Observations
Religious teachers of the day are failing in their duty to God and their fellow man by not teaching the Word in its purity and simplicity. There is a gross lack of knowledge or they are deliberately deceiving the people. I would not suggest that their false teaching is a deliberate attempt to deceive but that they are honestly mistaken in their concept of the teachings of the Holy Scripture.
The principle reason that some fail to come to a full knowledge of their duty to God is because they will not study the revealed will of God with an open mind. There are several man made creeds that are in existence today and thousands of souls try to reconcile the teachings of the Master with or to a human creed. They misapply the scripture and therefore never come to a full and saving knowledge of the gospel.
Baptists deny the teachings of the Bible on Baptism and other points and I believe that they are certainly honest and sincere in their belief. Why? They have been looking at God's will through the eyes of some preconceived ideas of man and are trying to make the Word of God conform to their opinions. They have clouded their minds with false doctrines until they actually think that position is scriptural and right.
Jesus came in contact with that situation in his time. The Jews were attempting to justify their religious traditions by their consanguinity. They said "we have Abraham to our father" and tried to justify their position in the sight of the Lord by relying on their blood line. Jesus condemned such a thing. We cannot expect to do likewise today and get by.
Some of our own brethren are trying to use the old sectarian line of reasoning to try to justify the present "setup" in some of our "homes for the aged," "orphan homes" and the like. It is a weak effort indeed. It must be hard and also embarrassing indeed to be called upon to defend some practice that has no scriptural backing whatsoever.
It was my good pleasure to attend for the first time the Lecture Program at Lipscomb College last January. They were designed to enlighten the mind of the hearer and as for me I was enlightened perhaps more than the average person attending.
The central theme seemed to be "more love and let others alone. The small problems that confront the church today such as "Super Org.," centralized control, etc. will burn themselves out soon if we would only let them alone. I remember having a discussion with a preacher of the Christian Church some years ago and his line of reasoning was one of "more love" toward each other and less narrow-mindedness. That discussion echoed in my mind as I heard the tones of compromise ring out loud and clear in the auditorium.
Did the Lord invite the Jews to enter into a compromise on the issue of the day? No, a thousand times no. It is impossible to show the proper attitude toward our fellowman unless we are willing to do everything in our power to stamp out error and defeat the soft attitude of compromise.
One prominent speaker on the program (he has been making trips in the north recently and giving active support to factions that are out of fellowship with the loyal congregations and are soft on premillennialism) advanced the idea that "the end justifies the means used to achieve that end."
In discussing the work of the church in caring for the orphans etc., he suggested the idea that the methods that are in use are the best that can be arranged so it is necessary that "we find scriptures to back up our position." That was the most feeble effort that I have ever heard in defense of institutionalism. In other words we are in this thing and we must win the battle at all, costs. The way to win is to bring the scriptures to our way of thinking.
Echoes of digression in its fullest degrees. If that isn't the same position taken by the Digressives to sustain their unscriptural organizations and the methods used in running them, then I am not able to understand their position at all.
The group that is trying to force the idea of the church doing its work of benevolence through the "Super Org." are trying to brand all that dare raise their voice as hobby riders, fanatics, etc. They are feeling the force of the scriptures however, because now they are getting ready to "make the scriptures justify our position."
I predict that in the near future they will decide that there isn't anything wrong with the "missionary society" anyway so let's get behind the plow and combine our efforts and get on with the work because the religious sects are going on and on and we must stay up with them at all costs. How are they going to get the average member of the church to back them in their program? By making the scriptures mean what they want them to and deceiving the brethren by giving them some sort of conscience soothing "thus saith the Lord," and branding any or all that dare call our hand, by calling them "hobbyists" or "Sommerites."
The thinking brethren are getting wise to their way of operating. The problems of "creeping institutionalism" and "Universal action of the church" are being brought to the attention of the brotherhood and the issues will be fought on scriptural grounds and the Truth will win. All unscriptural practices will be opposed and exposed and no amount of high pressure or name calling will stop the Truth from being presented to the brotherhood. If the doors are closed to the Truth in one or more of the publications then it will be fought through the others. Some are carrying a heavy burden now.
What is the ultimate end of the church if we abide by the line of reasoning advanced by the good brother in his lecture ? Soon the church will have departed so far toward the ways of the world that it will be impossible to say that it is the true church. Let's examine the idea "of the end justifies the means used to achieve that end." Money is necessary in the work of the church therefore we are justified in getting it anyway that is no illegal. By that line of thought we can use pie suppers or anything that anyone else uses. The Christian Church would look like an amateur in their money raising programs if we embrace the idea put forth..