“But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.” Acts 28:22

Raul Moreno

This is the question that the Jews in Rome posed to Paul about the first Christian movement. In response, Paul preached from the Old Testament Scriptures. “Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.” (Acts 28:24) Preaching the truth produces controversy and sometimes even division.

The questioning of Paul by the Jews in Rome echoes the words people have about the new discipling movement that the Spirit initiated in October 2006 in Portland, Oregon. Both detractors and supporters now call this family of churches the “Sold-Out Discipling Movement.” Though earlier I had opposed this movement, I am now an enthusiastic participant of this gallant effort. Here are my views concerning the events that transpired in Santiago, Chile which led me to make this decision.

I led the Santiago International Church of Christ (ICOC) for the past four and-a-half years. During those years, I was financially supported by the sacrifices of the Florida ICOC congregations, for which I am eternally grateful. Though these years were very difficult throughout the ICOC around the world, God blessed the Santiago Church with many baptisms as well as allowing us to plant three more churches in Chile. Indeed, in many people´s eyes, the Santiago ICOC was inspirational during those trying times.

However from 2003 to 2004, the Santiago Church began to lose momentum and decrease numerically.Therefore in January 2005, my wife and I traveled to Portland, Oregon to witness firsthand the fastest growing ICOC congregation, as well as its most controversial. Amazed by the Portland ICOC, we asked Kip and Elena McKean to disciple us and the Santiago Church. Unspoken is that the health of the Santiago Church and church plantings were largely because the Spirit worked through the McKeans’ discipling from January 2005 through November 2006.

However in November 2006 after the new movement had started, I decided not to be a part of it because I thought I could help the ICOC in South America, by working with the Florida ICOC leaders. However after much prayer, Bible study and observation in the eight months that followed, I became convinced that not only a new movement was something good, but that it was necessary. I learned that the original Boston Movement, which became the ICOC in 1994, was initiated in 1979 by the McKeans. The ICOC from 1979 to 2000 had a very different vision and convictions than the ICOC of today. After four years of feeling frustrated by, in my opinion, the ICOC’s return to mainline Church of Christ theology, I became convinced that the ICOC, for the most part, that I was affiliated with was no longer a movement, whose dream was to evangelize the world in our generation. It had simply become a fellowship of autonomous churches.

Santiago, Chile

In August 2007, I met with the leadership of the Santiago Church and three of the four couples (my wife and I included), decided that the Santiago ICOC should become part of the new movement. So this is what we did. As the lead evangelist, I called the entire congregation to follow the Santiago leadership group in supporting this decision. Very sadly, two lead couples from two of the church plantings in Chile came to voice their disapproval about our decision to the Santiago members on the day I announced it. Even more confusing to the Santiago disciples was that three days later, three evangelists came from Florida to oppose our decision.

As in Acts 14: 1-2, most of the disciples in the church were convinced by the these leaders’ report. As a result, only 30 out of 270 members followed the leaders that had been leading them for the past four and-a-half years. Excitingly though, out of the 30 that are still with us, 20 are Bible Talk Leaders!

The three Florida evangelists proceeded to mark me and another ministry leader couple as divisive, thus disfellowshipping us. They also gave advice to those they had swayed to avoid the disciples that had continued to follow our lead. Indeed, there is a new congregation in Santiago, Chile. That church is the one that decided not to follow their leaders. They even named one of their own as their “new” leader. The congregation that I now lead is practicing exactly what I have been teaching during my entire tenure in Santiago. We have embraced the original ICOC teachings. The name of the congregation I still lead is the Santiago International Christian Church. The new church is called the Santiago ICOC only because the fourth and only dissenting couple of the leadership group was the administrator, who as president of the board, carried with him the legal rights and name of the church. Now, a month after this separation, the Santiago International Christian Church is once again thriving and starting to baptize!

The following are some of the reasons why I made this decision:

1. Bible Church vs. New Testament Church
The mainline Churches of Christ and the ICOC of today in general believe that the principles and methodologies that can be applied to the church are found only in the New Testament. They embrace the teachings of the American restoration movement of the 1800’s. Thomas Campbell, one of the early restoration movement leaders, coined the phrase, “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” In other words, if there was not an explicit command or pattern in the New Testament, then any other practice would be viewed “unscriptural.” For example, it became sin in the eyes of the mainline Church of Christ to use musical instruments in the worship service, because it does not occur in the churches in the New Testament, except in heaven in Revelation.

The Bible shares that the mother and grandmother of Timothy were disciples. Therefore in his youth, Timothy came to know the Scriptures. (2 Timothy 4:14-17) Without doubt, the Scriptures referred to in 2 Timothy, is the Old Testament. Paul exhorts Timothy to use them “for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness.” So then, the Old Testament principles are applicable to the church today, but not the Mosaic Law.

The McKeans and those with them built the Boston Movement, the original ICOC, on a radically different approach to Scripture. They believed, “Speak where the Bible is silent, and be silent where the Bible speaks.” Therefore, if the Bible commands something, you are silent and must obey God. However, if the Bible is silent on an issue, then one can implement any principle, structure or practice as long as it does not contradict the Scriptures.

This clash of Biblical interpretation and application ignited the events of 2002-2003. Concepts such as World Sector Leaders, Geographic Sector Leaders, Lead Evangelists, discipling, Bible Talks, central leadership and a “leader of the movement” were abandoned by most ICOC churches and called “unbiblical.” Yet, it is clear to me the principles of discipleship partners exist in relationships such as Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Naomi and Ruth as well as Paul and Timothy. Likewise, I see the principles of Bible Talks (organized small groups) in Jesus and His disciples. I see the principle of a World Sector Leader or a Geographic Sector Leader in Titus over the churches in Crete. (Titus 1:5) I see a central leadership with a single leader throughout the Old Testament in men such as Moses, Joshua, the judges and David. In fact, God raised up each of these leaders to save Israel. (Judges 2:6-19) In the New Testament when Jesus physically walked the earth, He was the leader of God’s movement. Once the movement was established among the Jews, Paul was given the charge by God to evangelize all the Gentiles. (Acts 9:15-16; 1 Timothy 2:3-7; 2 Timothy 4:17) In late 2002, the majority of ICOC churches became autonomous and seemingly each of these congregations drifted in a different direction in regard to these principles. A few have returned to some of these concepts which they abandoned and deemed sinful at a time.

2. Autonomy vs. Brotherhood
In both 1 Corinthians 4:14-21 and Titus 1:5, the principle of authority in discipling is clearly displayed in Paul’s relationship with Timothy and Titus. These Scriptures prove that directional decisions were made outside of a local church, thus promoting unity between the churches and propagating the movement. As Paul said, “This is what I teach everywhere and in every church.” (1 Corinthians 4:17) So in the Scriptures, we see a centralized leadership. Sadly, the norm in the ICOC is autonomy. Why? Because I believe everyone wants their own kingdom. It is noteworthy that autonomous churches have autonomous disciples, because the members, like the leaders, do not want to give an account to anyone. With autonomy, a few churches may grow dynamically, but without overseeing evangelists, there will never be a collective movement of dynamically growing churches, such as the ICOC was from 1979 to 2001.

Some churches say that they are not autonomous because their leaders have influence from outside churches. They seek input and advice from other leaders so they think that they are not autonomous. Yet they are, because all final decisions are made locally even though they seek advice. At the end of the day, there is no central leadership regulating their actions. This is the type of interaction that most leaders in the Florida churches embrace. It is interesting that all of the evangelists in all the Florida ICOC congregations respect the autonomy of other Florida churches, but did not respect “my autonomy” to make decisions in “my church” with “my main leaders.” I was marked for the decisions I made in the church as its leader, because I embraced the early Boston Movement’s view of the Scriptures, and therefore on church government and discipling as well.

3. Evangelizing The World In Our Generation
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus tells His disciples to make disciples of all nations. It is incredible to see in the book of Acts the numeric growth and geographic expansion of the church. In Colossians 1:6 the Bible says, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing.” This is amazing! In the 30 years after the Spirit began the church, the known world was evangelized. If it was done then, it can be done now. Evangelizing the world in a generation was the compelling vision for the Boston Movement. Yet today, many disciples no longer believe this. They say they have to evangelize the world, but not in their generation. This takes away the sense of vision and urgency necessary to accomplish Jesus’ dream.

In conclusion, I have taken this stand because it takes a movement of unified churches of only disciples to evangelize this lost world in a generation. Though I have been marked as divisive and therefore “lost” in their eyes, I want it clear that I do not consider my brothers in the ICOC as lost, nor have I drawn any line of fellowship. My wife and I have laid down our lives for eight years on the mission field, showing that our first allegiance is to God, His kingdom, and His mission. My prayer is that one day we will all come together. But until that time, I will stay true to this vision. For no matter what the circumstances or the opposition, “His truth is marching on.”

Raul Moreno