Why I Left The Methodist Church

By Robert Jackson

I became a member of the Methodist church at Charlotte, Tennessee at the age of twelve. This was result of being  brought up in a Methodist family. I was taught that one should believe in Christ and then join the church of his  choice, and his choice as a rule would be the one of his parents. June 5th, 1940, I obeyed the gospel  of Christ, thus leaving the Methodist church. Since that time I have often been asked, "Why did you leave  the Methodist church?" I will try to answer this question as briefly as possible in this article.

I DID NOT LEAVE BECAUSE:

First, I will state some of the reasons why I did not leave the Methodist church:

A. I was not made to live. There was no pressure from within the Methodist church for me .

B. I did not leave because of the people in the Methodist church. There were some of the finest  moral living people in the Methodist church that you would ever want to meet.

C. I did not leave the Methodist church because it was not a popular church. The majority of  people were Methodists in my home town.

After my discharge from the Navy in 1946, I had again made my home in Charlotte, Tennessee. In 1947, Grover  Stevens moved to Charlotte. I was attending many of the services of the church of Christ where he was preaching  and became very angry at some of the remarks made by brother Stevens. During this same time, brother Leonard Tyler  conducted several meetings in this area which I attended and at which I was made angry. I became so mad at some  of their remarks that I began to study my Bible to try to justify myself as a Methodist and at the same time to  find error in their teaching, which I would have been happy to expose. Finally, I saw that I was fighting a losing  battle and I either had to obey the gospel or stay with the Methodist church. I must say that it was a very difficult  battle, knowing that I would be leaving that which I had been taught from childhood up, knowing that my personal  friends would turn their backs on me, and knowing the heartache that it would cause my mother to see her only child  leave the family religion. I made up my mind to put God first and obey His will.

ERROR EXPOSED...TRUTH TAUGHT

The results of my leaving the Methodist church was due to the fact that error was exposed and truth was taught  in a plain manner of speech and yet with love. I am deeply grateful to such preachers.

A. NAME. The first impression that was made on my mind was that the Methodist church was wrong  in name. Such a name could not be found in the Bible. I was called a Methodist, but yet no one in the Bible was  ever called such. I was taught that they were called Christians (I Pet. 4:16;Acts 11:26). I immediately saw that  I could not scripturally justify the use of the name Methodist.

B. WESLEY, THE FOUNDER, NOT CHRIST. It was made clear that John Wesley was the founder of the  Methodist church and not Jesus Christ. If I wanted to be a member of the church that Jesus built, then I could  not be a Methodist. Such preaching stirred up my spirit to the extent that I became dissatisfied with being a member  of a church that John Wesley built.

C. FAITH ONLY -- SALVATION. I had always believed that one was saved by faith only. This is  exactly what the Methodist church teaches about salvation. However, when I was told to read James 2:24, I was made  to see in words that none could misunderstand that "faith only" was wrong. I began to read more and found  out that Jesus required faith and baptism. (Mk. 16:16)

D. CHOICE OF BAPTISM. I had always been taught in the Methodist church that there are three  ways to be baptized: 1. Sprinkling; 2. Pouring; and 3. Immersion. I was led to believe by Methodist preaching that  it was up to the individual to select his own choice. To become a member I had selected sprinkling. The preaching  that I heard exposed this error. I was told to read Col. 2:12 and then Eph. 4:5. Even with a mind as weak as mine,  I could see that according to God's teaching there was but one baptism, but by Methodist teaching there were three.  I believed God.

E. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. We had the instrument of music in the services of the Methodist church  and were led to believe that it was only an aid in the worship. It was plainly proven to me that such was not an  aid but an addition to the word of God. I then was reminded of John 4:24 that one must worship God in truth. I  was told that my worship would be in vain if done by the doctrine of men. (Matt. 15:9)

F. HOW TO RAISE MONEY. In the Methodist church we would have ice cream suppers,rummage sales,  etc., to raise money for the church. The preaching that I heard by brother Stevens and others brought to my attention  I Cor. 16:1-2. This was God's plan of having the church members raise its money, and the pie suppers, etc., were  ways of men.

These are a few of the things that caused me to see the way of my error. Of course, since that time I have studied  and found out many other errors within the Methodist church. I have never regretted leaving the Methodist church.  I wish all would see their errors.

THANK GOD FOR CHRIST, HIS GOSPEL, HIS CHURCH.