The Preacher’s Pen
by Mark RobertsEver heard of the Christian Connection Church? At the beginning of the nineteenth century these churches were spread across New England and the Atlantic coast. They grew at an incredible rate, and then disappeared into oblivion. What is their story?
The Christian Connection movement was a kind of “restoration movement,” but at its heart was a burning desire for big numbers. Most nearly anything was done to attract the masses, including leaving off doctrinal distinctives that might have offended anyone. Sermons were focused on what pleases people. The Bible became less and less important, and was heard from or referenced rarely. Eventually Christian Connection churches came to stand for nothing, and its people had no conviction or knowledge of God. One of their own preachers sadly stated “While we had enlarged our borders, we had lost sight of some of the landmarks” (source: David Tarbet, “Church Growth — At What Price?”, The White Rock Bulletin, White Rock church of Christ, 7/27/97, p. 1).
The movement waned and died almost as quickly as it had begun. Could the Christian Connection error be duplicated in our midst today with the instrumental music issue? I visited personally with the preachers of several churches of Christ that are employing instrumental music. Each one of them spoke warmly of the need to attract more people, and that adding instruments had given them a “new outreach.” One spoke of not wanting to divide away from people over a “manmade issue.” Their intentions are good, as were those in the Christian Connection movement. We do want to reach as many as possible with the Gospel. But if we have adulterated our worship, watered down the Gospel, profaned the church and ignored God’s word what exactly are we attracting people to, and have we really done them a favor when they come? The religious landscape of our country is littered with churches who thought the way to success was through compromise and accommodation. Yet success is still found only in remaining true to scripture, and the God who wrote it.