Truth Magazine

By Steve Wolfgang

Footnote: Richard John Neuhaus, ed. Theological Education and Moral Formation (Grand Rapids, ME William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992), pp. 226-227.

Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the conservative journal First Things, also edits the Encounter Series of volumes published by Eerdmans, of which this is volume 15. Readers of this journal might also be interested in other volumes in the series, particularly volume 2 (Unsecular America) and volume 5 (The Bible, Politics, and Democracy).

Typically, each volume reports a conference in which four to six featured speakers delivered prepared addresses, following which those speakers and perhaps a dozen others join in a panel discussion of the issues raised in the prepared speeches.

This particular volume reports a conference at Duke University and offers some rare insight into the state of the denominational mentality in America, and I offer excerpts from three different sections of the round-table discussion for your amazement.

Professor William Willimon, speaking of the crisis of authority in the United Methodist church today:

“Right now the clergy suffer from a crippling inability to discipline one another, even in some of the grossest breaches of moral conduct. I’m thinking particularly of the United Methodist examples, but I could think of others. In my own annual conference there are cases of wife abuse, income tax evasion, and worse. This happens yearly. The United Methodist system is predicated on the assumption that clergy will discipline their own, and the laity wait for us to do that. For example, there was a district superintendent, a Duke graduate, who didn’t pay income tax for twelve years. He was indicted and convicted. When this came before the annual conference, people took the floor and talked about the one who was without sin throwing the first stone. I asked, ‘Does anybody have a rock?’ When I left the meeting, my dominant impression was this: Here’s your typical United Methodist ethical mush at work. Later I came to a much more devastating conclusion: We don’t even respect ourselves enough to say to this guy, ‘We don’t want you to be a part of us.’ We United Methodist ministers should think so much of our God-given vocation that there will be some colleagues to whom we must say, ‘You can be a wonderful Christian. But you can’t be a United Methodist pastor anymore. You forfeited that possibility. We can’t use you.’ It’s sad that six hundred people sat in that room at the annual conference and none of us said, ‘We treasure so much the yoke under which we serve that we cannot use you.

Willimon continued his point by noting that demoralized clergy lead to paralyzed churches: “As a United Methodist, I’m part of a denomination that over the last decade has lost six hundred members a week. All of the main-liners, or old-liners, are in the same situation. How much more dissatisfaction do we need? This summer I went to the jurisdictional conference. A bishop got up and said, ‘The good news is that our rate of decline is one of the lowest in the United Methodist Church today. The good news is that we have lost only 120 members a week since we last met.’ Despite this ‘good news,’ he expressed regret and said we needed to work on evangelism. Then, when we had finished with that, we proceeded to elect a group of people as bishops, not one of whom, in my humble estimation, knows what to do about the losses.”

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 14, p. 427
July 16, 1992

By Mike Willis

The things to be accomplished by the plea to restore the New Testament church are many and great. The adoption of the restoration plea by the general populace would greatly improve and correct the moral and religious circumstance in America or anywhere else in the world. Here are some results which would be accomplished by the plea to restore the New Testament church:

1. The original church of Christ, in its faith, worship, organization, unity, and terms of admission, would be reproduced. In every community where the plea was followed, the Lord’s church would be established. The rule of faith, the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), would be the rule of faith of every local congregation. Every church would assemble on the Lord’s day to remember the Lord’s death in the Lord’s supper, pray to God, give of their prosperity, study God’s word and sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Eph. 5:19).

2. All of the followers of the Lord would be Christians only. There would be an end to “Baptist Christians,” “Methodist Christians,” “Pentecostal Christians,” and “Catholic Christians.” The names which reflect the divisions among us would all die. These would be replaced by the wearing of Bible names – Christian, disciple, believers, saints, children of God, etc. The churches would no longer be called Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Episcopal Church, Roman Catholic Church, and such names as are not found in the Bible; instead churches would wear names such as church of God (1 Cor. 1:2), church of Christ (Rom. 16:16), house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), etc.

There will be no need for sectarian preachers building fences to keep their members from going to another denomination. There will be no need for duplication of labor and service, where one denominational preacher serves the need of 50 people in his little group and another denominational preacher serves the need of 50 people in his little group. When the plea to restore the New Testament church is followed, these differences will be destroyed that all may be one in Christ.

3. All Christians would belong to the church of the Lord alone and not at the same time hold membership in some modern denomination. The Lord’s church is big enough to include all Christians; there is no need for different churches for different people. If both Jew and Gentile could be reconciled to God in the one church of the first century, so can all men in the twentieth century be reconciled to God in one body (Eph. 2:16). Therefore, all denominational churches are wholly unnecessary and are contrary to God’s revealed will.

4. All Christians will believe the one divine creed, have the same confession of faith, and be governed by the same divine rule of faith and practice. There will be an end to creeds written by men to regulate the beliefs and actions of the churches. There will be an end to annual “general assemblies” called together to vote on changes to the rules governing the churches, as presently is done in modern denominationalism. The largest church organization on earth would be the local church and the highest church office on earth would be that of an elder in the local church.

5. Among Christians, there will be allegiance to just one head, Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is head of the church. The plea to restore the New Testament church would remove human heads of churches, such as the pope, synods and councils.

6. The moral standards of God’s people would be those approved of God. We would not have one church accepting easy divorce and remarriage and another accepting the teaching of Matthew 19:9. We would not have one church hosting a gambling event (bingo games, casino nights) and another opposing gambling as sinful. We would not have one church ordaining homosexuals to preach and another condemning homosexuality as sinful. If the restoration plea were accepted and adopted, there would be an end to differing standards of morality.

7. The Lord’s prayer for the unity of his people would be answered. Jesus prayed, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (Jn. 17:20-21).

The restoration plea is the only means of seeing the Lord’s prayer for unity answered. Other plans for unity condone unscriptural doctrine and practice in express violation of 2 John 9-11 (“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds”). Unity-in-diversity, unity in gospel and differences in doctrine, ecumenism, and other denominational forms of unity are not to be equated with the unity for which Jesus prayed. They are not and never can be the Bible plan of unity.

8. All men will be united in the “one hope” of the gospel. There will not be one group working to accomplish “heaven on earth” because they have lost faith in obtaining eternal life and another trying to restore Israel to the land of Palestine. Instead, all will be aiming to obtain the everlasting home with God, the inheritance that is “incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, and is reserved in heaven” (1 Pet. 1:4-5).

9. There will be biblical cooperation in the great works of evangelism and benevolence. Every local church will do its work in taking the gospel to the lost in their community and in supporting men to preach in other areas (1 Thess. 1:7-8; 1 Tim. 3:15; Phil. 4:15-16). The world can be evangelized without the invention of central organizations such as missionary societies, mother churches and sponsoring churches. God’s plan worked in the first century, to spread the gospel throughout the known world, and it will still work today (Col. 1:23).

When brethren in a given locality are in need, local congregations can rally to relieve that need, just as they did in the first century (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 11:27-30). They relieved the needs of suffering saints without the creation of church supported hospitals, orphan homes, old folks homes, and other human institutions.

Conclusion

We are not so naive as to think that all men everywhere will lay aside their unrevealed religions in order to restore the New Testament church. Not all of the Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, Essenes, Epicureans, Stoics, and other first century proponents of unrevealed religion did, so why should we expect that all Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Episcopalians, Muslims, and other proponents of unrevealed religion will today? Men will be saved one soul at a time. Our prayer is that we can increase the number of the redeemed by the preaching of the undiluted gospel and bring a few more sons to glory in the process. (I have borrowed heavily from The Plea to Restore the Apostolic Church by James C. Creel for this series of articles.)

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 15, pp. 450, 471
August 6, 1992

By Howard L. Whittlesey

When a Christian confronts theft, he will likely disdain the prospect, and he will put to shame the one who would even suggest it. He would probably be heard saying that his resistance to such a temptation is a trademark of his Christianity. While the worldly man may steal without a flinch, this is just not in the moral repertoire of the man of God.

It seems to be quite a different matter, however, for even the Christian to steal the reputation of another man. While that Christian might cringe at the very idea of stealing something which can be replaced, he quite possibly will find pleasure in passing on a story which ruins someone else’s good name without even trying to find out if it is true.

The story of another man may be told by word of mouth, or it may be written in a letter or in some publication that circulates throughout the brotherhood. Neither of these legalizes this sin; nor does it please or glorify God. There is no justification for this sinner, be he well-known or unknown. He has told the story; he has stolen, or assisted in the stealing of, a man’s good name or reputation. That which he has stolen cannot be used by him, replaced by anyone, or ever quite restored.

Neither the writer nor the reader of such an evil story is guilt-free if their spirits and efforts coincide in any way. Many a church has suffered the consequences of such a sin. Sometimes this sin is perpetrated under the guise of being done in the name of truth, justice, or for [he putting down of a so-called false teacher.

Two things are required of a false teachers: (1) His teaching must be provably false and, (2) He must be proven to have taught that which is false. The proof of either or both of these behooves the honest, loving brother to approach the errant one in the spirit of Galatians 6:1-6 and of 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15. A lesser spirit is not a godly one.

The apostle Paul enumerated a number of types of people that should be avoided (2 Tim. 3:2-5). In this list is the false accuser, which is a slanderer. The Greek word is diabolos, meaning devil. The devil is the patron saint of all slanderers. He and the malicious brother-in-Christ are one when slander is cruelly meted out. Then the devil embraces the brother-in-Christ who receives this slander and then passes it on, having believed it without verifying it.

Thus, not only is the stolen good name irreparable, but also the soul of him who commits such a theft, initially or second-handedly, without repenting before departing this life.

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 14, p. 431
July 16, 1992

By Tom Moody

You are probably familiar with the beer commercial which bestows upon various groups of people the dubious honor of having a beer dedicated to them. For example, one commercial might say: “To all you steel workers who work and sweat all day to produce the nation’s steel – this Bud’s for you.” Or: “This Bud is for you truckers, driving the highways day and night to help keep this country going.”

On these spots we have heard various ones singled out for praise from foundry workers to baseball umpires. I wonder, though, to how many it has occurred that there are several categories of people who have never been mentioned in those ads?

Imagine the effect of an ad campaign which would run like these examples:

“This Bud’s for you – all you mothers and fathers who are grief stricken over your teenaged son or daughter because alcohol has scrambled their brains; for you parents who have seen your children’s lives shattered by the bottle – This Bud’s for you!”

“To you women who are knocking yourselves out day after day trying to keep food on the table for your family; trying to be both mother and father to your kids because your old man is a drunken sot – This Bud’s for you!”

“Hey, all you kids whose dads come home mean and surly; threatening to beat you at the drop of a hat – all because they are tanked up on our product – This Bud’s for you!”

“This Bud is for you – you who have had friends or relatives maimed or killed in a senseless traffic accident because of the guy who had ‘only a couple of drinks’ – This Bud’s for you!”

“This Bud is for all the families who have been ripped apart because of fathers or mothers who could not handle alcohol. All you children who will grow up with a warped perception of family life and with all kinds of moral and spiritual scars – This Bud’s for you!”

“To all you preachers, elders and other faithful Christians who work so hard to warn people of the sin and danger of the beer we work so hard to sell; because of your dedication and hard work – This Bud’s for you!”

“To all people everywhere; the millions upon millions through the generations whose lives have been ruined; who thought they were gaining prestige, but only brought to themselves shame; who have died prematurely or lived out their days in loneliness, disease, and mental anguish because of alcohol; to all of you who have ever been cursed or injured in any way because of our fine product (and all the other brands) – This Bud’s for you!”

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Prov. 20:1).

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 15, pp. 449, 471
August 6, 1992