“I Used to Be Church of Christ”
The first thing that comes to mind when someone says, “I used to be church of Christ,” is that they think of the Lord’s church as a denomination—because they’re using the phrase in a denominational sense. Did they always regard the church as a denomination, or did they come to that conclusion when they decided to leave? Who knows? But the first fact to point out is that when Paul spoke of “the churches of Christ” (Rom. 16:16), he certainly was not thinking of a denomination.
Therefore, we will regard the disavowal along these lines: “I am no longer a Christian,” or “I am no longer a part of the church of Christ.” If that is the case, one of a few options must be true. In the first century, some left the church of Christ to go back into Judaism, in which case Paul wrote that they had “fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4).
The writer of Hebrews said that, “if they fall away” after having tasted the good Word of God, they cannot be renewed again to repentance, “since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (Heb. 6:4-6). The same writer also noted how much worse punishment they would be worthy of when they have “trampled the Son of God underfoot,” “counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing,” and “insulted the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29). Presumably, all of these things would also be true if someone returned to any former religion—that cannot save.
The other option would be for someone to return to the world out of which he had departed. Peter speaks of how Christians have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Anyone who left such immoral behaviors found in the world but went back to it, becoming “entangled in them,” well, “the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” In fact, “it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:20-21).
Implications
When someone repents of his sins and is baptized, his sins are washed away, and he is added to the church, the body of Christ (Acts 2:38, 41, 47; Eph. 1:22-23). He is washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Cor. 6:11). If a person, therefore, willingly departs from the church, he leaves behind his salvation. Is there anything greater that one could toss carelessly aside? We know that it happens because Demas loved this present world more than he enjoyed being a Christian and working with the apostle Paul. Judas also had the privilege of being with Jesus daily, hearing Him teach, and watching Him work hundreds of miracles. How could any other alternative be deemed worthwhile? What kind of joy, peace, or contentment can there be apart from Jesus? The world has nothing compared to what exists in Christ.
To begin with, all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places are “in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). To be in Christ is to be in His church (1 Cor. 12:13). And there is but one body (Eph. 4:4)—or one church (Eph. 1:22-23). Therefore, if one leaves the one body, he leaves Christ Who is head over that church. Whether he realizes it or not, the one who has left the church has left all the spiritual blessings that are in Christ, leaving him with none. How desolate!
Giving up the church means giving up Jesus, since He is the Head of the body (Col. 1:18). And He is the only way to the Father: “…no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus also taught, “…for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). Some who leave the Lord’s church may go to a manmade denomination or cult. But as the above Scriptures indicate, to leave the Lord’s church is to leave Christ. Someone might say, “Of course, I did not leave Christ—just the church of Christ.”
But how can the head be separated from the body? When someone arrives for a visit, the usual outlook is that he will leave after a few days. If his head goes, can his body remain behind? If his body goes, can his head remain behind? Of course not. We would not expect such treatment from anyone on earth. So why are some willing to separate the Lord’s head from His body?
Some have erroneously erred in saying something like, “In the church of Christ, I used to know about Jesus, but now I know Jesus.” Really? Whence cometh this newfound “knowledge”? At this point, many enter the touchy-feely realm, and their “knowledge” is subjective and unverifiable. John describes our knowledge as objective in nature. Not only can we know Jesus, but we can know that we know Him. How? Through some subjective experience? No. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3).
But the one who has returned to Judaism or adopted some other religion or gone back into the world has quit keeping the commandments of the Lord. He no longer is worshiping with the saints (Heb. 10:25) or is teaching others the truth about salvation. No one can be saved without a love of the truth (2 Thess. 2:10); truth is only available in Christ (John 8:31-32; 14:6).
In Adam all die; only in Christ can anyone be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). In Christ we are a new creation; all things are become new (2 Cor. 5:17); how profitable would it be to go back to our old self? God is in the light (1 John 1:7). Since the Father and the Son fellowship each other, Jesus is in the light, also (not to mention being the light, John 8:11). Therefore, if we leave Jesus (by leaving His church), we leave the light and return to darkness. Likewise, one who leaves Jesus leaves the doctrine of Christ behind as well (2 John 9-11). In light of all these truths, the absolute worst thing someone can say is, “I used to be a member of the church of Christ.”