Washington, DC International Christian Church

“This is what the Lord says:  Stand at the cross road and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

On Sunday, September 14, 2008, God worked powerfully as we celebrated the Inaugural Service for the Washington, DC International Christian Church!  Despite a triathlon that closed some of the city streets and a fire alarm that went off during service, we had 134 in attendance and four were added to our number!  Two placed membership - Conset Jefferson and Christian Carroll; one restoration - Herbert Johnson; and a University of DC student, Jeheifa Elliot, was baptized after studying for only six days!  To God Be the Glory!  Since arriving in late July, our 18-member mission team has grown to 24!  It was encouraging to see some of our dearly missed brothers and sisters from the Central NY Church of Christ and Chicago International Christian Church join us, as well as to see our brother Earl Jones, our first baptism in DC, return from his senior year at Cornell University to celebrate with us!  God is blessing the work at my former alma mater, as we also saw Hope Gbarayor, another Cornell senior, state that “Jesus is Lord” and be baptized!  How awesome to see God bless the faith of CNYCOC as they financially supported the mission team to DC, only for our first baptism to be sent back and help another to be baptized!  Most encouraging was to have my Dad, Karl Smellie, join us for service.  Despite the emotional heartache of burying my mother the previous Saturday, he traveled five hours on a bus from Long Island, NY to be with us.  He walked with me all day Saturday and watched as we shared our faith boldly throughout downtown DC.   After service on Sunday he commented in tears, “You’re doing something very special here.  I am very proud of you.”   I wept.

The title of the sermon was “The Truth Is Worth Fighting For,” based on verses 3 and 4 in the letter of Jude.  In a world where people wet their spiritual appetites with smooth talk and flattery as they continue to be more and more deceived (Romans 16:17-18), we as disciples of Christ are called to turn away from godless chatter and false ideas of “knowledge” and guard the truth! (1 Timothy 1:20-21).  As a result we must seek the truth by taking the initiative to follow God and discern what is best (Philippians 1:9-11); we must know the truth so we don’t get confused by hollow and deceptive philosophy based on tradition and the basic principles of this world (Colossians 2:8); so we can guard the truth by refuting false doctrines or false ways of life (1 Timothy 1:3-7)!

A majority of “Christians” claim to believe in the God of the bible, yet still say they are comfortably uncertain about what is true.  Like Pilate in John 18:38, many ask, “What is truth?” People have become apathetic (indifferent, unconcerned) about the whole concept of truth!  The scary thing is that Christians sometimes act as if the demise of certainty is a dramatic new intellectual development, a new sense of “maturity” rather than seeing it for what it actually is – an echo of unbelief.  Some recent departures of biblical truth that I’ve heard of include:

1. “Freedom in Christ!  We don’t have to be totally committed and seek God’s kingdom first.  How else can we cater to the world and spend time with them so they will like us?”
2. “We are mature!  We don’t need to be part of a unified movement.  We know what is best for us!  We don’t need accountability in our lives or in the church leadership anymore, we are grown!  We don’t even expect repentance from ‘mature Christians.’”
3. “Disciples are smart enough to date non-Christians and not be tempted to be impure or immoral!  We don’t have to be above-reproach.  It’s too hindering!”
4. “We don’t have time to evangelize the world in our generation!  We want to build big community churches like the ones on TV so we can focus on ourselves and make our name known!”

What is all this?  Unbelief!  Unbelief in God’s plan!  It’s unbelief cloaked in a religious disguise and seeking legitimacy as if it were just a humbler kind of faith.  But it’s not faith at all.  In fact, if we are not watching our lives and doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:16), we start to make doctrinal issues disputable, and commit the worst kind of infidelity.

John MacArthur, author of the book, “The Truth War,” shared a quote from Martin Luther, who threw down the gauntlet at the feet of every Christian in every generation after him when he said:

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.  When the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

If we don’t watch our life and doctrine closely, we won’t be able to save ourselves or anyone else.  The little things count.  Just ask the person whose bank put the decimal point of their savings account in the wrong place.  Jesus came to proclaim the truth and died to defend it.  And so should we.  Fighting for the truth is not a matter of politics or selfish ambition.  It is a desire to see truth triumph over error, and to see God’s name and way honored and glorified among those who love the truth.  In regards to our future, it is necessary to set the precedent for our children’s children (Deuteronomy 4:40).  What will the kingdom of God be for our children?  How we build or fail to build on a secure foundation will be tested by fire, and the fire will test the quality of our work (1 Corinthians 3:13).  The truth is worth fighting for, throughout DC and beyond!  Pray for us as we proclaim the unadulterated standard of truth from our Nation’s Capital!  And to Him be all the Glory!

Andrew Smellie
Evangelist