“Hello, My Name Is...”

Sunday, June 01, 2014

In an earlier post, you stated that the church of Christ (if following all of the biblical teachings) is the "one true church".  Would that also be true if the church name were to be a different "biblical" name (such as church of God)?

Sincerely,
Teachable Student

Dear Teachable Student,

The name a congregation puts on its door must be a biblical name, but it doesn’t have to be ‘church of Christ’ – it can be any of the names for the church found in the New Testament.  Our congregation here in Monroe goes by the name ‘Monroe Valley church of Christ’ because ‘church of Christ’ is a biblical name for a congregation (Rom 16:16).  There are other congregations like ours scattered across the country and the world.  Most of them use the name ‘church of Christ’.  There are many reasons for this.  One reason is that it makes it easier for brethren across the country to find congregations if they are traveling, moving, etc.  Another practical reason is that many of the other biblical names (such as ‘church of God’ – Gal 1:13) are already used by churches that aren’t following God’s Word, and it gets confusing for people when we use a name that our society has associated with a particular denomination.  It isn’t required that a congregation use the name ‘church of Christ’; what is required is that we always follow the Bible pattern for everything we do, and that includes the name we use.

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