Are the churches of Christ the only correct church?

Answer:

The answer depends on the meaning you assign to terms in your question. If you mean you must attend a congregation with the name "Church of Christ" above its door, the answer is "no." The Bible uses numerous descriptive names for the church, such as "churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16), "church of God" (I Corinthians 1:2), "body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12), "kingdom of God" (Acts 8:12), and many others. However, if you mean you have to be a part of the church Christ established to reach heaven, then the answer is "yes." You can't pick your own way of going to heaven. "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

While it is true that most congregations dedicated to following Christ's teachings in the Bible use the name "Church of Christ" to make the congregations easier to identify, not all of them have done so for one reason or another. It is also true that people have opened up their Bibles, realized what it was actually teaching, and started congregations. Those self-starting groups are less common, but they do exist and they might not choose the name "Church of Christ." In other words, it is the teaching held by the congregation that is important. As you noted, just because a congregation uses the name "Church of Christ," that doesn't mean it is following the doctrine of Christ. For the same reason, just because a group chooses a different name from the Scriptures, it doesn't mean they are not following the doctrine of Christ.

"Correctness" is based on how well a group's teaching matches the one true teaching in the Bible, not upon the name chosen or the association of congregations. When people focus on the name, they stop looking at the source of truth. Thus, I direct people to look at what the Bible teaches.

People try to treat congregations with the name "Church of Christ" as if they are part of a denomination, as the person in the cited question wanted to do. They imagine that some central body dictates what the various churches teach. They can't fathom that churches have common teachings simply because the members follow a single source (the Bible). The one true church is the one founded by Jesus (Matthew 16:18). It is composed of people who follow Christ. It is not composed of congregations. Now, one of the commands of Christ is that Christians in a locale band together as a church to worship and do the work of the Lord, but it is not the congregation that makes a person a part of the church. Being a Christian puts a person in Christ's one church, and faithful Christians are a part of a local church composed of like-minded individuals.