When you read this article, you may wonder why it is that we are critical of the teaching of other religious groups that have different teaching than ours. Perhaps you feel we are unkind or somehow arrogant in the way we treat the belief of others. The reason we are the way we are is not out of dislike or envy, but it is because we have a responsibility to Jesus and to the souls of people who might be saved by hearing the truth as it comes from the Bible.

The role of the church of Jesus Christ on earth, among other things, is taught in 1 Tim 3:15. Here it describes the church as “the pillar and ground of the truth”. It is not difficult to discern the relationship and the responsibility of the church to the truth when we examine this passage. Pillars are support structures which hold up the overhead portions of buildings, thus the church supports or holds up the truth in situations where there are those who would tear it down or cause the truth to falter. In like manner just as the earth itself is the basic support body of all that we do, so also the church is not only the pillar but also the ground of the truth.

Whenever and wherever there is false information about the Bible being presented to the public, the church has a responsibility to defend the truth. It is a grave Christian responsibility.

The strange thing is that the denominations of churches which preach false doctrine make little or no attempt, as far as I am aware, to defend what they teach.

Is it that they know that they are wrong in what they teach or is it simply that they do not feel that they are the pillar and ground of the truth that the Bible indicates in 1 Tim 3:15? But then you can not defend very well that which is false. The Bible talks about this in 2 Pet 3:16 where it says that the unstable and the unlearned will twist (wrest) the things written in the scriptures to their own destruction. Virtually all defenses of false doctrine use this tactic of twisting the scriptures so they seem to say things that the Bible does not teach. This is why we are to prove all things and hold fast that which is good, 1 Thess 5:21. Ultimately we are all responsible for what we believe to be true. We have the Bible which is the source of all spiritual truth, so why are any of us still ignorant? In this day and age, ignorance is a willful act. The truth has been available for 2000 years.

As always the Church Of Christ in Clintwood stands behind any and all of its teaching as coming from what the Bible teaches. We will defend what we speak or write publicly or privately. It is our prayer that anything you find questionable in our teaching will be compared to what the Bible says and if you find we are in error please bring it to our attention for we are earnestly seeking the truth which is able to direct us toward heaven.

Send comments or questions to the Clintwood Church of Christ, POB 746, Clintwood, Va. 24228 or email me at bryan.renita@gmail.com Check out our web page at clintwoodchurchofchrist.com