What It Was All About. Many today have no idea what led to the division between many churches of Christ which began over 50 years ago. This lesson is designed to provide some background and information about what that division was over.

The idea of a pattern. When God gave Moses the pattern of the tabernacle, He said, "See that thou makest all things according to the pattern" (Heb. 8:5 quoting Exodus 25:40).

When David gave Solomon the pattern for the temple, he said it was the pattern God had given him, and Solomon was to follow it (1 Chron. 28:11-19, esp. vss. 11-12 and 19).

“Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch of the temple, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper rooms thereof, and of the inner chambers thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat; and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit . . . .”

“All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah, even all the works of this pattern.”

When God instructs about what to do, all that He says on the subject becomes the pattern we are to follow.

The pattern includes whatever commands He gave. It includes the examples of the people acting under approved, inspired leadership. And it includes whatever necessary conclusions we have to draw from the facts given.

If we reject the need to have a pattern, then we also remove any reason to have the Bible, and we destroy any foundation for an assured relationship with God.

Cooperation refers to churches working for the same goals and on the same projects. Projects in the New Testament that churches worked together on include both the support of preaching and physical help given to poor saints.

When we examine all the information given on these subjects, then we have what the Lord said about them, and this information constitutes a pattern. Then we either follow that pattern, or we make up one of our own, but it we make up one of our own, then we are going to need to remember:

What happened to Miriam when she tired of God's arrangement concerning the leadership of His people (Num. 12). We are going to need to remember what happened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when they sought to change God's arrangement of the priesthood (Num. 16).

And we will need to remember what happened to Uzzah when he participated in a way of carrying the ark of the covenant that God did not authorize (2 Sam. 6; 1 Chron. 13).

How did churches cooperate? Each one sent its own money directly to the need. That need was one which arose in the natural course of the church's activities. In other words it was not created by the undertaking of some work that did not belong in any peculiar way to any local church.

There was no church that collected and distributed money for any need in the New Testament. Ever!! Let's look at two different diagrams that will illustrate the difference in what goes on today among churches and what went on in New Testament days.

Through

To

Consider the difference between a pot and a funnel. When one pours something into a pot, it goes to the pot, not through the pot.

To

When one pours something into a funnel, it goes through the funnel, not to the funnel.

Through

This is the difference. Now let's look at the several kinds of situations in the New Testament where this difference is exhibited.

Occasions of cooperation in the New Testament. Benevolence: this word used in such a lesson as this refers to the help churches gave one another when they were in need. Churches of Judea (Acts 11:27-30): brethren in Antioch determined to send relief to or through the churches in Judea?

“And the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judea” (Acts 11:29). It was to, and therefore fits the diagram of the pot.

Church at Jerusalem (Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 16:1; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:1). The money sent was for the saints in Jerusalem. It was to the saints in Jerusalem. It was not through the saints in Jerusalem, or the church in Jerusalem. Therefore the situation fits that of the pot and not the funnel.

Evangelism: this word refers to the preaching of the gospel. In order for the gospel to be preached, men were sometimes supported with money from the church, men such as the apostle Paul. Let's look at this case.

Paul told Corinth that he took wages from other churches (2 Cor. 11:8). We know that one of the churches that sent to Paul, even before he got to Corinth, was Philippi (Phil. 4:15-16). They sent the money to Paul, not through another church. Therefore the situation in evangelism fit the pot and not the funnel.

What would be wrong with an arrangement like the funnel? First, it would violate the pattern given, as we have seen. It would also violate the independence and the autonomy of the local church.

Each church is to have its own elders (Acts 14:23; Tit. 1:5. The elders of that church are to exercise over-sight of that church and no other (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2).

When this is done, then two things occur. Autonomy - The elders of the local church make their own decisions about the work done and how the money is spent. Independence - Each local church does its work free from any restraint or control of any other church.

For one group of elders to turn over decision-making power to another group of elders is to surrender autonomy. To link churches together in arrangements such as the funnel illustrate is to reproduce the departures in the early church that ultimately resulted in the papacy. It destroys the independence of the local church.

The importance of following the pattern given by God. First it is a matter of obedience. Second it is a matter of trusting God. Did Moses understand why he was to follow the pattern?

Did he understand that God would use the tabernacle to illustrate future developments of the scheme of redemption? Probably not. Moses did not have to understand in order to follow the pattern. He just did it. In retrospect, we can see why God emphasized his following the pattern.

Third it is a matter of honoring God as the all-wise Father who has furnished us completely unto all good works.