Ecclesiology & Worship As Church of Christ Border Patrol

The Churches of Christ are highly concerned with ecclesiology (institutional church organization) and the actions of worship. We use these two measures to gauge each other's doctrinal soundness, but why do we use these two measures rather than others?

Most Church of Christ members have probably never considered the above question. If asked, they might respond that the two measures listed above are emphasized in the Bible. However, while the Old Testament extensively discusses the organization and worship of ancient Israel the New Testament contains few direct instructions on these topics for the church. The church's organization is discussed in several New Testament passages, but a congregational structure is never explicitly stated (the first century church was under apostles rather than local elders). The largest and most relevant passage covering worship is found in 1 Corinthians 11-14, but the great majority of that passage is Paul critiquing the use of spiritual gifts that we no longer recognize as part of worship.

I think the reason we focus on ecclesiology and worship is because the Churches of Christ are specifically non-creedal. Our congregations aren’t united by any written expression of faith, and we use organization and worship as a highly visible unwritten proxy creed to easily identify one another. We also don’t recognize ourselves as a denomination or claim any center of authority, and therefore there's no formal directory or institution that can officially police our borders and say "this is a Church of Christ, but that is not."

From a sociological perspective, the intense focus on organization and worship is a simple visible way for Church of Christ members to distinguish between the in-group and out-group (denominationalists). Members of all groups require a quick way to identify the “other” so as to avoid danger. The CoC's answer to that requirement is constantly emphasizing our ecclesiology and worship practices.

Christians should be deeply concerned about ecclesiology and the worship assembly, but we should recognize that our intense focus on those two issues is a selective rather than objective emphasis. Let’s not become incapable of seeing our psychological profile because we’re blinded by party spirit. If we allow ourselves be to be blinded we'll lose the ability to communicate our message with those around us.