Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 12
October 27, 1960
NUMBER 25, PAGE 9

Preventing Apostasy

Warren Rainwater, Pensacola, Fla.

Any person in the church today who has the love for God in his heart toward his fellowman is concerned by the strife and chaos manifested in the hearts of many and the actions of hundreds. It is a grave problem facing the elders and others on every hand. Apostasy has always been the cause of the downfall of the church. When we search history to learn the cause of the decline of Christianity, we will find that apostasy has been progressing in one form or another. How to root out this evil in the hearts of Christians is of great concern at the moment. Sermons are being preached over the land. Honest members are again studying the "old paths" to see if perhaps they have overlooked some point that will help in clarifying the issues of the day.

Because apostasy is uppermost in the minds of the people, it naturally holds place in meetings, teaching programs, and religious papers. In meeting this menace to the Lord's church, some have been driven to take extreme positions which are just about as far from the Truth as the position being fought. Nevertheless, the Christian who is truly seeking the old paths will read everything with an open mind and not be lead off with groups in order to follow some man of repute. It is very easy to go along with the popular trends and thus enhance your chances for a top position with certain churches and be considered as a "sound man."

Since apostasy is a reality among us today. I want to take note of some ways to combat and prevent such from happening. Apostasy can be prevented by attacking the breeding places. If we can clean up the minds of the members and eliminate the place where unscriptural practices are thought up and put into practice, the job of keeping purity in the church would be more successful.

Just what are some of the breeding places in our activities that allow for apostasy to flourish? One is carelessness. Men and women are converted to the Gospel of Christ and start out on the road of Christianity and then we drop them. Many times not enough care is exercised in teaching them God's Word. They are treated as full-grown in the truth and are not taught properly. These new Christians come upon problems in every day living that demand an answer and many of us are not close enough to them to help. The wrong answers are found and lives are started on the wrong way. Being careless with the new converts is a breeding place for apostasy. Let us beware!

Another place where apostasy breeds is in inactivity. Elders who are doing their duty to God will see to it that every member has a task to perform according to their ability. Where a church is not doing its duty and failing to have a program of work to use the talents of the members, it is in for trouble. Some will say, "it is better to do something even though we are wrong than to not do anything." Therefore they dash headlong into unscriptural practices just to be active in doing something. Inactivity is one of the major causes of apostasy today.

Another place that breeds unscriptural activities, is the work itself. Many want to do what someone else is doing and can see nothing wrong with it if brother so and so did it. The bandwagon craze is eating into the church today until many of the congregations are just like the Jews of old. If the sects of the day are doing it, we will show them that we have arrived and that we can really do the job better than they. This attitude is ruining many otherwise good churches.

Another way to stop apostasy is to take action against the guilty one. This is approved and taught in the scriptures as essential in some cases, however, it is to be used as the last resort. Proper teaching in these vital areas will help prevent many souls from being led astray. We need to practice more preventive religion.

Someone is ready to ask, "what is the remedy?" We know where the breeding places are but how are we going to eliminate them? The answer may not be the same in all particulars in every place but the Word of God is the exterminator. It may have to be taught and applied in different doses in different places but the Gospel of Christ is the answer. It is the remedy. A sound teaching program in all parts of the Word; an aggressive work program which uses the talents of all the members; proper use of the Lord's money within the framework of the local congregations, will all work toward preventing apostasy. It is a life long struggle but we are to fight the good fight of faith without turning back. To this end we must commit our energies. If enough will take their stand for the Truth, error will flee before the onslaught of pure Christianity.