Institutionalism

by Chris Reeves
Truth Magazine August 2024

Christians today who were not raised during the institutional battles among brethren in the 1950s and 1960s would do well to learn the issues that divide us today. Having learned these issues, they can then teach others the truth concerning the work and organization of the local church.

Today's Generation Can Know the Issues

When you pass through your town, you may see more than one church building with "Church of Christ" on the sign, and you may wonder why there are different churches. Maybe you have been told that the brethren across town are "liberal" or "anti" and you don't know what that means. It is good to know why brethren are divided and what the issues are that divide them. It is also good for you to know what and why you believe on these same issues. Most importantly, you should know what is authorized in God's word. Just like Paul did not want brethren to be "ignorant of various issues and principles (Romans 1:13; 11:25; I Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; II Corinthians 1:8; I Thessalonians 4:13), so we today should not be ignorant of the issues that divide us.

The following are some of the major issues that have divided brethren and that still need to be studied today: [Note #1]

1. The all-sufficiency of the local church. The local church should do its own work without building and maintaining human institutions to do the work for it. They may not build benevolent institutions ( orphan homes, etc.), evangelistic institutions (Bible colleges), or edification institutions (secular education schools).
2. Cooperation among local churches. Local churches should cooperate in matters of benevolence and support gospel preaching without working through a "sponsoring church" to do so.
3. The work and mission of the local church. Local churches should limit their work to evangelism, benevolence, and edification and refuse to engage in other work. The local church's work is not social reform, recreation, business, secular education, politics, medicine/hospitals, day care centers, ball teams, etc.
4. Limited benevolence. Local churches should limit their benevolence to needy saints as is the pattern in the New Testament and allow individuals to help needy saints and non-saints.
5. Individual action and local church action. Individual Christians may do some things that local churches may not do.
6. The autonomy and organization of the local church. Elders in a local church should watch over their own flock only and not try to do a "brotherhood work" larger than what they can do themselves.
7. The use of the word "fellowship" in the New Testament. The word "fellowship" ( Gr. koinonia) is used in the New Testament in matters of evangelism, edification, and benevolence. It is not used for eating together in a "fellowship hall." Christians in the first century indeed ate together at home, but not as part of the work of the local church.
8. The use of the church building. Brethren may assemble in a building for worship and do its authorized work, but the church building should not be used for other purposes.
9. There is the universal church and the local church. The church universal is made up of all Christians everywhere and has no organizational structure. The local church is organized with elders leading the congregation, and there is no organization other than the local church. Our institutional brethren attempt to activate two or more local churches and band them together to do a "brotherhood" work, but this they should not do.
10. Bible authority. Local churches should find their authority in the New Testament from commands and direct statements, approved examples, and necessary inferences. They should find their authority in a generic statement which allows expediencies and in specific statements. They should respect the silence of the scriptures and refuse to act when the New Testament is silent.

For anyone looking for resources to help learn and understand these issues, let me suggest the following good books that can be ordered from CEI Bookstore:

• Workbooks
  • Walking by Fauth by Roy E. Cogdill;
  • Passing the Torch by Mike Willis;
  • Following God's Pattern: A Study of the Institutional Issues by Roger Hillis; and,
  • Institutionalism by Jeff Archer.
• Sermons and Lectures
  • Congregational Cooperation of the Churches of Christ: A Discussion of Centralization and Sponsoring Church Arrangement by Herbert E. Winkler;
  • Restudying the Issues of the 50's and 60's: A Historical Perspective by Bill Hall;
  • The Simple Pattern: A Straight-Forward Explanation of Institutionalism & Related Issues edited by Jim Deason;
  • Pursuing the Pattern edited by Jim Deason;
  • The Arlington Meeting edited by Cecil Willis, and
  • The 1990 Dallas Meeting edited by Wayne Seaton.
• Debates
  • The Porter-Dunn Debate on congregational benevolence;
  • The Porter-Woods Debate on church support of orphan homes;
  • The Cogdill-Woods Debate on congregational cooperation; and,
  • The Willis-Inman Debate on church support of institutions and the sponsoring church arrangement.

Today's Generation Can Teach Their Brethren

Christians today can reach out to their friends in various churches of Christ and study these issues. Yes, we are to "hold fast the pattern of sound word" (II Timothy 1:13). But we are also to commit these sound words to faithful men who will be "able to teach others also" (II Timothy 2:2). We don't keep the pattern of sound words to ourselves. We teach the pattern of sound words to others so they can learn them also. Many brethren who attend institutional churches of Christ, especially the younger ones, do not know the issues. They may have heard that they are supposed to stay away from the "anti" brethren across town but they don't know why. These brethren need to be taught and it's not that difficult to do. Back around the year 2015, a preacher from an institutional congregation in the city where we lived came to one of our gospel meetings. After the service, I asked him if he would like to get together and study the issues that divided us. He agreed and we studied once a week for about six weeks. Our studies were cordial and even though neither one of us was changed, it was still good for me to try to convince him of the truth. He kept saying that he wished his congregation (who at that time was going "liberal" according to him) would "return to the way things were decades ago." I encouraged him to go back farther and return to the way things were before the divisions and even go all the way back to the pattern of the New Testament church.

Today's Generation Can Return to the Bible Pattern

Faithful brethren today who hold to the New Testament pattern for the local church's work and organization are studying these issues with others here and abroad. Some Christians who are practicing unscriptural things are willing to study and some are not. Many brethren here in America who are still supporting institutional practices are not willing to study these things. They are "tired" of the issues and they don't want to discuss them anymore. However, there are brethren in other countries who are willing to examine these issues. They are eager to learn and they soak up the truth like a sponge. As men continue to go and carry out the great commission here and abroad, it is good for them to continue teaching on these issues where needed.

Sound brethren have been traveling to Ghana in Africa and teaching about these issues in the past few years. Wayne Seaton has been doing this for years and Steve Walker and myself have gone the last two years. Wayne and Steve went in July and August of this year. In addition to regular preaching and personal evangelism, these men have been addressing institutionalism. In particular, our brethren in Ghana have never been taught about the unscriptural arrangements of institutionalism, the sponsoring church, and general benevolence. There are preaching schools in Ghana that are not a part of any local church. There are Church of Christ hospitals and orphanages and local churches will often give money from the Lord's treasury to non-saints. However, some of our Ghanian preaching brethren who are humble and open to the truth have changed and have come to the truth on these matters and other issues. The congregations where they labor have also changed as well. Let us continue to pray that "the word of the Lord may run and be glorified" in that country and in other countries (II Thessalonians 3:1). And, when we study with our erring brethren, let us pray that "God may give them a repentance unto a knowledge of the truth" (II Timothy 2:25). [Note#2]

Conclusion

Brethren, institutionalism is not a "dead issue" as some would say. It is very much alive and it needs to be addressed with God's word. It was wrong when it was first introduced and it is still wrong today. Today's generation can know what the issues are, can be willing to study with others about them, and can return to the New Testament pattern when necessary. May the good Lord bless us all to that end.

Notes

[Note# I] A scriptural defense for each of these points will not be given here. See the rest of this special issue for a discussion of the Bible passages related to these points.

[Note #2] Osamagbe Lesley Egharevba is a fine young man who preaches in Lagos, Nigeria. He is addressing these issues in his preaching and teaching. He regularly addresses the errors ofinstitutionalism in an electronic magazine he edits called, "Unmasking Sophistry". You can find his magazine here: unmaskingsophistry.com