Here are some modern examples of unnecessary restrictions and infringements on believers.
1. Who says a congregation cannot select and ordain its own elders/pastors/bishops to oversee and feed the local congregation? (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5).
2. Who says a local congregation cannot do its work without connection to a superstructure organization (headquarters, diocese, or board)? (Philippians 1:1).
3. Who says congregational singing is to become secondary to solos, choirs, instruments, and professional musicians? Why can the whole church not participate in worshipping God? (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).
4. Who says that a preacher has to be “called” and graduate from a seminary to preach God’s Word to a church? Is he necessarily better than one who studies diligently himself? (Acts 8:4).
5. Who says the unsaved become saved by prayer? (John 9:31).
6. Who says the priesthood of believers cannot partake of the Lord’s supper except monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually? Why deny members the weekly communion of the early church? (Acts 20:7).
7. Who says modern-day departures from the biblical pattern of the home have improved morality in our nation? (Matthew 19:3–9).
8. Who says we should subject sheep to doctrines of human origin? Why not give them sound doctrine that pleases God and helps them grow? (2 John 1:9; Acts 2:42). Why lead members to worship in vain by corrupting God’s pattern? (Matthew 15:9).
9. Who says we should divide members by teaching conflicting doctrines that differ from the New Testament? (1 Corinthians 1:10; John 17:20–21).
10. Who says not everybody can be saved and go to heaven? Who says one is required to have a miraculous religious experience to be saved? (John 14:1–2).
Why require more than the Scriptures? Let us all unite in simply obeying God’s Word. —adapted from Steven Higginbotham, Knoxville, Tennessee
“They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders.”
Matthew 23:4
