Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 8
May 17, 1956
NUMBER 3, PAGE 9b

"Good Publicity"

C. D. Plum, Columbus, Ohio

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." (Matt. 6:1-4)

The quotation which you have just read is from Jesus. That ought to settle the matter once for all. Followers of Jesus are not seeking publicity. At least they should not be seeking publicity. Some very pertinent facts abound in the above quotation. Among these facts are these:

1. Hypocrites sound a trumpet before them.

2. Alms should be in secret.

It seems we are living in an age when men will resort to a brazen disobedience of this scripture for what they call "good publicity." I'll grant we may get publicity by disobeying Matthew 6:1-4, but I must deny that it is good publicity. Any publicity that springs from disobedience is not good.

Are we seeking news paper headlines? Do we think we are serving the Lord by allowing our pictures to be placed in papers as the benefactors of the oppressed? Is this we do the result of a proper understanding of Matthew 6:1-4? Am I therefore become your enemy "because I tell you the truth"?

Worse Yet

Dear brethren have searched hard and long for scriptures to authorize one congregation to become the clearing house for other congregations, for a work to which they are equally related, and found none, because there are none. But here is an advance step. Worse, if possible. A congregation decides it wants some good (?) publicity, so it takes it upon itself to call on civic organizations, fraternal organizations, all organizations, and individuals, through newspapers, to pay their money through this church of Christ for so-called charity work. What is used for scriptures to justify this practice? What could be used for scriptures to even begin to justify such a practice? If the newspapers actually misrepresented the church in such a matter, let the church straighten this matter up with the public through the same medium.

No, brethren, I am not speaking about a so-called church of Christ. It is not the body of people known to us as the Christian Church to which I am referring. Not at all. Less concerned would I be if it were so. But among us, brethren, it seems we have stepped from being a collecting and controlling agency of the funds of other congregations, which we can not establish as a scriptural procedure, to reaching out, soliciting and receiving funds from organizations, NOT the church of Christ. If this isn't true, let those thus represented have a retraction made of this terrible digression. I shall be more than glad to retract this statement if it is not true. If it is true, I have no other course left than to oppose such a practice as a digression in the Lord's work, so help me God.