Church of God "Identity"

My Comment on Church of God “Identity”
written by Lloyd Moritz for CHOG Blog

Brother Lloyd,

I enjoyed your “Identity” commentary on the “identity problem” in the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana). I think you’re getting really close to the issue. The real problem, as I see it, is that we aren’t supposed to have an identity except to be the people of God. Our identity as the church of God is to be the people of God along with every other believer in the world, regardless of what name they have over the door of their church, and to work together with all other believers to make every person on earth a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we try to have an identity other than that, we cease to be the true church of God.

D. S. Warner’s view of the church may not have been perfect, but he “saw the church” as the body of Christ, whose main purpose is to be the body of Christ by being his witnesses and making disciples in every culture, in every era—disciples that will continue to do the same as long as the world stands. We sometimes do other things, but everything we do, publishing, education, etc., should tie in with that central purpose.

Our identity is tied to the Lord Jesus Christ and his purpose. If we have an identity other than that we have lost our true identity.
Monday, May 31, 2010 7:42:00 PM

Additionally, here are some thoughts I have written in the past about the Church of God. . .

“Tell Me about the Church of God
By Rick Blumenberg

The Biblical word for church is Eklesia (Ek-lay-see’-uh). What it really means is a gathering of God’s people. So any time you find a gathering of people who love God and are doing their best to serve them you find the church of God. It doesn’t matter what name they use, or even if they have a name. All that matters is in whose name they gather.

So when we call ourselves the Church of God we don’t mean God belongs to us, we mean it is our earnest desire that we belong to God. We do not see ourselves as being God’s exclusive people, but as a people who want to belong exclusively to God. We don’t see other churches as being our competitors, but as brothers and sisters in the family of God who just happen to worship God in another place, and, maybe with a different name.

We are a church that believes God’s Word, the Bible, is the foundation of truth for all we do, teach and live. It is the first source of wisdom and the final authority in all of life. It is a book we love because it teaches us to know, love and serve God— Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with all our hearts.

We believe God wants everyone to come to know him as Savior and Lord of their lives and our reason for existence is threefold— to lead people to a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, his Son and our Savior; to help them grow into fully devoted and Spirit-filled disciples of Christ; and to worship God with all of our being.

We believe a person is born into the church when they repent of sin and accept Christ as Savior by faith. We also believe every Christian should find a local church home in which they can grow in their understanding of God and serve him faithfully, in the church, in their homes and in the community.

We consider every believer to be a minister of the Gospel with spiritual gifts given by God to help us be fruitful in ministry and joyfully productive in God’s service.”

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .and that's My View from Tanner Creek.