Truth Magazine

By Fred A. Shewmaker

A card from College Press Publishing Company, addressed to the church with which I work, offered a free copy of The Stone-Campbell Movement. The only stipulation was: “. . . If you desire a copy and will plan to read it within six months, then sign your name on the card and deposit in the mail.” I signed the card, dropped it in the mail and about six weeks ago received a copy of the book. When I finished reading it, I began searching for a word descriptive of my reaction. I have settled for: “underwhelmed.”

The title of this book leads one to expect a history, but it is not history in the true meaning of that word. My reading of this book led me to the conclusion that its author, Leroy Garrett, wrote for the express purpose of convincing people that the very idea of restoration of the church described in the New Testament is inherently wrong. His premises appear to be: (1) Division is wrong. (2) Historically every restoration effort has resulted in division.

It is not my purpose to take issue with those premises. However, I do take issue with his conclusion that the restoration concept is inherently wrong. That conclusion is not sustained by the premises. This can be illustrated by the following: (1) Division is wrong. (2) The efforts of Jesus to establish the church described in the New Testament through the preaching, teaching and writing of His apostles and New Testament prophets resulted in division. (3) Conclusion: The very idea of establishing the church described in the New Testament is inherently wrong. Who can believe that? Yet, if the conclusion of this illustration is not justified, neither is the conclusion of the author of the book justified.

There is an even more serious reason for rejecting the author’s objections to the restoration principle. His book makes clear, to me, that he believes there is within the very idea of restoration something which causes division. Such a belief would be at variance with that which Paul said to the elders of the church at Ephesus, when he explained the real cause of division. Long before there was a reason to attempt restoration, Paul said to the Ephesian elders, “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). That is the thing which brought division of the church established by Jesus through the preaching, teaching and writing of His holy apostles and the New Testament prophets (Eph. 3:1-5). Division was not inherent within the idea of establishing the church described in the New Testament. Neither is division inherent within the idea of restoring the church described in the New Testament. In both cases division is a result of men, “speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Whenever one believes what Paul said and states that men “speaking perverse things” is the real cause of division, that one usually will be told: “Those who differ with you are as honest and sincere as you.” Sometimes such an one is accused of judging the motives of those who differ with him. I cannot speak for others, but as for myself, who ever may accuse me of judging motives will do it at the peril of being a false accuser. It is not necessary to judge another’s motives in order to believe Paul’s statement. I am willing to leave the judging of motives to God and His Son Jesus Christ. We also need to remember that one can be altogether honest and sincere in his belief, yet, still be wrong. Honest and sincere folk may be deceived. That has happened in times past (consider Jacob’s belief that Joseph was dead) and that can still happen in our day and time.

Honesty and sincerity have not in the past, do not now and will not in the future change error into truth. It is to honest and sincere hearts which are deceived that we address our evangelistic efforts. Our efforts to edify are addressed to honest and sincere brethren. Sometimes our honest and sincere brethren may be deceived. It is because honest and sincere hearts may be deceived that in 2 Corinthians 13:5 each one of us is urged to examine ourselves, “whether (we) be in the faith. . .” If we will “love the truth, that (we) might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10) and then study the word of God carefully, it will be possible to know the difference between truth and Satan’s deceit.

It is not easy for those who speak “perverse things” to make disciples of those who know and love the truth. It is those who know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that shall experience the vengeance of the Lord (2 Thess. 1:8). The only unity of any value in religion is the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3) and that unity is the unity of the Spirit of truth (Jn. 14:16,17; 16:13 and 17:17). It is precisely this unity for which those engaged in an authentic restoration effort must seek. If those who are trying to restore the church described in the New Testament divide, their division will be either because some abandon the quest for the unity of the Spirit of truth to “draw away disciples after them” or because, being deceived by other means, some abandon truth to follow the error which deceived them.

Guardian of Truth XXX: 4, pp. 99-100
February 20, 1986

By Sherry Burgess

Besides a red Lamborghini, there were two things I dreamed of having — an old fashioned ball dress and a date with Nando. Then, in my senior year of high school, I got them both!

Let’s start with Nando. Nando is an Italian Catholic whom I had really liked for over two years. He is so good-looking that I had never thought he would ask me for a date. Unfortunately Nando is not a Christian, so I had never really worried about not dating him. One night though, a month before school was to close, Nando asked me to go out to dinner with him. Words cannot express how surprised I was!

Now, let me describe my dream dress. I had visions of layers upon layers of pink taffeta and puffy sleeves, the kind of dress that belongs on the veranda of a southern mansion. One night, my parents returned from their yearly visit to the relatives in Alabama, and guess what they brought back! You guessed it! A real, down-home, southern, ball dress. Could anything be any better? Then it happened! The devil always seems to worm his way in when everything is going so great.

Here is what happened. I felt I was in a dream the night Nando took me out. Then he asked me to go to our senior graduation prom. Until that moment, I had already decided that I would not go to the prom, no matter what. Now here I was, not only with an invitation from the best looking guy in our class, but also with the most gorgeous dress to wear. Now came the hard part. My mind began to ask, “What is really wrong with the prom anyway? There is no command that says you cannot go to the prom.” How easy it would be if there was one! But the Lord wants Christians to do their own searching and follow Him in faith and obedience. That takes study. So, one night I sat down to see what God would have me to do, and to make a list of the pros and cons of the situation. Here were my arguments for going to the prom.

1. I will have the best dress there.

2. I will be with the best looking, most popular boy.

3. I will never again see all of the friends I have known for four years.

4. I will sit at the table and talk. I will not dance.

5. Everyone at school already knows my stand for the Lord, and they have told me they don’t want me to dance, so it will not affect my influence with them.

6. Some of the other Christians are going.

7. If going is not wrong, why should I miss the last night with my friends and probably lose Nando?

8. Everyone is going.

So far, it looked pretty good! Now it was time to make a list of arguments for not going to the prom!

1. “Come out from among them and be ye separate” (2 Cor. 6:17). “No man can serve two masters. . .”(Matt. 6:24). I can rule out this argument, because I won’t dance. This will still make me separate from the others. Yet, what is hard to admit to myself is that the devil will win a small battle by getting me there. He will work at getting me to dance once I am there.

2. Christians are to set an example that is different from the world. I know that to be a Christian, I am to let my light shine (Matt. 5:13). No matter how much I think I can do something in secret, someone will always find out.

3. If I am wrong and I go, I will not only lose my soul, but the devil will win one from God who “gave His only begotten Son” to die for me (Jn. 3:16).

4. My mother is trying to understand how I feel and has given me the pros and cons of going or not going. I am thankful for her understanding. She guides me and yet does not order me. I must think this one out myself, for the choice and responsibility are mine, even though I know which choice Mom wants me to make. Do I want to disappoint her?

5. I had never been to one single dance in my entire life. Will I relax my standards for the final dance when I have made it this far for so long?

6. For the first time I will have something in my life that I will be ashamed to tell my Grandma. Why will I feel that?

7. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matt. 25:13). If the Lord comes again that night, will I want to be found at the prom?

8. If it really is wrong but I do go, after deciding it is all right, I will hear these words at the Judgment Day, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

There you have it — these were my arguments. In all honesty, I must say that two weeks before the prom I had decided to go. The devil had helped me rationalize all of my concerns. I felt ashamed that I was going, but I was caught up in the excitement at school.

Then one Sunday morning, brother Bill Hall spoke on 1 Corinthians 3:12-17. I could see the teaching that some Christians are wood, hay, or stubble, and do not endure the fires of temptation. Some Christians, however, are gold or silver, and as the fire gets hotter, the impurities in the gold and silver burn away, making them stronger. Well, that hit me. What was I, hay or gold? I began to realize that a faith of gold is still there ages after the wood and hay have disappeared.

With a week and one-half to go, everyone at school was buzzing with excitement. Then, one night, I suddenly thought of an argument I just could not rationalize away – my sister! You see, I have a little sister who is twelve years old. She is a Christian and is really trying hard. Although the whole school might not mind if I went to the prom, and although no one else might find out, there would be one special person who would know for sure that I went – my younger sister. I imagined Melissa thinking as she entered high school, “If Sherry went to the prom, then why can’t I go to this dance too?” Suddenly, it wasn’t concern only about my own soul, but was also the possibility of causing my little sister to stumble by my actions and being finally lost. “But whoso shall offend some of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6).

It was then that the full impact of what I had first decided finally hit me. Now I was not going to go to the prom, even if Sylvester Stallone himself should ask me to go! It hurt me to tears to realize that now I had to explain it to Nando. I tried to tell him that my influence would be hurt, and that when one dances, he can cause others to lust. He did not agree with me, but he did agree to come to our gospel meeting with brother Paul Sheehan. That night, brother Sheehan talked about some of the problems facing teenagers, and among them were the dangers of dancing. He pointed out that the only way a guy could not lust after a girl when he was dancing with her was if she was the ugliest girl in the world, or if the guy was not normal. That really got to Nando and it backed up what I had said about lust.

Brother Sheehan also spoke about our influence and how it is affected by where we go. After the lesson, Nando said he was glad I was not going and that he now understood why I had made the decision. However, that did not ease the pain any the next day when he told me that he had asked another girl to go with him. When he asked me if I was hurt, I told him that I was, but that I understood how important the prom was to him. Understanding didn’t make it any easier when I cried myself to sleep that night.

The big day finally came. Everyone at school was so excited! I listened as girls described their dresses and told how they could decorate the hall. The boys discussed with whom they would ride and where to buy the cheapest corsage! They all made their final attempt to beg me to go and I tried to “plain again why I was not going.

My family decided to go on a camping trip that night, and I remember sitting by the campfire, staring into the flames and feeling so sad and alone. I wondered what my friends were doing and what fun they were having. I also thought of my beautiful pink dress, packed away in the closet at home. It was then that I finally felt, for the first time, the true separation of being a Christian, because this was something I had really wanted to do. All the other times, it wasn’t hard to make the right decision because I had never wanted to join in. This time it was hard. I felt joy, however, when I remembered that “all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). What was my small persecution compared with all of those which Paul had suffered?

In my prayer that night, I thanked the Lord for giving me the strength to say “no” to the hardest temptation I have faced in all my life. With the Lord to guide me, I came out of this one as gold.

But, there is another happy ending as well! The day after the prom, ten of my friends asked me to go with them to a very fancy restaurant — one where Queen Elizabeth had eaten. They said if she had eaten there, then I could wear my dress there! Needless to say, I wore it and had the greatest night ever. Nando was not there. He has been dating the other girl since the prom. Still, I wasn’t sad. I finally got to wear my dress, and one out of two is not bad. Jesus always has a reward for those who do His will, although I realize it may not even be in this life.

To all of you who are facing the same decision I faced, I know exactly how you feel. Just search the Scriptures for guidance and turn to God for the answers. I will never forget the real happiness and thanksgiving I felt after choosing not to go. Though I can still remember the loneliness of that night, I can say with all assurance that if I had it to do again, I wouldn’t change a thing, except maybe taking so long to decide what is right. I’m sure all of my friends had plenty of fun that night, but now that fun is gone. The Lord will be there when everything else has long since passed away.

The prom – to go or not to go? It is a hard decision. It might seem to be all right. If you choose wrong you will have “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25) and the devil for eternity.

I didn’t mention it in the beginning, but there is one thing I want more than a dress, a boy, or a red Lamborghini and that is a home in heaven, because nothing can come close to taking its place. “For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26)

One night was hard

God held my hand,

He gave me courage

To take a stand.

It doesn’t hurt me anymore

I’m stronger than I was before.

One night was hard

I made a stand,

And now there’s left

The Promised Land.

(Editor’s Note: I enjoyed reading this article. It encouraged me while preparing it for publication. The Guardian of Truth Foundation thinks highly enough of this article that we are publishing it in tract form to encourage other teenagers to act as did sister Burgess in resisting the temptation of the prom. You may want to order copies of this tract now in order to help your young people who face the decision of whether or not to attend the prom this year.

I would like to receive similar articles from others of our readers. These can be published under the heading of “Victories Of Faith.” Perhaps you know of someone who has gone through a similar battle [not necessarily the temptation to attend a dance] to that of sister Sherry Burgess. Take the time to tell his story and share it with the rest of us. We are inspired from contemporary examples of faithfulness even as we are inspired from the examples of Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and others. I look forward to receiving and publishing such articles from our readers.)

Guardian of Truth XXX: 4, pp. 97, 120
February 20, 1986

By Hoyt H. Houchen

Question: Does the Bible teach that social meals are apart of congregational fellowship?

Reply: Meals, recreation and entertainment provided by the local church in the name of “fellowship” are a common practice in liberal churches. Before me is a bulletin in which the statement appears: “At least once per quarter we want to have a congregational fellowship, consisting of sandwiches, salads, snacks, etc. – ‘finger food.’ The first will be after the evening services.”

First, a word about the church building is in order. Eating in the church building is not wrong per se. The building itself is not sacred, but rather the place where the church meets. God’s people compose the church (Eph. 1:22,23; Col. 1: 18; 1 Pet. 2:5). So, whether it is right or wrong to eat in the church building is not the issue. The issue is: do the Scriptures authorize the church (a congregation) to provide social functions – meals, recreation and entertainment?

Individual members of the church are authorized to perform and participate in activities which the church is not authorized to do. The failure to make this distinction is responsible for many congregations engaging in unscriptural practices. The individual sustains relationships in various realms. As a member of the church, the family of God, he sustains a spiritual relationship to that body (Eph. 2:19,20; 3:21; 4:1-16; 1 Pet. 2:5). He, at the same time, sustains a relationship to the community. This is a social relationship which justifies his participation in community projects that are right, and supporting them financially. He can contribute to worthwhile endeavors (cancer research, cerebral palsy funds, school activities, etc.). The church, on the other hand, is not authorized by the Scriptures to promote or engage in such activities. The individual sustains an economic relationship. This involves the operation of a private business, a school or being employed in order to provide a living for himself and his family or the home (1 Pet. 3:1-7; Eph. 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21). And, the individual sustains a relationship to civil government (Rom 13:1-8; 1 Pet. 2:13-17). Obviously, there are individual obligations which are not the enterprises of the church. The church is spiritual; thus, its work is spiritual. Its primary work is to preach the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (1 Tim. 3:14,15). It is not the business of the church to provide social functions for its members.

The word “fellowship” as it is used in the New Testament, is greatly misunderstood; and this misunderstanding is also responsible for many churches of Christ building “fellowship” halls and providing “fellowship” meals. The word “fellowship” in the New Testament is translated from three Greek nouns (koinonia, metoche, and koinonos) and two Greek verbs (koinoneo and sunkoinoneo). They convey the meaning of “communion, sharing in common, joint participation, contribution, partnership, to partake with others.” The conclusion is reached by some, that since “fellowship” is joint participation, it follows that the church is providing “fellowship” when it sponsors social activities which involve eating, recreation and entertainment. What many fail to see is that fellowship is joint-participation, but not all joint participation is fellowship. Jesus ate with the publicans and sinners (Mk. 2:16), but He did not fellowship them. Paul wrote: “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11). But, if all joint participation is fellowship, then Christians are not allowed to engage in sports activities with sinners; they cannot play games with sinners nor can they eat with them. To do so would be to fellowship them, if this contention is correct that all joint participation is fellowship.

The “fellowship” that Christians have is being in relationship with Christ. It is a spiritual relationship – a spiritual “fellowship” (Acts 2:42; 1 Jn. 1:7); it is not obtained by eating and drinking “fellowship” meals. Nowhere do the Scriptures authorize the church to provide that kind of fellowship. If the church can provide such joint participation as meals in the name of “fellowship,” then why cannot the church provide other activities of “fellowship,” such as fishing parties, skating parties, games and anything else that involves joint participation? If not, why not? The pathetic fact is that there are churches doing those very things. If the church can provide “fellowship” meals, it can provide these other things. There is no stopping place there are “no holds barred.” Bible fellowship involves a spiritual tie (2 Cor. 6:14). This means that Christians cannot be yoked with sinners in a spiritual or religious sense. For this reason gospel preachers are not to be members of ministerial alliances and Christians are not to be members of religious lodges and other religious bodies than the Lord’s church. Joint participation in them would be fellowship with them.

The work of the church is threefold: it is to preach the gospel, edify the saints and provide such necessities as food and shelter for those needy saints for whom it is responsible. The Scriptures do not authorize the church to engage in any other work. “Fellowship” halls do not fall into this work; they are for the purpose of eating and drinking; therefore churches are not authorized by the word of God to provide them. “Fellowship” meals to be provided by the church are the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23-34) and spiritual food – the word of God (see Jn. 6). They are not social meals.

If Bible fellowship consists in eating and drinking, would it not be just as wrong for a member of the church to miss a “fellowship” dinner as it would be to miss the services on Sunday night or Wednesday night? Many think of “fellowship” when they smell the food cooking and the coffee brewing in the church kitchen. And, if fellowship is made possible by eating and drinking, then brethren separated by great distance of miles could not be in fellowship with their brethren, if fellowship is social meals. In the spiritual realm of fellowship, however, all Christians who are “walking in the light” are in fellowship with God and each other, regardless of where they are (1 Jn. 1:7). It is sad that so many brethren miss the whole point of fellowship.

Other considerations could be given to this matter. The question is not where a “fellowship” meal is eaten. Church sponsored meals are without scriptural authority whether they are eaten in a church building, a school house or out under a tree.

The Bible does not teach that social meals are a part of congregational fellowship. They involve the individual, not

the church.

Guardian of Truth XXX: 3, pp. 69-70
February 6, 1986

By Irven Lee

The training of children is a heaven assigned responsibility for parents (Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4). If young people misbehave at any time there are some who make comments about schools, the church, the scouts, etc., and about their failure to train the children. These influential institutions do often fail to exert the proper influence, but the shame of failure falls back into the lap of parents because children are given to them as a gift from God. They are carefully to train them to “keep the way of the Lord” and “to do justice” (Gen. 18:19; Psa. 127:3-5). There is special emphasis on teaching that will prepare the young to be servants of the Lord. The kingdom of God and His righteousness are of utmost importance.

In America today people who deny the deity of Christ and even the existence of God are having a shocking influence on children through television, textbooks, public schools in many places, and through any other avenues that are available to them. These “Humanists” have been able to direct Congress, the courts, and many departments of government. Much of our own tax money is used to finance abortion and to give instruction that tends to destroy respect for righteousness and parental authority. Too many of us have been asleep to this encroachment on the home and family as God planned them.

Some good people are waking up to the terrible dangers that surround us. In desperation some of these parents, in some states, are deciding to take their children out of public schools to train them at home. In certain states this can be done legally, but this is no simple solution to the problem. Will these children be properly trained at home? Industry is looking for chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineers. Families, of course, are not generally capable of giving these special skills in math and science. Computer skills are very important to American business and government, and training for this is also difficult. What do parents mean when they speak of training their children at home? Do they plan a very inferior education in a safer environment? Do parents have some plan that will include special skills in teaching math, science, speech, writing, music, and mechanics?

It is much easier, of course, to teach little people to read and to handle their level of number work, but is this done with dedication and skill in the home? It is my impression that some parents go on with their regular work and social life while they constantly say: “We must get down to more teaching soon.” Training that is worthwhile cannot be done in short sessions at rare intervals. Schools have hours of teaching for five days per week for nine months or more per year.

It is certainly true that many things are taught in certain public schools that should not be taught. It is also true that a great cry is going up from business and industry that public schools are failing far short in developing capable and reliable employees, even though they keep the children so many hours per week for so many years. Humanists are trying hard to teach “sexual freedom” and actual freedom from restraint and responsibility. This is enough to fill Christians with fear when they think of turning their children over to a public school for training.

We do have room to be thankful for Christians who teach in the public schools, and even for non-Christians who have regard for character and decent behavior. There are few who are in the narrow way that leads to life in comparison with the many who go the broad way that leads to destruction. In the earlier days in America, character training was considered to be a vital aspect of the teaching in every school. Even the textbooks in reading taught moral lessons, and teachers were expected to set the right examples in their own conduct and conversation.

If more parents will shout their demands for teaching reliability, integrity, honesty, purity, and sobriety there will be a return to more regard for these needs of young people. The atheistic humanists are having much more influence than their numbers would indicate they should. Christians have been too quiet. They could find many allies in this from the “moral majority” and other units of society that are against the ungodliness of the humanists. We could be wholesome leaven for the nation. It is righteousness that exalts a nation (Prov. 14:34). Even from the point of view of patriotism we owe it to our nation to be as light and salt.

Back in the decade of the sixties an aggressive Russian leader boasted that Russia would take America without firing a shot. He, no doubt, knew more about the activities of the Humanists than the average American did. Secular humanists and communists have very much in common. Both deny the existence of God and, therefore, deny the hopes and the wonderful words of life given through the Bible. Professing themselves to be wise they become fools (Rom. 1:22). They are without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:12).

So many who claim to have faith must not have much faith. We can observe their lack of Bible knowledge and their lack of zeal for righteousness. Some who are waking up to some very unholy influences in many schools are not awake to their own failure as parents to teach the sacred writings to their children. Is it possible that some who are thinking of taking their children out of school for home training are not even skilled teachers of the Bible?

Guardian of Truth XXX: 3, p. 74
February 6, 1986