The founder of a church is the person at the root of its beginning. He is the originator of the laws practiced within the body of believers. He has the most powerful influence on the rest of the followers. The founder pays the purchase price of the church. He is honored by the members for his sacrifice and work. No one changes the founder's laws or receives his honor and glory. His word is the final authority for all that is done. The ideas and principles of the founder and head determine what is accepted and upheld by the rest of the church. When the founder dies, the identifying marks of his leadership stay with his followers as long as the group continues together.
The group's reputation in the community is built on the doctrine practiced by its members. These identifying marks are true in every church existing today. The roots of your church can be traced back to the one who founded it and the date it began to teach its doctrine in the community.
Who is the founder of your church? Who receives credit for its teaching? Is it a person, other than Christ? Is it a group of people, known for their brand of teaching? Such as: Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Catholic, etc. To be scriptural, the founder must not be someone other than Christ. The teaching must be what He taught through the apostles.
Most denominations have a central headquarters. It acts as a control center for all the other churches of its kind and functions as the head of that church. The headquarters determine the laws the church will follow. There is usually a president who has the final authority to make all decisions.
Preachers are hired, fired and transferred through the headquarters. The spiritual oversight of each church is controlled by people in the headquarters who do not know them personally. Contributions from the individual members are used to pay their salary. The headquarters has a manual or creed book. It is used to instill unity among the believers. But few of the individual members of these churches ever see the manual or have a copy of it. The church of Christ was not governed by a headquarters.
If you are a member of a denomination, look at what the Bible teaches on this matter. Jesus is the only founder and head of the true church, Colossians 1:18. He purchased only one church with His blood. It belongs to Him, Ephesians 5:23-27. His church is not a denomination of the truth. The word denomination means to be divided into parts.
Christ's church must teach the whole truth, not part of it. It cannot be divided into many parts or teach different doctrines and still remain the one true church. The church of Christ in the first century was located in many different cities, but the teaching was always the same in each church. Denominational churches teach doctrines that are not alike.
Christ's church can have many locations but not many different teachings . All the honor of establishing the church belongs to Christ. His church began in the first century, 33 A.D., shortly after His death. The teaching must be the same today as it was then.
Christ's church is the kingdom that He delivered (saved) from Satan's power, Colossians 1:13. He rules over His kingdom from a throne in heaven at the right hand of God, not from a central headquarters located on earth, Hebrews 1:3-8; Heb. 8:1-2. God's Word is the only source of truth in the church of Christ; the only creed; the final authority in matters of doctrine. Humans can be wrong, but the Bible never is.
Copyright 1989 by Carmen D Hilliard. Used by permission