Weekly Bulletins
Church Is Church
“Church Is Church”
While waiting at the doctor’s office I was conversing with a woman who was a member of the Lord’s church. She informed me that she and her husband are now members at the “__________ _________ church of Christ.” Perhaps she could see that I was disappointed because she continued by saying: “Oh well, church is church!”
I have heard “church is church” before and have always equated it with “It doesn’t make any difference which church you attend” and “One church is just as good as another.” Is it true that “church is church”?
Christ said while writing to the church in Sardis that it was a “dead” church (Revelation 3:1), but He said to the church in Philadelphia that they had kept His Word and had not denied His name (Revelation 3:8). Is it true that “church is church”? He said to the Laodicean church, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). Can it be accurately said, then, that “church is church”?
What about beyond the local church level? If a church (denomination) is established by man and regulated by the doctrines of man, is it as good as the church built by Christ and governed by His doctrines? “Church is church?”
Unless we are speaking of local congregations (Romans 16:16), Biblically speaking there is just one body or church (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:4). Scripturally, there are no other churches to which in can be compared.
Mike Pittman
