When Lawton the lawyer sent out his letters to “all churches of Christ of any significant size nationwide,” he stated his avowed purpose in so doing. He wanted to encourage “all churches of Christ to forsake any claim to be basically the only Christians alive today.” He touts himself as a lawyer, but he does not prosecute a case like actual lawyers do. Most of them present a case; they offer evidence. They are not allowed to ask questions such as, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?” to which a man might respond, “No, I have not stopped beating my wife because I never began the practice.” No one can quit something he is not in the habit of doing.
In order to forsake a claim “to be basically the only Christians alive today,” one would first have to have made the claim. Now, if all the churches of Christ to whom Lawton sent material have made such a claim, why did he not enter into evidence some of those statements? Why did he not present even one such statement? Many congregations contain statements of belief on their websites; if such a claim is so common among churches of Christ, why did he not cite one?
The answer is that making such claims is not the way any of us goes about trying to be evangelistic. What we do is call people to what the Scriptures teach about salvation, worship, the kingdom, and other Bible topics. We do not bring them to an alleged prophet, such as Joseph Smith; nor do we try to make them subject to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Nor do we tell them to listen to Pope Somebody-or-Other or the High Council of InterDenominational Churches (if there is such a thing). Our only desire is to bring them to the Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
The only thing that matters is—not the traditions of men—but the teachings God put in the Bible for our learning (Rom. 15:4). It does not matter whether the majority of Bible believers agree or disagree with us; what matters is: “Are we believing, practicing, and standing in the truth?” If we are, then presumably others will want to stand with us (although this is not always the case). If we are not teaching the truth, then no one should stand with us—and rightly so. We believe that we are. Is there someone who does not? Are there religious groups that say, “Hey, we don’t have a clue if what we’re doing is right, but come along with us anyway”? No. Most honest people think they believe and practice the truth; we are no different from any of them. We are willing for our beliefs to be scrutinized, however, and some groups will not do that. We discuss the Word, we search the Scriptures, and we are willing to debate our beliefs in a public forum, putting them to the test. Perhaps Lawton is criticizing the wrong people.