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What Does the Bible Say About..Dead Churches?

Hi, I was raised in a Church Of Christ and only knew that doctrine. I got out of church for a while and now am married with a daughter. I am now returning to my Church of Christ that I was raised in. My wife and her family claim the church of Christ to be a "Dead Church". They are Pentecostal. We have all got into debates on different matters but it leads to arguments. I want my daughter to go to church with me and be raised in the Church of Christ. But of course my wife and her family would never go for that. What should I do? Should I keep trying to show them what I believe and why I believe it?

Answer

Yours is a difficult situation. Since I am not a counselor I cannot advise you on what you should do. However, I can say that you should keep trying, in a loving way, to show what you believe and why. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15)

I have known some congregations of the churches of Christ that were dead congregations. That wasn’t because they did not speak in tongues or wave their hands; it is because the members had lost the love they had for the Lord. I have also seen some very alive congregations, which were active in winning souls, in helping others, and in worshipping God. They also rejected some of the practices of the Pentecostals as being unscriptural (see Topical Index of Questions (M-R) and look up Pentecostal for my previous answers about that). Nevertheless, they praised God with their hearts and built each other up. I have also heard of some Pentecostal congregations that went through the motions of practicing what passes today for speaking in tongues and prophecy, but were deader than many congregations in various denominations. Dead or alive in a congregation, scripturally, has nothing to do with how they worship, but how they love God and one another. “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” (Revelation 3:1-2) God told the congregation in Sardis that they were dead because of their works, not their worship.