Articles
The Founder Matters
The church that became known as the Baptist church was founded in 1606 by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, in Amsterdam. Smyth and Helwys had fled England because they refused to be a part of the Church of England, and knew they would face persecution and possible imprisonment if they had remained.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [the Mormons] was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith. Jr., and this after purportedly seeing an angel and finding golden plates containing the text of what is now called The Book of Mormon. He was given a special ability to translate the plates into that text, according to Smith.
The Methodist church came into being through the teachings and practices of John and Charles Wesley in England in the early 1700s. John Wesley did not set out to create a new church but merely organized small groups within the Anglican church called the United Societies. It would not be until 1744 that Methodism was recognized as a separate group, but Wesley was undoubtedly instrumental in its founding.
The group now known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses had its beginning in the 1870’s due to the efforts of Charles Taze Russell. Russell had come under the influence of an ‘Adventist’ [preaching with much emphasis on Christ’s second coming] at the age of 18 and, because of this influence, separated himself from previous religious affiliations and started his own Bible study group, of which he was made ‘pastor’ at the age of 24. After Russell’s death in 1916, J. F. ‘Judge’ Rutherford took over and continued the sole control of the organization as much as possible. It was under Rutherford’s control that the organization came to be officially known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931, taking their name from Isaiah 43:10.
We could go on and on with listing the various founders of modern religious organizations that claim to be ‘Christian,’ but there is a common factor in all that would logically preclude them from making such a claim: None of them were founded by Jesus Christ!
Once, after Jesus had been with His disciples for some times, and they had heard His teaching and seen the miraculous works He had worked, He asked them, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matt. 16:13); the disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matt. 16:14, after which Jesus asked, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15) It was at this that Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), and Jesus then said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:17, 18).
The Greek word translated as “build” in this translation is oivkodome,w [oikodomeo], which literally translated would be ‘house-builder,’ but according to Thayer’s, can be used in the metaphorical sense of found, or establish. Jesus is saying here that He will establish His church on the foundation of the truth Peter confessed — that Jesus was the Christ and Son of God. But note well here that it was Jesus who would found it, and no other man.
The founder matters because it is Christ’s church and He is its head. The Scriptures teach plainly that God “raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:20-23). The Scriptures also plainly teach, “He [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). Any claim by man to be the head of a church should make it obvious that it is not the Lord’s church, for those who would claim to be followers and disciples of Jesus Christ would readily acknowledge they are Christians, rather than Wesleyans, Mormons, Baptists, or any other denominational designation that reveals one’s true allegiance.
As the founder of His church and made its head by none other than God — not by a vote of men and not because of some dubious claim of a ‘vision’ granting Him that position, as is the case in some denominational churches — Jesus alone has the authority to rule as King, Lord, and Head. Jesus Himself said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), and nowhere do we find Jesus transferring that authority to any man. When we find men claiming to be head of a church, voted to be head of a church, or demanding unquestioned obedience, this, too, makes it clear this is not the Lord’s church.
As the founder and head of His church, Jesus has also been given power and authority to judge all in the final Judgment. The apostle Paul would tell those in Athens that God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31), and we know that one He raised from the dead was Jesus. Paul would also tell those in Rome that God “will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (Rom. 2:16). Paul would also tell those in Rome, “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10), and those in Corinth, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Jesus Himself once said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48) — not judgment based on the creed books of men, or by the opinions of man.
Since Jesus — and no man — is going to be our judge in the end, any demand of a man or religious organization that all men must adhere to his or its teachings, or be obedient to him or that organization, reveals to all that this man or organization is not of God, and is certainly not the Lord’s church.
Some religious leaders are so bold as to say they will be the one who determines entrance into heaven, though. Brigham Young, the head of the Mormon church after Smith was killed, wrote, “...no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith... every man woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith... as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are...” [Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 289.] Audacious is not strong enough of a word to describe such a claim!
Please do not be deceived by the claims of false prophets (1 John 4:1) and false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1-3); if a church was not founded by Christ, it is not the one Jesus Christ founded and for which he died. Being a part of any church but the one He founded is not going to be pleasing to God, will not bring salvation, and will not be truly following Jesus.
The church belonging to Christ was founded by Him, is in submission to Him, follows Him, and will be welcomed into eternity by Him. No others. — Steven Harper
