It has been claimed that, "The church of Christ practices and maintains the pattern of which was laid out in the book of Acts...".
I urge those who make this claim to reread the book of Acts.
Do we meet daily?
Do we praise God in a place (ie the Jewish Temple) wherein instrumental music is used in praise to God by those with whom we have serious doctrinal differences?
Do we live a communistic lifestyle, wherein none of us consider our possessions as our own, but rather as belonging to the community?
Do we have conferences where delegates from different churches meet to decide doctrinal practices for all churches everywhere?
Do we have thousands of believers who zealously keep the law of Moses?
Do we have church leaders who make Nazirite vows, ending them with the prescribed purification rituals and animal sacrifices?
If you'll reread the book of Acts with these questions in your head, I believe you will find that you need to cease claiming that we maintain the pattern laid out in the book of Acts.
In fact, if you'll zoom out and look at the broad overall pattern, you'll see it's a pattern of change, of adapting, not of a static snapshot of a perfect model of a perfect church.
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