The human family has ever been ill-content with the arrangements of the Lord. We seek change and innovation. Change and innovation involving only the things of man is all right, but for man to change the things of the Lord is another matter. If any change must be made with the divine arrangements, let the Lord do it! For man to change the Lord's things is nothing short of perversion and it is an abomination in the Lord's sight. Perverters have tried to change God's marriage arrangement. But when they have attempted such they only perverted the right order; His law still obtains. Marriage and the home offer man all he needs biologically and sociologically. The home is God's arrangement for man and it is all-sufficient to meet his needs.

The church of Christ likewise is all-sufficient for man's spiritual needs. We have no need of building different churches and certainly no business trying to change the Lord's church. Yet, such men are constantly engaged in doing that. The Lord gave His church three works to perform: (1) evangelism, (2) edification, (3) benevolence. We maintain churches can do this work; we believe Ephesians 4:11-16 both authorizes and obligates each congregation to stay busy in these efforts. Many congregations contend the church is all-sufficient to do its evangelistic work but not its benevolent work. As a result of this concept, they do their own preaching but subsidize a human board somewhere to do their benevolent work. We ask: If the church can do its benevolent work through the board of directors, why not do its evangelistic work through a board of directors? If it is scriptural for a church of Christ to send so much money each month to a board, such as Potter Orphan Home and School so that board can do the benevolent work of the church, why is it not scriptural for that same church to send so much money each month to the United Christian Missionary Society so that society can do the evangelistic work of that church? When the liberals show what is wrong with the church subsidizing the Missionary Society, they will have also shown what is wrong with the church doing its benevolent work through a board. Frankly, they will have shown that both have no scriptural authorization. Yet, these same ones speak of doing Bible things in Bible ways. Their efforts have destroyed churches and caused heartache that time cannot change. Let us be consistent: let the church do its work and keep it free from the human boards.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 5, p. 93
January 31, 1980