THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, AKRON, IOWA

I (Jesus) do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You , Father, are in me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me (John 17: 20-21).

The lovely and gracious Helen and I have had to deal with the estates of relatives and loved ones.  In sorting through the possessions of those who have passed on, one is confronted with the task of deciding what to keep and what to throw away.  The legal matters are obvious, but the legacy and family history issues are not.  Helen is a good archivist, so she sees value in things I do not. I tell you this so that as I share with you the Last Will and Testament of the Akron Church of Christ, I will be "painting with a broad brush."  It is not my purpose to go into detail.

The history of the First Church of Christ in Akron, Iowa spans some 120 years.  In its history there have been many victories.  Every person that came to know Jesus Christ and surrender to Him is a victory to be savored and remembered!  However, there have been many failures and mistakes too.  It serves no constructive purpose to recount those except to admit them, understanding that the church is a hospital for sinners and bringing healing can be a messy business.  The memory of those failures can be "flushed" because we have a gracious God and Savior (1 John 1:9).

The legacy the Akron Church of Christ can leave the community is this, "what it means to be simply a Christian."  "We do not claim to be the only Christians, but we do claim to be Christians only."  Unity is an extremely important topic these days !  The Church at large is facing challenges like it has not seen since the first century when there was no Christian consensus.  We simply do not have the luxury maintaining our little denominational kingdoms!

Another legacy slogan of the fellowship of Christian Church and Church's of Christ that is a recipe for unity is this, "No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no name but the Divine, no law but love."

1.  Christianity is about Christ, who he is and what he has done.  He is the one in whom we believe, he is the one in whom we trust, he is the one we follow.  Creeds tend to perpetuate division.  It is upon Christ that the Church is to be built! (Matthew 16:15-17).

2.  Our teaching comes from the Bible,  Our people need to be taught the Bible so that they, too, can "accurately handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

3.  We wear no name other than the name of the one we serve.  Human names tend to perpetuate division too.  Throughout history slaves customarily wore the names of their masters.  Not only are we slaves of Christ, we are children in the family of God, we wear his name! (Acts 11:26). We have a new name.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ, not cousins!  Our adversary, the devil, wins when he can keep us confused as to our identity!

4.  We are bound by no law but love. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET, and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10).  Love is to be the motivator of Christian living.  Jesus said if you love me you will keep my commandments.  Without love, meticulous law-keeping gains nothing (I Corinthians 13:1-7).

These principles are the matters the Akron Church of Christ leaves to the Akron Christian community at large.  As churches find the need to unite their efforts in an increasingly secular and pagan culture, may they serve as guiding principles for that effort.

Our Father's Love,
Tom