Churches should be composed of groups of people (Christians) whose beliefs reflect the principles established by God in His Word.  However, man is seldom satisfied with the simplicity of scripture, and often take upon themselves the role of creating additional verbiage through the creation of church creeds, manifestos, and other uninspired writings.

These wordy documents are often designed to conform the congregation to a particular belief-system only subscribed to by a few at the top, but pushed on the whole congregation so that all God’s children will lockstep to the preferences of the few.

Many Churches of Christ that once opposed creeds have creatively coined new expressions for the word “creed” that means exactly the same thing, but is more acceptable to many in the church, and doesn’t ruffle-up quite as many feathers.   These churches have hopped on the same bandwagon as their religious neighbors, and are splashing their manifestos (creeds) on the walls of their foyers and web sites.

While it may be easier to herd the sheep into one smooth-operating congregation by establishing a church creed, it can also be the harbinger of personal traditions that over time become etched in stone, and even supplant God’s Word.

If it’s wrong for a church to promote a human creed that differs with the scriptures, and if it’s useless to have a creed that repeats exactly what the scriptures teach…then what is the purpose of a church creed?  Perhaps you know, I don’t have a clue!