Date: 9/23/2009
Author: Devin
Title: Time to move on
I want you to please understand that this is not a rash decision. I don't feel like I am rushing into anything, as this issue has been running around in my mind for quite some time. Truth be known, this is something that I have pondered regularly for the last few years. I have especially been thinking about it a lot lately as a result of much prayer, Bible study and various life circumstances. As with any major decision, I have tried to objectively examine this from every angle and determine what the long-range effects might be on myself and as well as on others around me. So, after much deliberation with myself and God ..... for better or for worse ..... I have finally made the decision. As of today, Tuesday, September 22, I no longer want to be a “Church of Christ” preacher. Does this mean that I am resigning as pulpit minister of the Church of Christ at Fairfield? Absolutely, positively not. I hope to be here for many years to come. Does it mean that I don't want to be associated with God's people and worship with them on a regular basis any more? Certainly not. The happiest moments of my life are spent around Christians. Please allow me to explain in the following way.
I understand that my statement may come as a shock to some and a relief to others. Some might question the fact as to whether I was truly a preacher to begin with anyway ..... a thought that has even crossed my mind a time or two ..... or thousand. I want you to understand that I speak of-and- for myself only. There are certainly many talented and loving ministers within the Churches of Christ who do a remarkable job at spreading the Good News. I, though, must take this opportunity to repent of my own ignorance and error in times past. I beg forgiveness for the times that I have stood in judgment of someone while at the same time having a two-by-four sticking out of my own eye. I apologize for all the times that I preached certain issues as being Biblical doctrine and matters of salvation when in actuality I was foolishly trying to defend the commandments and traditions of men. I humbly request pardon for all the times that my attitude was haughty, arrogant, rude, mean-spirited, and down right hateful. I'm sorry for any occasion where I assisted someone in feeling beat down, unlovable and unforgivable. I fall on my knees in repentance both to God and my brothers and sisters in Christ and hope and pray that trust can soon be restored in me once again.
Please take time to read what the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia, especially Galatians 1:6-10. I think Paul was thinking about me when he penned that passage, for I believe I have been guilty of “perverting the gospel of Christ” (vs 7). I have taken part in trying to uphold the traditional aspects of my beliefs while all the while shunning the true message of what the gospel actually is ..... the birth, life, death, burial and resurrection of God's perfect Son. I have spent far too much time embracing “foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law” (Titus 3:9), while my time could have been much better spent on the “greatest commandment in the Law ..... Loving God with all my heart, soul, and mind and loving my neighbor as myself” (Matthew 22:36-40). But alas, all that is in the past, and God willing, I will be given time to change only that which I can ..... the future.
It is my Biblical, heartfelt belief that God desires for me to be no other kind of preacher than a “Gospel preacher” ..... no more and no less. Fact of the matter is, I think he desires that for us all as we “go into the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). I believe it is God's desire that we plainly preach the doctrine of Christ rather than “Church of Christ” doctrine. Can the two of those things be different as night and day? You bet 'cha. But could they also be synonymous with one another? Absolutely. God has left it up to us to decide which way it will be.
Go the extra mile - Devin