How do the churches of Christ stack up when it comes to modern issues?
The churches of Christ are traditionally patriarchal and lean toward complementarianism, which is just a modern form of patriarchy. Very few congregations attempt to put women in any public roles. However, women are generally respected, as long as they don't try to "usurp" a man's authority. It's delicate dance of social conventions. Many women wield power through their husband's position, gossip, or complaining to the elders. Others gain respect through benevolence, teaching, and wisdom, but there is a limit to what is allowed. There are no women leading singing or prayers, public preaching, serving communion, or teaching mixed adult bible classes. All but the strictest congregations allow women to contribute to discussions in a bible class setting. Otherwise, women
are relegated to cooking, cleaning, children's bible classes, and childcare. However, they often have special female only functions where they fill all the roles available. These are usually called "ladies' days" and happen on rare Saturdays, when husbands can watch the kids. Women will often travel from regional congregations to attend another congregation's ladies' day.
I have never seen an openly gay couple in a church of Christ, and I can't imagine I ever will. I saw instances when two different teenagers, in different years, announced their non hetero leanings in social media. They did not stick around. Toleration of homosexuality is not taught, though violence and aggression toward anyone is not condoned. It is the love the sinner, hate the sin, kind of Christianity. I do know of members whose relatives are in same sex relationships. It is not discussed, and I'm not sure how many other people know. There was a highly publicized suicide of a gay young woman from a church of Christ, a few years back.
I rarely hear of divorce in the church any more. Divorce rates in the CoC are low. I think most struggling couples leave before their marriages reach that point. Divorced women are more likely to be found in Churches of Christ than divorced men. Divorced men usually lose all possible positions of privilege, leadership, and service. Living together before marriage, or pregnancy out of wedlock, is not condoned, but presently not condemned as nastily as in years past. These "sins" are more quickly forgiven than they used to be. A fair amount CoC Christians have as many problems with obesity issues as the general American public. I know there have been cases of physical abuse, mental abuse, addiction, alcoholism, mental health problems, and even a case of a preacher's wife murdering her husband. To be fair, these problems are found everywhere.
A lot of church members lead lives that they don't discuss with other members. They drink alcohol, they smoke, they cuss, they watch any movies they want, play violent video games, listen to any music they want, and read anything they want. Social media lets you see everybody's business now, so it's more obvious. There are also a few CoC members who are uber religious and straight-laced on social media. Their posts are often ignored, except by those of like mind. It doesn't seem to matter a whole lot any more, which is better than calling people out and shaming/shunning them for non criminal acts.
Churches of Christ usually practice political nuetrality from the pulpit, in my experience. The members have been allowed to follow their conscience with regard to voting. There always seemed to be a polite avoidance of divisive political discussions in the past. Today, however, social media has become a platform for the political grandstanding, even among members in the church. This has definitely caused some drama. There are those on both ends of the spectrum who think that their way of voting is the only godly way. Usually, those on the right are the ones to leave in a huff for more conservative congregations.
Abortion is hardly ever discussed, but if it is, it will be in opposition. Anyone who has had one is not talking. In my experience, racism is not condoned at all. There are many racially diverse congregations. However, there are traditionally black churches of Christ, and ones that are majority white, often depending on location. Also, many white members use their social media to rant against BLM and immigration. There are very few rich or intellectual elites in the CoC, most are in university towns. A majority of the members are solidly middle class. Blue collar and white collar workers mingle freely. White collar workers are slightly more likely to end up as elders. There is a
large percentage of members in the US military. Most congregations do not have the resources to handle those with addictions, mental health issues, or extreme poverty. Most preachers are not trained professional counselors. People with real, tough problems tend to fade out of church participation.
In short, members have many of the same problems that are found throughout Christianity and in the
broader culture. They also have many of the admired qualities of other good human beings. However, the church of Christ culture is definitely an insulated bubble. Most members seem to like it that way. All this and much more has been my experience of churches of Christ over the last four decades.
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