IS THE INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH A DENOMINATION?

Victor M. Eskew

 

          David Lipscomb was born on January 21, 1831.  His family was originally Baptists.  However, his family became involved in The Restoration Movement after reading Alexander Campbells’s Christian Baptist.  One of the strict adherents to Restoration ideology was Tolbert Fanning.  He played an important role in the education of Lipscomb.  He baptized Lipscomb in 1845.  He, then, taught him at Franklin College from 1846 to 1849.

          In 1866, David Lipscomb became the editor of The Gospel Advocate.  He would remain as the editor for 45 years.  From 1866 until 1906, discussions and debates were conducted among congregations of the Restoration Movement.  They discussed questions such as:  1) How does the Bible authorize?  2) Are instruments of music authorized to be used in the New Testament.  3) Can missionary societies be used to spread the gospel of Christ?  4) Should the churches accept the teachings of higher criticism and liberal theology?

          The Census Bureau was responsible for publishing a list of all the churches found within the United States.  Its director in 1906 was S.N.D. North.  Mr. North recognized the struggles happening within the churches of Christ.  Therefore, he wrote to David Lipscomb and asked him if the Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches should be listed apart from the churches of Christ.  Brother Lipscomb responded that Churches of Christ were indeed a distinct people, separate in “name, work, and rule of faith” from the Disciples of Christ.  With this information, Mr. North listed the Disciples of Christ/Christian church separate from the churches of Christ.  This became the official year of division between the two groups.

          In time, the Christian Churches grew more liberal in their approach to Scripture and fellowship.  However, there was a group who remained somewhat conservative within the Disciples of Christ.  They accepted instrumental music and believed missionary societies were acceptable, but they did not accept the theological liberalism that entered into the Christian Churches.  In 1971, this more conservative element became known at the Independent Christian Church.

          The question before us in this article is:  “Is the Independent Christian Church A Denomination?”  Let’s begin with a very simple concept.  It is possible for a person or a group of persons to depart from the true church.  Paul warned Timothy that such a departure was going to happen in the first century.  “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy; and having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2).  This has happened to Christians in the past.  It continues to happen to Christians now.  If these individuals are willing to repent, and confess their sins to God, they can be forgiven.  They can be brought back into the family of God just as the prodigal was received back by his father (Luke 15:22-24).  Keep in mind that these individuals left the true church of which they were a part in the past.  This is a key concept to understand.

          When the division first occurred within the churches of Christ in the last 1800s and early 1900s, any who departed and formed “other churches” could have repented and returned to the fold.  They were simply erring brethren.  However, when the division was official, the Disciples of Christ became a denomination.  They rejected the authority of the Scriptures.  They turned to man-made doctrines.  They perverted the worship of God.  They did not take upon themselves a Scriptural name.  They rejected the exclusive nature of the body of Christ and began to fellowship man-made religious groups.  Anyone who left this group to form a new church were not leaving the true church of Christ.  They were departing from a denominational body.  They were part of the Christian Church who could not accept all of the tenets of the departure from Scripture.  These individuals did not return to the church of the New Testament.  Instead, they formed their own religious group known as the Independent Christian Churches.  Their name is not Scriptural.  They continue to use instruments of music in their worship.  They do not truly understand the oneness of the body of Christ.  They are simply a denomination among denominations. 

          Let’s attempt to give a simple illustration.  Let’s assume that five families leave a faithful congregation of the Lord’s people and establish a separate church.  They do so because they have departed from the sound teachings of God’s Word.  Are they a denomination?  Yes.  In time, however, 1 family that originally left the church decides to repent of their sins, confess them, and return.  Is this permissible.  Absolutely.  Another family that was involved in the initial split leaves the new group and forms another church.  Note, they do not return to the true church.  Their reason for leaving is because they cannot accept all of the liberalism the other three families are promoting.  Is this new church, the true church?  No.  It is another denomination.  It practices error just not to the extent of the three families they left.  Anyone who becomes part of this second denomination is not part of the church, nor have they ever been.  Those brought into this erring church would have to obey all of the initial steps of salvation in order to be children in the family of God.

          Paul wrote:  “There is one body” in Ephesians 4:4.  He revealed that the body is the church in Ephesians 1:22-23.  Those who leave the body and form another religious group are no longer part of the body of Christ.  They are a denomination.  Their separation is sinful according the Lord (John 17:20-22) and according to the teachings of the inspired apostle Paul (1 Cor. 1:10).  Anyone who separates from this denominational church to form another man-made organization has formed a denomination as well.  When the Lord returns, He will not acknowledge either of these groups as His.  It was Jesus who said:  “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matt.15:13).