2004-02 To Each His Own
http://www.gospelpreceptor.com/BaxterB2.htm "To Each His Own"
How we do like to have our own way! We certainly do hold ourselves in high esteem. Instead of praying as the Saviour did, "Not my will, but thine, be done," it is hard for us to keep from having this spirit: "Not thy will, but mine, be done." Somehow there is too much selfishness and egotism in the hearts of all of us.
Men are perfectly willing for the Lord to provide for salvation. They even emphasize the fact that He bought the church with His blood. They like to think of His glorious promises. Many religious leaders like to "strut in borrowed finery." They revel in the glory which the character and religion of Jesus Christ have reflected upon His disciples, and yet they are not willing to be His disciples. They are willing neither to learn nor to follow. They must run anything religious with which they are connected, and so they get them up a church to suit them. Those of us who cannot fellowship their getup are called "narrow and unchristian."
A semblance of unity is being provided by religious leaders after this method: "Every one of us will recognize everybody else as a child of God, provided he does not question anything we do or teach as religion." Some of these men are getting so "broad" that they even take in Buddhism and Mohammedanism. It is hard to see how anybody can call such a mess "unity in Christ."
Turning The Lord Out
Why try to do a thing in a way that is absolutely contrary to the spirit of that thing? Why try to accomplish unity by the road of division? Why attempt to honor Christ by stripping Him of His authority? Why call Him "Lord" and do not the things which He says? We have read of puppet kings and puppet emperors in history. Somebody wants to rule, but so strong is a certain sentiment that he cannot do it; so he puts up a figurehead ruler and manages the government through him.
Christ prayed for His followers to be one, but He did not pray for that to be accomplished by deposing Him as the head of our spiritual government. And yet, that is the way men are trying to bring about modern religious unity. The slogan is, "You in your way, and me in mine." This leaves out God’s way altogether. It turns Christ out into the cold. It does not recognize Him as our Prophet, Priest, or King. These folks talk about the church as if it were some sort of plastic thing like clay, the broken pieces of which they could bring together and mold after their own fashion. It all resolves itself down to this: Who is the ruler in the kingdom of Christ? Whose church is it?
It Is Christ’s Church
Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church..." (Matthew 16:18). It is Christ’s church. It belongs to Him. He made the laws by which men can become members of it. He made the rules by which it shall be governed. We have no right to change any of these laws or rules. Jesus made them the way He wanted them to be.
If we had built a church, then we could make any kind of laws we wished, and we could change these laws as often as our fancy suited. We could do any way we wanted with our church. As it was ours, no one could object to the way we would manage it. But our church would not be worth anything in saving men from sin. The Scripture says that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may give an account of his deeds done in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10). We must obey the commands of Christ (Matthew 7:24-27).
If we had a church of our own, how much liberty we would have! If anybody did not do to suit us, we would let him start himself a church and run it to suit himself. Then if his rules and way of doing did not suit some of his members, they could start themselves a church and fix a plan that suited themselves. They could all just agree to disagree and everybody have a religion and a church to suit him. But the trouble about such an arrangement would be that God has not promised to have anything to do with it except to root it up. "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." (Matthew 15:13).
The only safe way is to belong to the church that Jesus built, abide by the laws He has given, and trust Him for the promises. Paul said, "I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12ASV). That way is right and cannot be wrong. That way shows respect for the Lord, who died to provide the church for us. We are baptized into that church by being baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27).