Articles
JESUS ONLY OR US ONLY?
One church had a sign in front of its building that read: JESUS ONLY. A windstorm blew
away the first three letters and left US ONLY. Without Jesus, the church becomes: “us only.”
The church needs to keep focused on Jesus.
In Colossians 1:18, we learn that Jesus is the head of the body and is supreme over the
church. If a church ignores the leadership of Christ, what will it be the church of? Without Jesus,
the church is just another group of people. To be God’s people we must follow the example and
teachings of Jesus.
Vance Havner observed, “We are hearing today about those who like Christ but do not like
the church. But Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. How can we like the head, but
not the body, the Groom but not the Bride?” The church is important because of its relationship
with Jesus. The term “church of Christ” means that we are a people who belong to Christ. Jesus
saves. The church is the saved.
Everett Ferguson in his excellent book, “The Church of Christ, A Biblical Ecclesiology for
Today,” made a simple but profound statement, “God gave a person, then a proclamation, and
then a people. This is the historical and theological order.” The person is Jesus. The proclamation
centered on Jesus. The Bible is the written form of that proclamation. The proclaimed word calls
and gathers a people. Those people are the church.
Is the church important? Yes, but only when it follows Jesus as its head. Otherwise we
become “us only.”
Tom Keener, Mart, TX
via Preacher Stuff, Dan Williams, Searcy, AR
