by spiritual maturity. Those with Christ’s mind are also builders of spiritual maturity and unity, the precious metals. But the reality is that others, who are fleshly in mind and divisive in their pride, build with weaker and less precious materials. God will judge the quality of each one’s work at judgment; but the work, for better or worse, remains a part of the living and growing temple, the church. God did give a perfect plan and a perfect pattern, but perfection is not the edifice built by Christians in this age. Spiritually minded Christians build model churches, but none build perfect churches. As I applaud Christians for avoiding sectarian judgments; I commend churches for guarding against false doctrines. We should restore the basic facts and principles of the apostolic church, and instill diligence in practice of the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ. I do believe that in spite of our disagreements that most believers are sincere and good in heart, and do love the Lord and His church. The church in every age has a great responsibility to exercise the caution of pure doctrine as it promotes the spread of the gospel, its spiritual blessings and freedoms. But our responsibility never elevates us to judge that we are the only Christians; for this sectarian attitude frustrates the call of our Lord to be one just as he prayed. In Jesus’ prayer, the very standard and ideal of unity for his disciples is the personal and perfect relationship that he had with his Father. Therefore, this prayer expresses the church’s pilgrimage; and we must persevere in this quest with a stewardship arising from a bond of peace and spiritual maturity. Who are we? We are the body of Christ, but we do not have exclusive rights to the name of Christ. We bear a common name, Christian, which honors our Lord and promotes the unity for which he prayed. We are Christians, but we are not the only Christians. We do not wear this name in the spirit of sectarian ownership, for the name Christian is an honor to wear and we are thankful that we belong to Christ. As Christians we seek God’s eternal thought and plan for His creation. We seek to imitate Christ, to grow in Christ’s mind and to transform into Christ’s image, the image of God. Christ is God’s eternal thought for us. What a great pattern and destiny we have! [NOTE: “Christian Unity” is comprised of selections from my essay, “Pilgrimage to Christian Unity,” copyright © by D. Bryan Buttram, November 2006, with substantial revision in June 2007. Please find the complete essay here: Essay on Christian Unity. I exhort you to be noble-minded and search the scriptures. See Acts 17:11. Some of the Biblical basis for the thoughts in these excerpts may be read in John 17, 1 Corinthians 1-3, and Ephesians 4.

Buttram, Bryan. “Christian Unity Excerpt.” WordPress.com: 2007/06/20.

Real or Phony

Think about the gleanings from the Apostle Paul’s own approach to his ministry in the following chapters from his letters to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1-4, 9, and 2 Corinthians 2-3, 10-13.

Christians fancy that they show they believe in God through their talk and worship; but that is phony if Christians fail to show they believe in the existence of God through their walk and work. God is real, God is personal and God calls us to himself. We should respond to his message and show we really believe in God’s existence through the obedience of faith and prayer.

The primary way to practice the obedience of faith and prayer is to live in the Spirit and to rely on the Spirit rather than to live in the flesh and rely on the flesh. Take your needs to God alone, and trust God alone to provide. Pray and trust God alone to choose the people who will be hospitable, open up their hearts, supply needs, be served by you, and work together with you. Pray and trust God alone to determine if your field is large or small and if the harvest is ten times or one hundred times. Pray and trust God alone to lead you and to unfold his plans for your life and work.

Christ commanded us to go, but we should go in the meekness, compassion and patience of Jesus. Pray and trust the Spirit of Christ to open hearts and minds, and trust the Spirit to lead. Avoid so-called spiritual leadership and outreach that uses manipulative and abusive methods. Pray and trust God to bring the workers of his choice and do not plead and pressure.

In the Spirit of Christ we should respect the sincerity of a questioning person, and provide honest answers. Be prepared to provide an answer to those who inquire of the hope within you (1 Peter 3:15). Answers to the hope must not be religious talk, because that is cheap. People need real answers to real questions arising from hope and spoken from conviction and experience. Christian conviction and experience should be based on a verifiable message and testimony. The Christian message and a Christian’s testimony are verifiable by history, experience and consistency with all factual truth.

In conclusion, Christians who go forth with the verifiable message of the Bible and with a personal testimony by which they verify by their walk and work they trust in God and his Christ (Messiah), are real and not phony.

Buttram, Bryan. “Real or Phony.” WordPress.com: 2007/06/20.