Truth Magazine – Page 1664 – Taking His hand, helping each other home.

The Social Gospel of the Church of Christ (2)

By Mike Willis

In my last article, I gave a brief history and explanation of what the social gospel is. After doing that, I tried to demonstrate wherein the social gospel differed from the gospel of Jesus Christ. In that section, I showed that the social gospel (a) was borne in infidelity, (b) perverts the nature of the mission of Christ, (c) perverts the nature of the gospel, (d) perverts the nature of the mission of the church, and (e) perverts the one hope of the gospel.

Yet, these articles are entitled “The Social Gospel of the Churches of Christ.” They are so named for a reason. I firmly believe that the churches of Christ have become involved in the social gospel. This article is designed to prove that thesis. I shall present evidences to demonstrate that churches of Christ are involved in the social gospel.

Let us begin by remembering what the thrust of the social gospel is. It is involving the church in the work of improving the quality of life in this world. Hence, it is the work of building hospitals, orphan homes, colleges, recreational facilities, and any other number of works pertaining to life on this earth beneath.

Incidences of Churches Involved in the Social Gospel

Those who have lived through the split of the church over church support of orphan homes do not need to be reminded that the church is involved in supporting such human institutions. However, we may need to be reminded that this is one phase of the social gospel. Involvement of the church in the building and maintaining of such facilities was the first step, historically, which the churches of Christ took in the social gospel. Rather than allowing social ills of this nature to be taken care of as a by-product of New Testament Christianity (i.e., through those who were converted to Christ personally adopting the orphaned children), some were bent upon perverting the mission of the church into involvement in the social gospel through church support of orphan homes. This, however, was just the beginning of a major movement in the churches of Christ which is taking them deeper and deeper into the social gospel. Here are some other incidences of the social gospel among the churches:

1. Church support of education. When the orphan home issue raged, Batsell Barrett Baxter, well-known speaker for the Herald of Truth and Chairman of the Department of Bible at David Lipscomb College, wrote a tract entitled Questions and Issues of the Day. In this tract, he wrote the following words:

Some who are agreed that the church can contribute to an orphan’s home are not convinced that the church can contribute to a Christian school. It is difficult to see a significant difference so far as principle is concerned. The orphans’ home and the Christian school must stand or fall together (p. 29).

Brother Baxter was right in stating that the two stand or fall together. He and I differ, however, on whether they stand or fall, he holding to the former and me to the latter. However, in keeping with his belief, he sent out a form letter dated November 29, 1971 on David Lipscomb College stationary, appealing for church support of colleges; he wrote:

Back in the summer I wrote you concerning our pressing and continuing need for congregations to help us in our program of teaching. the Bible to each of our students every school day. We deeply appreciate the way in which many congregations across the land are concerned that this program of teaching the Bible – the most extensive program undertaken anywhere in the world so far as we are able to determine – may continue. We are grateful for the number of contributions received since this request, and we are hopeful that; as you make you financial plans for 1972, you will include this effort in your budget. In a very real sense, this is one of the most extensive mission efforts being undertaken anywhere.

There are currently on our campus 3361 students from kindergarten through college, with 2196 of these in college. The Bible itself (not books about the Bible) is being taught to each of these students every school day by faithful, consecrated Christian teachers. The toal cost of this effort is about $700,000 each year. The students pay less than half of this amount in tuition. We are asking churches to pay the other half, over $350,000 each year.

Not all of those who accept the church involvement in the social gospel of church support of orphans homes are ready to accept the church support of colleges. Yet, the effort to involve the church in the support of secular education is a subtle foe to fight.

When churches refused to become involved in sending contributions to colleges, the church began to become involved in “Christian education” on another level. All over this country, brethren have been building day-care centers, kindergartens, and eventually full elementary schools.. Brethren have been deceived by the promoters of this aspect of the social gospel. They have been taught that so long as the church does not write a check from its treasury to send to this secular educational enterprize that it is not involved in the work. However, these secular education facilities are housed in the buildings owned by the churches, they are promoted through bulletins published by the church, and any activities held by these secular educational enterprizes are promoted in the church. Brethren, do not be deceived. The church is being yoked to another plow of the social gospel!

2. Church support of medical missions. Even as the church has become involved in supportig orphans homes and colleges, it has become involved in “medical missions” as well. The 29 May 1979 issue of Christian Chronicle carried an article entitled “Medical Missions Increasing.” It reported,

Christian medical professionals and students from around the world will gather in Atlanta October 19 and 20 for the annual Medical Evangelism Seminar, hosted by the Decatur Church of Christ and Medical Outreach, Inc ….

The Decatur congregation has long been active in medical mission work. But, in the last three years, members of the congregation have organized to focus on solutions to the personnel problems that have hampered mission clinics and hospitals in the past.

As early as 24 May 1963, the Christian Chronicle was reporting the church being involved in medical work in foreign countries. In “Money Buys Medicine For Korean Endeavor,” written by A.R. Holton, the following report was given:

Our Lord gave some great promises in relation to the sick. In the 25th chapter of Matthew, He tells us that to visit the sick is to visit Him. It makes a contribution to the growth of a Christian to be closely associated with Jesus. You will see to do this is to visit the sick.

The church of Christ clinic in Seoul, Korea offers such an opportunity. We have reached over three thousand families by this medical service in Korea. It is a service to enable the people to care for themselves in illness and to teach them to care for their children

Our medical clinic on the mission ground in Seoul, Korea is in continual need of money for medicine and equipment. This appeal is made in order that churches may make such a contribution and that individuals may make such a contribution.

The groundwork has been laid for a “Church of Christ Hospital,” similar to the Methodist, Baptist, and Catholic hospitals all over this country, right here in America. Although I know of no plans to begin construction on one, I have no doubt that such lies ahead for the churches of Christ who have accepted the concept of the social gospel.

3. Church care of the aged. The October 4, 1968 issue of the Atlanta Journal reported that the Decatur Church of Christ was constructing a 12-story apartment building for senior citizens. The article included a picture of the proposed structure attached to an article announcing the building of Christian Towers under the direction of the Decatur Church of Christ Senior Housing, Inc. This project was to cost a mere $3.8 million.

4. Church sponsored recreation. I do not have the space to report the numbers of articles which I have in my files reporting church sponsored recreation. It ranges from church sponsored ball teams to church sponsored talent shows. The church buildings are already using their property for playground areas; soon they will be building gymnasiums and other recreational facilities. One church purchased land and erected a lodge for a place of recreation for its members. What began as an innocent basket lunch in one of the classrooms of the church building has blossomed into full involvement in church sponsored recreation. “Youth ministers” are hired by those involved in these activities; their primary work is to be is sure to keep a full calendar of social, recreational activities going for the young people.

One Baptist preacher with deep insight into the dangers of church sponsored recreation wrote a tract entitled The Devil’s Mission of Amusement: The Church’s Task Entertainment or Evangelization? (by Archibald Brown, available from Tabernacle Baptist Church, P.O. Box 3327, Lubbock, TX 79410). He made the following penetrating comments:

The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church of Christ that part of her mission is to provide entertainment for the people with a view to winning them into her ranks. The human nature that lies in every heart has risen to the bait. Here, now, is an opportunity of gratifying the flesh and yet retaining a comfortable conscience. We can now please ourselves in order to do good to others. The rough old cross can be exchanged for a “costume,” and the exchange can be made with the benevolent purpose of elevating the people.

Even denominational people are able to see what some of the brethren cannot see. The church’s involvement in sponsoring recreation is’ a perversion of its mission; it involves the church in the social gospel.

5. Full program of the social gospel. Some churches have simply accepted the totality of the social gospel rather than individual specific programs alone. For example, Good News From Chicogaland (Vol. I, No. 6, August 5, 1979), the bulletin published by the Downtown Church (P.O. Box 49333, Chicago, IL 60649), reported their receipt of a service award for their “Evangelism Chicagoland” program in the following words:

Evangelism Chicagoland recently received a service award from the Chicago Boys Club, Kiwanis Unit. The award was presented for services rendered to the Boys Club in the area of printing . . . .

Evangelism Chicagoland has been involved in training a number of young people since inception. fifteen high school juniors and seniors have received specialized training in printing, office management, addressing, folding, darkroom and shipping through the Evangelism Chicagoland printing facility. A few of the youth have police records and have received vocational and personal counseling as well as training . . . .

Evangelism Chicagoland has cooperated with various high school occupational study programs as well as city, state and federal training programs . . . .

My brethren, one would have to have his eyes closed to fail to see that some among the churches of Christ have totally accepted the social gospel.

Time and space would fail me if I cited documentation of the erection of church of Christ reform schools, church of Christ unwed mothers homes, a project to take cows to Korea, and other activities too numerous to even mention in passing. However, each of these provide further documentation that churches of Christ have become involved in the social gospel. However subtly it has happened, one cannot doubt that it has happened!

What Does The Future Hold?

I make no pretensions to being a prophet; hence, comments under this section should be simply considered as one man’s opinion. However, I think that I can judge what is going to happen so far as the church being involved in the social gospel is concerned. Every congregation has just so many dollars with which to work, so many volunteers willing to donate their labor to the works in which they are involved, and other limited resources. It takes dollars and time to operate the social gospel, just the same as it takes to do the scriptural works authorized of God.

When a congregation’s limited resources are completely expended upon its God-given mission of saving souls, the work progresses slowly at best. However, when these resources are subdivided in order to give a portion of those resources (money and labor) to promoting the erection and maintenance of orphan homes, schools, and other human institutions, to sponsor recreation, to erect hospitals, to build kindergartens and grade schools, etc., the number of resources which can be used to evangelize the world, edify the saints, and relieve the benevolent needs of Christians is diminished to the degree that a given congregation is involved in these activities. Therefore, just so much as brethren chase after the social gospel, they cannot accomplish their God-given mission.

The result will be that the soul winning work of the church will be destroyed. Brethren who have already seen this happening are fighting back with reward motivation programs to persuade people to come to their services. So long as these reward motivation programs are continued, large crowds will be in attendance, but few will be converted. (Do not make the mistake of thinking that all public responses to the gospel are conversions.) Those who are baptized will have little knowledge of the truth, so the church will move more and more toward the mainstream of modern Protestant denominationalism.

Unless something happens to change this trend, I am confident that this is what lies ahead for our brethren who are becoming more and more involved in the social gospel. The question which remains is this: How far are you willing to go with these brethren?

Some Have Had Enough

There are countless brethren among those congregations which have opted to depart from the revealed work of the church in following the humanly devised hope of establishing a heaven on earth who are sick and tired of seeing the church chase after earthly goals. Brethren, there is an alternative to what you are witnessing and experiencing. There are brethren all over this country who are dedicated to letting the church be the church. Our brethren who are following the social gospel call us “anti’s.” That is all right with me. Both of us recognize that we are heading down different paths at a fork in the road. We who are branded as “anti’s” are simply committed to following the revelation of God as it pertains to the mission of the church. We shall not consent to involving the church in any activities for which there is no Bible authority. We find no Bible authority for church support of human institutions (whether they be evangelistic, benevolent or educational in scope), for church sponsored recreation, for church sponsored hospitals, and any number of other works in which some of our brethren are involved.

We invite you to join with us in working to let the church be the church. We have no interest in pursuing the mundane goals of the social gospel. Rather, our citizenship is in heaven where Christ is seated on the right hand of God (Phil. 3:20). We are interested in the salvation of souls. We, therefore, understand the mission of the church to be to save the lost, edify the saints, and relieve the benevolent needs of our members. If you would like me to help you get in contact with some who have no sympathy with the social gospel, fell free to contact me.

Questions

Is church involvement in support of human institu tions a phase of the social gospel?
Rather than involving the church in support of orphan homes, what would have been an acceptable means of taking care of the orphans?
Name and discuss some other incidences of the social gospel among the churches in your area.
What two issues did Batsell Barren Baxter say would “stand or fall together”?
What are the dangers of church sponsored recreation?
What happens when the resources of a church are divided in order to give a portion of them to promote the social gospel?
What happens when reward motivation programs are carried out? Are all public responses to the gospel conversions?
What is the mission of the church?
What can the congregation with which you worship do to lead people out of liberalism?

Truth Magazine XXIV: 2, pp. 34-37
January 10, 1980

The Social Gospel of the Churches of Christ (1)

By Mike Willis

The history of denominations has a rather clearly distinguishable period in which these churches became involved in attempting to improve the society around them. This movement has been identified as the “social gospel” and began to show itself in American denominations in the late years of the nineteenth century. During these years, a new era of social consciousness was developing. These were the years during which major labor movements were organizing into unions for strike potential and other forces were being organized to deal with social injustices.

The names of Washington Gladden (1836-1918) and Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) stand at the head of the list of men who led American denominations into the social gospel. Their concept of the kingdom of God differed from that of those around them. Those who opposed the social gospel movement treated the problems of the society through converting the individual; when the individual was converted to Christ, he would conduct himself as a proper employer or employee, be a statesman rather than a politician, act properly toward his landlord or tenant as the case may be, etc. The social gospel movement involved the corporate body, the religious denomination, in correcting these problems through organization of city missions for relief, rescue missions for homeless men, and other programs to care for the poor and unfortunate in life.

Early nineteenth-century Protestantism had expressed its social concerns largely in individualistic terms, stressing charity and moral reform, but the social gospel focused attention on the corporate aspects of modern life and on the achievement of social justice. Great attention was devoted to the relations between capital and labor, and the movement influenced the shortening of the working day. Dedicated to the building of the kingdom of God on earth, the social gospel was especially prominent in the life and work of the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists of the North, and among congregationalists and Episcopalians. Courses on social ethics were added to seminary curricula, and denominational departments of social action were founded under social Christian influence. A number of social settlements in underprivileged areas were founded under Protestant auspices, and many institutional churches to bring social services to the urban masses were erected. The social emphasis was strongly felt on the mission field, where agricultural, medical, and educational missions were expanded (Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, p. 518).

The difference in approach to social problems between those accepting the social gospel and those not accepting it can often be related to the difference in their concepts of the kingdom of God. Many, but not all, of those who were involved in the establishment of the kingdom of God on this earth had already given up any hope for everlasting life in heaven; they threw this out the window at the same time that they denied the inspiration of the Scriptures. Other denominationalists with more conservative theological moorings got caught up in the enthusiasm for social reform and by means of this here-and-now emphasis eventually became the victims of liberal theology.

The problem of social ills produced a confrontation in Protestantism. Different methods of handling these problems of society were taught.

To return to the mainstream evangelical churches, the tensions between conservative and liberal trends within evangelical Protestantism were further heightened in this period by varying reactions to the many social problems that were coming into prominence. The individualistic laissez-faire social philosophy that seemed so familiar and right to Protestants reared in rural and small-town middle-class America offered few resources for dealing with the social ills of the spreading slums or with the needs of the swelling ranks of inadequately paid working people. Confronted with the reality of human suffering, many Protestants became aware that there were serious maladjustments in the society they prized so highly . . . .

Many Protestant leaders attempted to deal with the social question in essentially conservative terms. They urged cautious reforms of a voluntary type and resisted socialism in any of its forms. Characteristically, they sought to help the victims of social maladjustments as individual cases, especially through the development of the relief programs of city mission societies, the founding of rescue missions where homeless men could be fed and cared for, and the shaping of extensive parish programs in which the poor and unfortunate could be aided . . . .

The social gospel was developed by those who felt that such remedial measures were simply not enough. For the most part the proponents of the social gospel came from the ranks of the evangelical liberals, and they challenged the individualistic `clerical laissez-faire’ perspective by emphasizing the social concerns they found in the prophets of the Old Testament and in the Savior of the New Testament, and in the various Christian reform movements over the centuries. Washington Gladden (1836-1918), a Congregational minister who had been much influenced by Horace Bushnell, became an outspoken advocate of the right of labor to organize during a long pastorate in Columbus, Ohio. He was also a champion of liberal theology, advocating the historical approach to the Scriptures and preaching the coming of the Kingdom of God in history in the near future. Often called `the father of the social gospel’, he developed a Christian version of progressive economic and social views that by the turn of the century was a rising force in the churches (Robert T. Handy, A History of the Churches in the United States and Canada, pp. 299-302).

Hence, a change in thinking was occurring within Protestant denominationalism in the early years of the twentieth century. More and more, the church was becoming involved in matters pertaining to this society. There was both a logical and a historical relationship between the doctrinal beliefs and the involvement; those who took a more liberal approach to the Scriptures were more inclined to involve the churches in the social problems. And, visa-versa, many with conservative backgrounds who involved the churches in social programs found theological liberalism increasingly attractive.

As a matter of fact, those who accepted church involvement in the social gospel considered anything else as being less than the kind of church which God demands that one be. Some interpreters tried to tie their ideals to the Bible picture of the church. Others – more honest – admitted that social work cannot be found in the Bible picture, but claimed that God had revealed a new demand for social work through the circumstances of experiences of modern society. Hence, both interpretations contended that the church ought to, not can be, involved in remedying the social ills around us. Walter Rauschenbusch defended his beliefs along this line in the following quotation:

The contributions made by Christianity to the working efficiency and the constructive social abilities of humanity in the past have been mainly indirect. The main aim set before Christians was to save souls from eternal woe, to have communion with God now and hereafter, and to live God-fearing lives. It was individualistic religion, concentrated on the life to come. Its social effectiveness was largely a by-product. What, now, would have been the result if Christianity had placed an equally strong emphasis on the Kingdom of God, the ideal social order? (The Social Principles of Jesus, pp. 73-74).

Rauschenbusch continued to argue that Christianity would have had a more potent impact on the life of man if it had been active in trying to establish an ideal social order, i.e., to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Hence, he stated that the church should have been involved in shaping the workings of industry and trade.

What the world of Christian men and women needs is to have a great social objective set before them and laid on their conscience with the authority of religion. Then religion would get behind social evolution in earnest (Ibid.).

The kingdom of God on earth, according to these people, was not the restoration of the New Testament church; rather, it was the removal of all the problems of earth-life in order to make this earth a heaven-on-earth.

One of the points which needs to be made pertains to categorizing those who accept or reject the social gospel. Though the social gospel originated in modernism, it is by no means confined to modernists. It is impossible to tell whether a man is a proponent of the social gospel simply by determining whether he is theologically conservative or liberal. The critical point is whether or not one involves the church in social works. If the church is involved in social works, it is preaching the social gospel to the extent that it is involved in these activities. They conceive of involvement in social works as an avenue to doing spiritual work. Yet history has repeatedly shown that social involvement is a transitional sign of a movement toward liberalism, even among those who have vigorously denied any inclination toward liberalism.

Doctrinal Errors of the Social Gospel

1. It was borne in infidelity. Though not implicating solely of itself, the fact that the social gospel was borne largely in infidelity needs to be noticed. Those who had lost faith in the Bible as the all-sufficient revelation of God to mankind, in Jesus as the all-sufficient and only Savior of the world, and in man as created in the image of God (rather than as an evolved being) were the men who most fully developed the social gospel. They had ceased to believe in a heaven; consequently, they turned to make heaven on this earth. Although good things can be done by infidels, one should notice that much of the social gospel’s origins are rooted in unbelief.

2. It perverts the nature of the mission of Christ. Christ came into this world to save man from his sins (Lk. 2:10; Mt. 1:21; 1, Tim. 1:15; Lk., 24:46, 47). The only manner in which man could be saved from his sins was through the shedding of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Redemption of mankind refers to saving mankind from his sirs (Eph. 1:7), not saving him from social ills. To save mankind from his social problems does not demand the shedding of Jesus’ precious blood. Hence, the concept of the social gospel, in which the works of Jesus is viewed as God saving mankind from the social ills of the world through Jesus Christ, destroys. the heart of the gospel message. It makes nonsense of the vicarious suffering and death of our Savior.

To consider the kingdom of God as God’s ideal arrangement of society :, proper housing, provisions of education and recreation, abolition of child labor, regulation of women labor, protection of workers from occupational hazards, concern for health, etc.) rather than as God’s spiritual kingdom is also a perversion of the mission of Christ. Christ came to build a kingdom which was not of this world (Jn. 18:36, 37). This kingdom was purchased with His precious blood (Acts 20:28). The establishment of Jesus’ kingdom had nothing to do with giving men jobs, proper housing, relief from material poverty, and other social ills. The Lord’s kingdom is not the vison of a future paradise on earth but is a present spiritual reality in the midst of a sinful and broken world. The redemption which Christ provides for mankind is eternal and not temporal.

3. It perverts the nature of the gospel. The nature of the gospel is spiritual (1 Cor. 9:11). The goal of the gospel is salvation (Rom. 1:16). It makes the justification of man, the freedom of guilt for his sins, possible. It seeks to turn man from sin for righteousness and to purify his heart by faith (Acts 3:25, 26; 15:7-9)..The basic facts of the gospel are the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The promises of the gospel are forgiveness of sins and the blessed salvation of heaven (Acts 2:38; Col. 1:4-5; 1 Pet. 1:4-5). The changing of the gospel into a means of improving society on earth, nothing more or less, distorts the nature of the gospel.

4. It perverts the nature of the mission of the church. The work of the church, so far as I am able to read it in my Bible, is threefold: (a) to evangelize the world (1 Tim. 3:15; M~. – 16:15-16; Matt. 28:18-19); (b) to relieve the the benevolent needs of its members (cf. Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37; 4:1 0; 11:27-30; etc.); (c) to edify its members (Eph. 4:14-16; Acts 20:28-32; etc.). I cannot read of the church being involved in any other works than these in my Bible. I cannot read of the church building hospitals, schools, recreational facilities, or any other work related to life on this earth. Where is the Scripture which demonstrated that the church was responsible for abolishing slavery, cleaning up the ghettos, and marching for racial equality?

The manner in which social problems were affected in the New Testament was through the preaching of the gospel. Helping social problems was a by-product of Christianity, not its primary message. When the gospel sank into a man’s heart and he obeyed it, he became a better citizen in the community, a better employee or employer, a better father, a better neighbor, etc. However, these changes came because he became a disciple of Jesus Christ, not because the work of the church was to become involved in labor/management decisions, in building hospitals, or in politics. Rather, these changes which occurred in the man came as a by-product of him becoming a Christian.

Some brethren among us believe that the fruits which the individual Christian bears justifies the church becoming involved in such social works. They make particular application of this to church support of orphan homes and colleges and appeal to such passages as Galatians 6:10 and James 1:27 to prove this. It should be noticed that if individual involvement in these works justifies the church supporting them, then individual activity of any kind which is authorized of God would demand church involvement as well. Hence, we would have just as much Bible authority for a church supported hospital, recreation, and other activities as we have for church supported orphan homes.

It is true that society will be improved as a by-product of the preaching of the gospel in the same manner as saw dust is produced at a lumber mill. This, however, does not justify a lumber mill in sawing timber just to produce saw dust. One man made this following comparison: “A man who made a living for his family as a blacksmith found that, as a by-product, he developed a strong right arm.

Finding a way to sit at home and build up his right arm while relaxing in a rocking chair would not make provision for his family.” Neither does the fact that the by-product of preaching the gospel is beneficial to society justify church involvement in the social gospel.

5. It perverts the nature of the one hope of the gospel. The one hope of the gospel is the incorruptible reward of heaven (Eph.4:4). It is an inheritance which is “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1Pet. 1:3-5). It is the “building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1).

The one hope of the social gospel is to make life on earth better. It is not concerned with a “pie-in-the-sky in the sweet by and by.” It wants to make its heaven right here on earth. All of its labors are directed toward this goal. Hence, the hope of the gospel has been perverted by the social gospel.

Conclusion

The social gospel is not the saving gospel of Christ; it is another gospel which cannot properly be called a gospel. As such it falls under the condemnation of God as a perverted gospel. Paul warned, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). The social gospel is another gospel; those who preach it and those who follow it are accursed of God.

Questions

When did the movement identified as the “social gospel” begin to show itself in American denominationalism?
What two names stand at the head of the list of men who led American denominations into the social gospel?
How does converting an individual affect the social problems of a given society?
How does the social gospel movement propose to correct these problems?
Name and discuss five doctrinal errors of the social gospel.
Is the social gospel confined to modernists?
Is it possible to tell whether a man is a proponent of the social gospel by determining whether he is theologically conservative or liberal?
What is the critical point for determining involvement in the social gospel?
What did Paul warn about those who preach another gospel? Is the social gospel another gospel?
What is the hope of the social gospel? Is it possible to attain?

Truth Magazine XXIV: 1, pp. 25-27
January 3, 1980

Ring Out The Good News!

By Ron Halbrook

Paul commended the church at Thessalonica because it had “sounded out the word of the Lord” both locally and in other regions (1 Thess. 1:8). The church at Thessalonica had grown out of the efforts of other men who loved the Lord and loved the lost. Paul had received repeated encouragement from the church at Antioch of Syria as he pressed forward in evangelistic labors (Acts 13:1-3; 14:26-28; 15:3, 30-35). During his second major journey, a messenger pled with Paul in a vision, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (16:9). As a result, the Good News of Christ was proclaimed at Thessalonica and a church was planted in spite of stormy opposition (17:1-9). These new converts had received the gospel “not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God,” and that word continued to work in them. That word worked in them so mightily that they sounded out the word of the Lord even in the face of scorn, hatred, and persecution from enemies of the gospel (1 Thess. 2:13-16). “To sound forth” means “to trumpet, thunder, announce, proclaim, or ring out.” Freely did these saints receive the gospel, freely did they give it!

We need to hear the Macedonian call today – the call of the lost – and need to follow the Thessalonian example today -the example of sounding forth the gospel of Christ. As the song by Charles H. Gabriel says,

There’s a call comes ringing o’er the restless wave,

“Send the light! Send the light”

There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save,

“Send the light! Send the light!”

The song by James Rowe, Ring Out the Message, shows the gospel message is such good news that its proclamation must be accompanied by a spirit of celebration. The message of salvation and its joyous spirit must be passed on from one person to another in an unending chain.

There’s a message true and glad

For the sinful and the sad, Ring it out, ring it out;

It will give them courage new,

It will help them to be true; Ring it out, ring it out.

Tell the world of saving grace,

Make it known in ev’ry place, Ring it out, ring it out;

Help the needy ones to know

Him from whom all blessings flow; Ring it out, ring it out.

Let us examine this glorious mission of the church by a brief study of the following: (1) So Great Salvation, (2) The Local Church Sounds Out the Word, and (3) Perpetuate or Pervert the Mission?

So Great Salvation!

Christians are “to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,” knowing that our destruction will be awful “if we neglect so great salvation” (Heb. 2:1-4). Among the things which we must not neglect is the happy duty of sharing the gospel with friends, neighbors, relatives, and even teeming thousands of souls in distant lands. All have sinned and are doomed unto spiritual and eternal death. But there is hope of repentance wherever men hear about “the goodness of God” – the gift of “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 3:23; 2:4; 6:23).

This great salvation was embodied in God’s promise to Abram: “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3). Out of a prepared people in a prepared land, God would bring forth one who could save men of all nations from their sins. According to the message of the angel who spoke to Joseph, this One was to be named Jesus at birth “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). The deliverance and salvation which God prophesied was “the remission of their sins” (Lk. 1:77). Simeon announced by the Holy Spirit shortly after the child’s birth that Jesus was the long-awaited Savior which God had “prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (2:25-32).

When Peter confessed Jesus saying, “Thou are the Christ, the son of the living God,” Jesus said that upon that confession as a foundation of rock, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:13-19). Not even the gates of death could keep Him from accomplishing so great salvation. This promise to save all men in Himself is confirmed and explained further by the commission that He gave to His apostles after He arose from the dead:

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Those who obeyed the gospel, Jews and Gentiles alike, were saved in Christ. All were added to the same thing, to the one body, to the church, which He had purchased with His own blood (Acts 2:47; 10:47-48; 20:28).

The Ephesian letter shows that the eternal purpose of God for salvation in Christ and in His church is one purpose. Salvation in Christ and in His church is not a human speculation or expedient but is a Divine creation. The Divine Author is glorified “in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages” (3:21). Every divine feature manifests “the manifold wisdom of God” (vs. 9). “As the heavenly firmament declares the glory of God and His creative handiwork (Psa. 19), so the spiritual institution manifests, by exhibition, its divine origin – that it is the manifold wisdom of God, comprehensive of the various features of the divine plan, making perceptible to men (verse 9) the unfolding of an eternal purpose” (Foy E. Wallace, Jr. comment on Eph. 3:9-10 in “The Identity and Perpetuity of the Church,” Torch, April-May 1951, pp. 3-4). It is the church’s mission as “the pillar and ground of the truth” to proclaim the revelation of so great salvation: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The gospel of Christ is the one message that can save lost sinners and it is the preeminent mission of the church to proclaim that message.

When souls are saved, they are not to be left to neglect so great salvation by returning into sin. God provided that saints should come together in the local church to worship, study, and grow. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). They were instructed to teach and admonish “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16). In assemblies “upon the first day of the week,” the disciples shared the Lord’s Supper and gave into a common fund for the work of the church (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-20). All assemblies of the saints had the purpose of “edifying” – “provoking one another unto love and good works” (1 Cor. 14:26; Heb. 10:23-25).

Those who shared so great salvation shared also material necessities with those among them who were destitute, by means of the common fund or treasury (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32 – 5:11; 6:1-7). But the church is not a mere benevolent aid society and the apostles told the Jerusalem church where the primary emphasis must be placed: “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables” (Acts 6:2). Individual saints had broader benevolent tasks than did the church (1 Tim. 5:16). But for the church, sounding out the good news-of forgiveness in Christ was always the imperative and preeminent task.

The Local Church Sounds Out the Word

“The apostolic age was emphatically the missionary age of the church. Then every new convert to Christ was a new element of strength to the missionary cause” (Robert Milligan, The Great Commission, p. 45). The godly lives of early Christians shone as lights, pointing the way to Christ (Acts 2:47; Phil. 2:15-16). Even when scattered from their homes by severe persecution, the “men and women” who made up the church at Jerusalem “went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:1-4). Christ must be seen in the lives of Christians every day in every thing they do. When each Christian seeks and seizes each opportunity to tell each lost soul about Christ, the gospel spreads through the most powerful and effective medium there is. God’s plan is simple and direct.

As the pillar and ground of the truth, the local church must do everything in its power to propagate and defend the gospel. The church at Jerusalem was directly interested in the spread of the gospel, as was the church at Antioch. God “ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). How does the church have fellowship in that ordinance? As for the church’s work in edification and benevolence, so for the church’s work of evangelism God ordained an all-sufficient organization. That organization is the church itself, scripturally organized, without appendage or addition by the devices of human wisdom. In all the work of the church, elders are to oversee, guide, and guard the flock (Phil. 1:1; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2). Special servants are provided as deacons (Acts 6:1-7; Phil. 1:1). All the saints in a local church are to participate, contribute, and cooperate in harmony (Phil. 1:1). This simple organization is sufficient for the church to sound forth the gospel – providing and distributing tracts, holding gospel meetings for a specified period of time, arranging home Bible studies, financing radio or television programs, offering Bible correspondence courses, and supporting gospel preachers to labor locally or in fields far away.

The church is not Scripturally fulfilling its mission when it forms or supports human organizations, boards, societies, and denominations. Nor is one local church to plan, oversee, and coordinate the work of other local churches. The church at Philippi with its divine organization of bishops, deacons, and all the other saints repeatedly supported Paul in preaching the gospel (Phil. 1:1-5; 2:25-30; 4:14-20). On another occasion, Paul said that several churches gave him the support necessary to preach at Corinth (2 Cor. 11:8-9). He commended the Thessalonian church as exemplary for sounding out the word both locally and in regions beyond (1 Thess. 1:7-8). C.R. Nichol well said,

It is my persuasion that the church should be the church, and that the local congregation is the largest organization ordained by the Lord for the accomplishment of all the work he has commanded at the hands of congregations. I am not in sympathy with the statement I often hear: “We need a twentieth century church; that the church the Lord established was quite adequate for the first century, but we have come a long way since then, and the way work was done then in antiquated, outmoded, and there is now need for larger organizations, and different methods than those of the first churches in the first century, when churches labored under the direction of the elders in local congregations” (“Let the Church Be the Church,” Torch, April-May 1951, p. 12).

Whatever mission God gave to the local church, He also gave it the necessary and all-sufficient organization to accomplish that mission.

Perpetuate or Pervert the Mission?

If we are to perpetuate rather than pervert the church’s mission, we must perpetuate Bible teaching on the concept of the church as supernatural not natural in origin and design. The church was purposed by the Father, promised and paid for by the Son, and revealed by the Spirit. Its pattern is divine not human, whether for its mission, organization, doctrine, discipline, worship, name, or treasury. Foy E. Wallace, Jr. commented on Ephesians 3:9-10, saying that the church is “not a natural institution” but exhibits the Divine Architect in the salvation of souls. “The comprehensiveness of the church is here made to be co-extensive with the whole scheme of redemption (Eph. 1:10-11, 20-23).” Thus Ephesians presents the dignity and grandeur of the church “as the building and habitation of God” by a foreordained plan from eternity. The church belongs “to the highest sphere of divine knowledge and wisdom, beyond the prudence of men to devise or the power of the human mind to plan” (“The Identity and Perpetuity of the Church”). The church conceived as a natural device of man becomes pliable to human pride and passion. Some current members of churches of Christ have no higher conception of the church than to think that it should adopt as part of its work the job of convincing people that homosexuality “is a gift of God.” “I should think that the goal would be that homosexual Christians should be able to function in all capacities just as everyone else, and that there would be no attention paid to that particular aspect of one’s life” (“Coming Out in Houston: The A Cappella Chorus,” Mission Magazine, October 1979, pp. 61, 63).

If we are to perpetuate rather than pervert the church’s mission, we must perpetuate Bible teaching on the concept of the church as spiritual not secular in nature and work. The kingdom of Christ is not political in nature and not designed to mobilize political pr military force (Jn. 18:36). Political ambiguity, diplomacy, and craftiness are not its methods and carnal weapons are not in its arsenal. But the preaching of a crucified Savior is God’s power to save man from sin,-from-vain imaginations, and from “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” The spiritual force of the gospel is all-sufficient to bring “every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). The Pope of Rome with his political trappings, national and international councils of Protestant churches with their political pronouncements, and brethren who want to activate the church in political campaigns are all equally unbiblical. All pervert the spiritual mission of the church.

Secular education, recreation, business enterprises, and social renovation have their place in the world in which we live but have no place in the work of the church.

The mission of the church is not social. Christianity is not a “social religion.” The Gospel of Christ is not a “social gospel.” The church of the Lord is not a “social institution.”

Preachers who make a specialty of love, courtship, marriage, parent education, and counseling those who are having difficulty in domestic relations and in social problems should do such work in some other way than through the church and should not deceive themselves into thinking that such work is the work of a gospel preacher (Roy E. Cogdill, Walking By Faith, pp. 8-9).

Yes, when a person becomes a Christian, it will change all his attitudes and relationships for the better in this world, but the mission of Christ and His church is not to build a better world but is to save us from our sins so that we may spend eternity with God. It is a shame and disgrace that churches build gyms with ladies slimnastics, ceramics classes, macrame classes, bowling leagues, volleyball leagues, cardiac pulmonary resuscitation courses, basketball officiating classes, jogging classes, and picnics (see Madison, Tennessee, Church of Christ Marcher August 22, 29, and September 5, 1979). Schools tied to churches, as in Dayton, Ohio, pervert the mission of the church.

Let us ring out the Good News of Jesus Christ! That, very simply, is the church’s mission.

Questions

Why did Paul commend the church at Thessalonica?
What is the “Macedonian call”? How can we follow the Thessalonian example today?
Why is it important to share the gospel with friends, neighbors and relatives?
Who announced that Jesus was the long-awaited Savior? How could he know this?
What commission did Jesus give to His apostles after He arose from the dead? How is it distinguished from the commission In Matt. 10?
What is the one message that can save lost sinners?
How has God provided for a Christian to worship, study and grow?
How can each Christian help spread the gospel?
What is the Church’s mission?

Truth Magazine XXIV: 1, pp. 22-24
January 3, 1980

The Church and Salvation

By O.C. Birdwell, Jr.

Many do not understand what the church that Jesus built is, and often have no concept of the nature of the church. Because of this there is much misunderstanding about the relationship of the church to salvation. We, therefore, hear such statements as, “The church is not the Savior,” and, “The church is not essential to salvation.” Let us give some serious study and thought to this important subject which is vital to our salvation.

When we discuss the church and salvation, we do not have in mind the many churches in the world that have been built by men. Such churches are not “of Christ,” they are “of men.” They were built by men. They are named after men. They teach the doctrines of men. They belong to men. If they promise any salvation, it is merely man’s promise. Worship offered to God by such churches is in vain. Of similar bodies Jesus said, “But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men” (Matt. 15:9). We are not, therefore, affirming that salvation is in any of these churches. On the other hand, we even deny that they are essential to salvation. We do affirm, however, that the church Jesus built, the church that is in existence by his authority, the church one reads about and finds described in the New Testament does relate to salvation.

Is This Your Question?

Recently this writer was asked a question with a request made that it be answered on our local radio broadcast and in Bible Facts, a monthly paper we publish. The question was, “Where is the passage that says one must be a member of the church of Christ to be saved?” Since a Bible passage was requested, the following one was given: “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23). This statement by the inspired apostle is in every properly translated New Testament. Yet, it is generally overlooked and disregarded. Christ is head of the church and savior of the body. There is one body (Eph. 4:4), and that one body is the church (Eph. 1:22, 23). These passages make no mistake about the importance of the church to our salvation. Christ is the savior of the church. We, therefore, must be a part of the church to be saved.

How the Church Relates to Salvation

(1) The church is God’s family. Paul wrote, “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14, 15). The word “house,” as used here, means “family.” Paul is not expressing concern about conduct in a church building; but rather he is speaking of one’s conduct as a member of the family of God. The church is that family.

(2) Christ is a Son over. God’s house. He is called by the writer of Hebrews an Apostle, High Priest, and Son over God’s house (Heb. 3:1-6). The Father gave Him to -be head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:23). He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).

(3) Reconciliation to God is in the church. The mystery of the salvation of the Gentiles and their reconciliation unto God was revealed by Paul. How God planned to save the Gentiles was a mystery until it was fully revealed by inspired men. In Eph. 2:11-22, Paul tells how both Gentile and Jew are presently reconciled unto God. “But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even -the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself on the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (vs. 13-16). Notice that reconciliation to God of both Gentile and Jew is “in one body.” We have already shown that this body is the church.

(4) The church is a habitation of God. Paul speaks of the “household of God” and calls it a t “holy temple” and “a habitation of God” (Eph. 1:19-22). Again, we note that he is not talking about a material building, but those whom he calls “fellow-citizens he saints.” These are the household of God. They are the church. This is where God dwells.

(5) The Lord adds those who are being saved to the church. “And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved” (Acts 2:47, ASV). In the KJV we read, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” When one repents, is baptized, and receives remission of his sins, he is immediately added by the Lord to the church. The Lord does His job daily. He does not get behind. He adds people who are being saved to his church, not to the churches of men. Hence, there are no present day, accountable, saved people outside the Lord’s church.

Modern False Concepts

With many, decisions are made and minds molded by human concepts and worldly wisdom rather than by the word of God. What they know about the church comes from human creeds. The same is so with their understanding of salvation. Consequently, their attitude toward the relationship of salvation to the church depends on their concept of the church and salvation as taught by men.

Theory: The Church is an Afterthought

Some hold the position that the church is merely an afterthought of God and never in His plan for man. Many premillennialists believe the church to be no more than a filler, to fill in a “gap” or a “parenthesis” in God’s plan for national Israel. They affirm that Jesus came to establish an earthly kingdom, but being rejected by the Jews, the church was established instead. There is no wonder that so many of these people have such a low estimate of the church. Contrary to this theory, the church is the spiritual kingdom of Old Testament prophecy. It is that kingdom which was “at hand” during the days of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:1-3). It is the church Jesus said, “I will build” and then called the kingdom (Matt. 16:18-19). Rather than being an afterthought, the church reveals the “manifold wisdom of God,” and is in His “eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10, 11). The church was purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28). One should not disregard or take lightly such a high-priced institution.

Theory: There is a Subjective Body With Many Objective “Christian Communions”

There are many who affirm that all who believe that Jesus is the Christ make up the church of Christ. The idea is that there is a universal, subjective, church of Christ, made up of those who give mental assent to Jesus as the Christ. These people then, according to the theory, make up different objective bodies with divergent beliefs and traditions.

In a book called What Present Day Theologians Are Thinking, Daniel Day Williams, the author, has a chapter on “The Church.” He presents the theological concept of the church as a universal subjective body with many objective communions. He makes the following statement: “Within nearly every existing Christian communion there is a growing challenge to complacency with existing forms and traditions. Each communion is actually only a fragment of what the full Body of Christ should be. The question being asked from within the churches is, `How can the universal church of Christ be more adequately expressed in our particular tradition.”‘ If these people believe in any salvation they relate it only to this concept of the universal church to which they affirm one belongs only by a specific faith that Jesus is the Christ. One then may, or may not, become a member of what they call a “Christian Communion” as being of human origin. This is indeed the truth, and it is of these we have already said, “we deny that they are essential to salvation.”

Their concept of the universal church is also incorrect. They church universal is God’s family. It is made up of those who are born of water and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5). “Faith only” does not constitute the new birth. A part of it is baptism as commanded in the Great Commission (Mk. 16:15, 16), and as taught and administered by the apostles and early disciples (Acts 2:38, 8:38). One comes forth from baptism a new creature in Christ (Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12; 2 Cor. 5:17). He has been baptized into Christ, entering the body of Christ, the church (Gal. 3:27; Acts 2:47). This is where there is salvation for those who are faithful.

Conclusion

Those who have thus obeyed the first principles of the gospel of Christ are called Christians. They take on no human religious name. They assemble with others who have obeyed the same gospel. They teach only what. the Holy Spirit has revealed in the Bible. They worship Gad as the New Testament directs. Congregations of such people in different places are called “churches of Christ” (Rom. 16:16). Dear friend, we encourage you to do only what the New Testament asks you to do; be only what the New Testament asks you to be; and worship God only as the New Testament dictates that you worship. When this is done glory will be given unto God in the church (Eph. 3:21). This is the church Jesus purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28); which He will save (Eph. 5:23); and which kingdom He will deliver up to God the Father (I Cor. 15:24). The church does relate to salvation.

Questions

Is the church God’s appointed dispenser of salvation? Can you think of any church which believes that it can give or withhold salvation to a man?
What affect do human additions to worship have on that worship being accepted by God?
Must one be a member of the church to be saved? Prove your answer.
If the church is compared to a family, does God have children outside His family?
Can one “Join” the church? How does; one get into the Lord’s church?
How does premillennialism undermine the biblical doctrine of the church?
Does the word “church” refer to an invisible group of those good, honest, sincere people in all of the denominations? Prove your answer.
Can one be reconciled to God without being in the church? See Acts 2:47 and Eph. 2:16.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 1, pp. 19-21
January 3, 1980

Is This Your Question?

How the Church Relates to Salvation

Modern False Concepts

Theory: The Church is an Afterthought

Theory: There is a Subjective Body With Many Objective “Christian Communions”

Conclusion

Questions

Is the church God’s appointed dispenser of salvation? Can you think of any church which believes that it can give or withhold salvation to a man?
What affect do human additions to worship have on that worship being accepted by God?
Must one be a member of the church to be saved? Prove your answer.
If the church is compared to a family, does God have children outside His family?
Can one “Join” the church? How does; one get into the Lord’s church?
How does premillennialism undermine the biblical doctrine of the church?
Does the word “church” refer to an invisible group of those good, honest, sincere people in all of the denominations? Prove your answer.
Can one be reconciled to God without being in the church? See Acts 2:47 and Eph. 2:16.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 1, pp. 19-21
January 3, 1980