Volume 47   Number 5                                                      January 2005

To many of us, an automobile is simply a means of transportation. But some people are real enthusiasts when it comes to cars. Perhaps there are some readers of this article that can relate to this subject.

I recently attended a parade with school bands and floats, horseback riders and fire engines, and a number of modified automobiles which reportedly belonged to members of a car club. The vehicles showed various degrees of modification, some with such radical alterations that it was rather difficult to discern what the vehicle must have looked like originally. There were changes in suspension, wheels, motors, and body parts. Some were a display of fanciful imagination, others rather ridiculous.

Sobering thoughts crossed my mind as it occurred to me that this is exactly what has transpired regarding the church since it was established and the God-given instructions regarding her form were recorded in the New Testament Scriptures.

The divinely inspired apostles were guided into all truth according to the Lord’s promise (John 16:13), and their teachings were recognized as authoritative in the early church (Matthew 18:18, Acts 2:42). Through their writings and the writings of the other inspired men of the Holy Scriptures, we were given a perfect law of liberty (James 1:25) and all things that pertain to life and godliness (2Peter 1 :3) that we might be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17), and we were repeatedly warned not to pervert, alter, add to, or take from the revealed Word of God (Galatians 1:6-9; Colossians 2:8; 1 Peter 4:11; Jude 3; Revelation 22:18-19), but through the ages men have modified the doctrine and practices of the New Testament until many churches today bear little resemblance to the original.

None of us would dare to claim that we are wiser than God, but the innovations and modifications in religious doctrine and practice would seem to indicate that men think they are capable of improving the plan that God ordained for the church. Perhaps it is no insult to Ford Motor Company or General Motors if enthusiasts modify a car that has been produced on their assembly lines, but it is an affront to the Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ when men deviate from the plan for the church which God ordained and which Christ purchased with His own blood, especially when the Word of God warns us repeatedly not to do so.

There are car enthusiasts who delight in finding a dilapidated antique vehicle and meticulously restoring it in every detail to its original condition. Who is there among us older folks who does not enjoy seeing a Model A Ford that has been restored and hearing the rhythmical sound of its motor unlike any other vehicle, or maybe seeing an old Essex or some other vehicle of long ago that brings back memories of our youth?

There is a beauty and pleasurable experience in restoration, but in religious matters it is more than this; it is absolutely essential. We must recognize the authority of the Word of God and in faith and practice worship and live in accord with the Holy Scriptures. It is not within the jurisdiction of men to meddle with God’s revealed pattern of the church. Our responsibility is to humbly submit and obey! Beware of modifications!