What Happened At Central, July 11
"My ... What a large building, just like the Baptists (and air conditioned too)" . . . . "What a large membership . . .. over 1,000 on the rolls, just like the Baptists" .... "What a wonderful contribution last Sunday, everybody here must tithe .... over $1,900.00 .... just like the Baptists" . . . . "Although this is my first visit to the Church of Christ, I thought they were some little sect like the Jehovah's Witnesses until I came here" .... "The Church of Christ preaches just like the Baptist Church".....
The above exclamations were made by a Baptist friend of mine when we attended the services of the Central Church of Christ, 4100 Montrose in Houston, Texas, Sunday morning, July 11, 1954, while on vacation. Although these words seem strange coming from a person after he had heard a gospel sermon (supposedly), delivered by a gospel preacher (supposedly), they were nevertheless uttered by a very devout Baptist whom I had invited to attend the services of the church of Christ with me on Lord's day morning on the above date.
That gospel messages should be different from sectarian theological and philosophical discussions is a well known fact to all students of the Bible calling themselves simply "Christians." Yet, a man who claims to be a gospel preacher, a man who is highly educated, a man who got his education from such schools as David Lipscomb College, Harding College, Vanderbilt School of Religion, Union Theological Seminary, and Columbia University, a man who has a publication in print entitled "SERMONETTES," a man of great intellect, preached that day. Brother Homer Putnam Reeves preached his first Sunday's sermon at Central in such a style and in such an apologetic manner that a member of the Baptist Church reasoned within himself that the teaching and doctrine of the Lord's church is identical with sectarianism.
The sermon was entitled "CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP," and on more occasions than one I visualized myself listening once again to the very same sermon, preached in the very same way, by the pastor of the Manchester Baptist Church in Houston, where I served as general superintendent of the Sunday School in 1940-41, until I heard and obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Brother Reeves, in my opinion, never preached a better Baptist sermon, point by point, asking for more money included. When he got to the invitation, I got deathly sick at my stomach, I was never so ashamed of a gospel preacher in all my life. Besides the sermon itself being so apologetic and soft, the invitation was still worse. Brother Reeves' own words were: "SHOULD THERE BE ONE OR MORE HERE THIS MORNING THAT ARE UNCHURCHED ... WE WOULD EXTEND THE INVITATION TO YOU TO IDENTIFY YOURSELVES HERE." One little boy came forward, made the good confession, and was baptized by Brother Reeves who went into the water with a black coat or robe on. He evidently was unchurched, and his parents had advised that he become "churched."
No doubt some of my readers will misunderstand this article and will cry out "persecution" of the Central Church and Brother Reeves. Brethren, I was steeped in sectarianism for so long myself, that after I once became free through the gospel of Jesus Christ, I pledged myself to the defense of it for the rest of my life, thus my reason for my attitude concerning the above.
As I write, I am reminded of the apostle Paul's words found in Romans 8:9 where he said: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And I believe John 12:48, I believe that the words of Jesus Christ himself will judge me on that great day, thus my necessity for having the Spirit of Christ within me. What is the Spirit of Christ? Brother N. B. Hardeman, in one of his sermons brings the thought out that to have the Spirit of Christ is two-fold. I must realize that my mind, my attitude, and my disposition toward others must be like the Master's with regard to all relationships and all problems with which I might become faced, because this same apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus our Lord."
I also understand the attitude Christ had toward his personal enemies, those who mistreated him, slandered him, and told untrue things about him, and those who disagreed with him, because Peter gave the answer in 1 Peter 2:23 where he said: "When he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself unto him who judgeth righteously." I can understand this kind of an attitude in Brother Reeves toward his fellow man, because it is truly Christ like, and represents our Lord as the Lamb of God. And we can read in Acts 8:32-33 these words: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter: and like a lamb dumb before his shearers, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth."
Probably one thing Brother Reeves has never learned is, that there are TWO sides to the Son of God. Probably he thinks of Jesus only as having the characteristics of a lamb. But those that are acquainted with the Bible know that from the very first time that God commanded men until the New Testament was finished, Jehovah expressed His will by saying "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not." Thus we can see that to have the Spirit of Christ is both positive and negative isn't it?
The Spirit of Christ with regard to doctrine is aggressive, and if we individually would think of ourselves as possessing the Spirit of Christ, we must display aggressiveness and a spirit of combat when we preach the gospel, must we not? Our failure to do this is possibly more responsible for the sad condition and the lack of harmony in the church of our Lord than anything else today. It is the cause of "soft preaching" in congregations that call themselves the Lord's church. It is the cause of the pastor system on the part of the preacher. The church of Christ has to be different .... the church of Christ IS different, else .... it is not the church of Christ. Those that know anything about church history know that when we go back to the Restoration movement, we see for ourselves the great battles that were fought in every city throughout the country.
Just imagine the Stones, the Campbells, the Johnsons and the Smiths trying to restore the Lord's church in this great land of ours with a weak attitude such as was manifested by Brother Reeves at the Central Church in Houston July 11, 1954. You remember that the denominations soon learned to become afraid of the church of Christ because she preached the full gospel as it was revealed in the New Testament. The very same gospel that could put error to flight if we were not afraid of hurting someone's feelings, and if some of us preaching brethren were not afraid of losing our good jobs because we ran someone off from the services.
But after hearing Brother Reeves, a good Baptist gentleman can not tell the difference between the two organizations. For shame. For shame. But then some one is ready to write me and say that this kind of an attack is not the Spirit of Christ.... Isn't it? Doesn't Revelation 5:5 say that He is a lion of the tribe of Judah? John the revelator said that Christ is a lion, and what is a lion? He is the king of all beasts isn't he? Yes, the Spirit of Christ is two-fold isn't it? With reference to his personal defense, he is as a lamb. But whenever the doctrine that he proclaimed was attacked, whenever it was opposed, and when men acted as hypocrites and when they violated the principles of righteousness in their lives, Jesus Christ never once offered one bit of compromise. He wouldn't yield an inch, and He stood up like a lion against every enemy. Yes, Jesus truly is the Lamb of God, while at the same time the lion of the tribe of Judah, isn't He?
A study of the 6th chapter of Acts shows us that Stephen, a man of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, preached against the error of his day, yet we all must admit that he had the Spirit of Christ.
Then the example given us in the 13th chapter of Acts of the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas and their experiences with Bar-Jesus and Sergius Paulus, and how Elymas withstood them. And how Paul condemned the sorcerer as being an enemy of righteousness, yet, we all know that Paul very definitely had the Spirit of Christ, didn't he?
Then we might consider the example of the Lord himself in Matthew 21 and how he dealt with the money changers, the Scribes and Pharisees, the leading denomination of His day. We definitely know that the Spirit of Christ was manifested here, because Christ himself was doing the rebuking wasn't He?
By the same token brethren, I have a firm conviction based on the teaching of Almighty God, that to condemn, rebuke, preach hard in love, and to uproot error is either the Spirit of Christ, else Stephen, the apostle Paul, and our Lord himself didn't know what they were doing when they themselves did it. And I believe that our failure to demonstrate the Spirit of Christ is more responsible for the weak and compromising attitude as was manifested by Brother Reeves at the Central Church in Houston, than any other one thing.
I want to appeal to Brother Reeves and to any and all preachers of the gospel. I believe brethren that we have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and that we should ALL earnestly contend for it. Because this is the Spirit of Christ, and this is the spirit that should prevail in the church in Nashville, in Dallas, in Houston, in Los Angeles, and in the church everywhere. So as God's children, as penitent baptized believers, as Christians, as men that have been bought by the precious blood of the lamb, as members of the only church that Jesus ever established, we must of necessity stand against error, both without and within the church.
Yes . . . . this is the Spirit of Christ, and we cannot yield an inch. There is no compromise in the church of the Lord, and if we do compromise, we are NOT the church of Christ. I repeat.... the sign over the building may say "CHURCH OF CHRIST," but we are NOT the church of Christ if His Spirit does not abide there.
Yes.... "The church of Christ (Central) preaches just like the Baptist Church" my Baptist friend said.
This is what happened at Central July 11, 1954.