The following is an Editorial. As such, the writer feels free to express his opinion. The writer also prays that, following the example of another writer, his opinion is in accord with the only opinion that truly matters – Jesus Christ's.

I AM FURIOUS!

A few weeks ago, I received a letter concerning a planning meeting for our congregation. The letter contained an agenda, and explained that the meeting's purpose was to get new ideas for more effective evangelism since our congregation is about to finish the construction of a new building. Almost everyone in the congregation is excited about the new facilities, and this planning meeting intended to focus this excitement into new programs and increased participation and support of all our efforts. This is a good thing! We need to get every Christian working in evangelism. . . that is the only way to real growth. So, you see, it isn't the meeting that has me boiling. . . it is the letter itself! The letter was sent to me from one of the "leaders" in our congregation, and was signed as follows:

[name suppressed]
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD.

"WHO of the WHAT?" I must be loosing my eyesight. . . this letter should be signed "Elder" or "Overseer" or "Shepherd" or even "Pastor" or "Bishop." But "CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD??" Who does this man thing he IS?!

Even now, I must take deep breaths and count slowly to ten. One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... Ten. Ahhh. There – my blood pressure is back down to around 300, and I'm much better. Seriously, however, when I read that last line I almost lost my self control. My wife was nowhere near as upset as I was, though. She said, "What do you expect? He doesn't think there is anything wrong with that. He thinks that a Church Board is scriptural." And she was, and is, right. And that started me to thinking.

Let's start at the beginning: the title "Chairman of the Board" indicates the person who is the leader, the chief, the "head guy," of a group of decision makers called a Board. Since I am not the type to make comments about the kind of decisions you can expect from a stack of lumber, I will waste no time and examine the concept of this group called a Board. In the "Business World," a Board is also called a Board of Directors. Directors are the decision makers who plan the actions of others to achieve their desired results. They decide on the direction they intend to go in, the goal, and they give out the directions needed to reach the goal. And this "Board of Directors" oversees a "Corporation," which is made up of the people who do the work with these directions to achieve the Corporate Goal. Now I'm beginning to make since of the letter. . . the letters C.O.C. don't stand for "Church Of Christ" as I thought, they stand for "Church, OUR CORPORATION!"

This leads me to my next thought: The main goal of a Corporation is to make MONEY. The emphasis is always on money. More is supposed to come IN than goes OUT. I must admit, I've seen this "corporate view" of the Church many times in the past. It is easy to spot when you know what to look for. I am reminded of one "corporation"... or is it "congregation?"... that didn't want to "cash-in" their Certificates of Deposit to give some much-needed funds for evangelism and the training of soul-winners in Burma because there would be a loss of interest income. Why, there was practically no possibility of a return-on-investment. . . those funds would be gone! But this same "corporation" was quick to liquidate those same CD's when it came time to purchase new carpeting and to replace the padding on the pews. Why, that was a Capitol Expenditure for Facilities Enhancement. . . a tangible investment! I am also reminded of another "corporation" that decided to IGNORE their own "by-laws" just so they could accept a new person onto the "Board" as another "director" simply because of his "revenue potential." It isn't important that he meets ALL of the requirements for a "director" since he brings a large income of money to the "corporation." How many "corporations" do YOU know of that have bankrupted themselves with the high debt-service incurred by their elaborate meeting facilities? My, how "corporate" America loves their buildings! There is something funny about this, because I think about how easy it is for a building to be mis-labeled. . . you read the name over the door, but when you go in you can't find what you expected. Like the ‘Sears Tower' in Chicago: There's no store inside! No appliances, no clothing, no shoes, no electronics, no tools, nothing available for the consumer to purchase. The same can be said of many congregations: the name on the building may be ‘Church of Christ,' but the faith-only garbage taught inside shows that Jesus isn't to be found within!

This brings to mind another thought: A Corporation achieves its goal of making money by offering PRODUCTS or SERVICES to the public. If we combine the view of the Church as a "corporation" with the method a "corporation" uses to reach its goal, then we must honestly ask ourselves "What PRODUCT or SERVICE is the Church to offer?" Isn't it OBVIOUS? Our PRODUCT is ETERNAL LIFE... SALVATION... FREEDOM FROM SIN! Our SERVICE is TRAINING and INSTRUCTION on how to OBTAIN and MAINTAIN the PRODUCT! What directions have we been given? We've been told to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you!" A "corporation" exists to make money, and that money is called PROFIT, and that is a positive return to the INVESTOR. So, who is the primary INVESTOR in the Church? Who is the MAJOR STOCK-HOLDER in the Church? Who PAID THE PRICE so that the Church could exist? You know WHO!

In the "Business World," a Corporation's Board of Directors is formed to carry out the wishes of the Stock-Holders. The one individual who owns the majority of the Stock is the Chairman of the Board. Now we've come full circle, and let's put this all in Biblical perspective. Jesus Christ paid for the Church — that makes Him the primary, major and single investor in the Church. That makes Him the Chairman of the "Board" of the Church. That means that the "Board" should be formed to carry out His wishes, should be structured to carry out His wishes, should be composed of those who qualify according to His wishes, should be named according to His wishes, and should be functioning to carry out His wishes. Since the LEADER of a group is the CHIEF, and since Jesus is named in scripture as THE CHIEF SHEPHERD / ELDER / PASTOR [1 Peter 5:4], and since we want to use Bible Names for Bible Things, then we must scrap the term "Church Board" and restore the Biblical group known only as ELDERS.

We look at the weak, ineffective, apathetic Church and ask "Why?" I think we should ask what my wife asked: "What do you expect?" What do you expect to happen when we have people in the office of Elder who aren't qualified? What do you expect to happen when we let denominational doctrine into our Sunday School classes? What do you expect to happen when we act like the Church is a democracy, with voting rights for all, instead of the Theocracy where His Word is Law!? What do you expect to happen when we set up a class of "professionals" that are paid to do all the "serving" while everybody else acts like a spectator? What do you expect? It is NO WONDER that the Church is failing! It makes me furious! It is our own fault! And if we don't act. . . what do we expect will happen then? Besides, it isn't important what we expect but what God expects! He expects His Word to be followed, not fouled up. He expects His Church to belong to Him, and to ACT LIKE IT. We MUST rid ourselves of any and all idiotic, unscriptural, man-made concepts in the Church if we are to EVER be what God wants us to be: The Church of Christ.

If you want to be something else, you go right ahead. I can't stop you. But don't expect me to follow after you. Don't expect me to be happy for you, or support you. And don't expect me to go against His Will.

"As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord."