[168 words]
If you identify your congregation by a person (pastor or leader) other than Christ, either you’re not in the right church or you’re not the right kind of Christian.
Christ does not brook the exaltation of man. The church belongs to him. No person has the right to be known for the work of Christ.
“Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, ‘I am with Paul,’ or ‘I am with Apollos,’ or ‘I am with Cephas,’ or ‘I am with Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13 NET).
The church that belongs to Christ does not identify itself by the names of men.
The Christian who pleases his Lord sees all men as servants and never the ones by whom the church is identified.
The faithful have but one standard, one person, one authority, one power, one figure, and he is the Lord Jesus Christ.
J. Randal Matheny
via Walking with God
randalmatheny.com