The Lesser Of Two Evils
There can no longer be any doubt or question that the church is facing a crisis. How serious that crisis, and how prolonged it may be, probably none of us can predict with any degree of certainty right now. But already it has reached alarming and distressing proportions. Churches have divided, gospel preachers have been fired, fellowship has been broken, meetings have been cancelled; and now we are seeing the old, tragic pattern of law-suits over church property begin to develop.
Surely the brethren who are promoting their projects as "expedients" have lost sight of the fact that the Bible teaches an "expedient" must edify. (1 Cor. 10:23-33.) No matter how wonderful and marvelous any of these "expedients" may appear in the eyes of its promoter, the fact that they have divided churches, broken fellowship, brought heartache and anguish to the people of God far, far out-weighs any good that may be claimed for them. Projects like the Herald of Truth, Childhaven, the Gospel Press, and all such promotions have driven a wedge into the body of Christ; whatever good their promoters may claim for them has been accomplished only at the cost of a divided church. Can even the most ardent of their defenders think that the accomplishment has been worth the price that has been paid — and will continue to be paid for years to come?
The men who write for the Gospel Guardian, along with thousands whose names never appear in its pages, are earnestly seeking and praying for the things that promote PEACE. We desire unity on the basis of Bible teaching; not unity in error, nor in wrong-doing; neither unity bought at the price of surrendered convictions. But we are trying with all our heart and strength to persuade brethren NOT to break fellowship over present issues, but rather to study them through with the determination to arrive at Bible teaching, and be united upon that basis.
A Proposed Plan
A few weeks ago, with that objective in view, we offered a proposal that we felt would lessen tension, and would help greatly in relieving the danger of open division within congregations. We suggested that in every congregation there was likely a very respectable number of members who were conscientiously opposed to contributing to Herald of Truth, the benevolent homes, etc.; under such circumstances, no matter how completely agreed on such projects the eldership may be, they have no moral right to violate the consciences of faithful Christians by contributing funds from the church treasury to such projects.
We proposed an alternate, as the lesser of two evils: instead of the elders taking funds from the church treasury for such support, let them put up a box in the church vestibule, clearly marking it for whatever project they desire, and let those who want to contribute to that work do it on an individual basis, and not compel those who oppose to support the institutions.
Now we have the following letter from Brother W. L. Totty, one of the most ardent and outspoken of all the institutional promoters, and a sometime front page writer for the Gospel Advocate:
Dear Brother Tant:
The basic argument which you Guardian folk have made against orphan homes and the Herald of Truth is that they are parallel to the Missionary Society; yet, in the June 7 Guardian you propose that churches put a box in the vestibule clearly marked "contributions to the orphan home." Do you think, Brother Tant, it would be right to put a box in the vestibule clearly marked "contributions to the Missionary Society"? If not, you had better write another "compromise" editorial trying to clear up the misrepresentations you have been making for several years.
Moreover, what about your endorsement of Charles Holt in the Indianapolis debate when he said it is unscriptural for an individual to contribute to an orphan home?
Please think on these things.
Faithfully, W. L. Totty
Let us answer Brother Totty's questions with an unequivocal negative. We do NOT endorse the missionary society; nor the institutional orphan homes; nor Father Flanagan's Boystown. We do NOT think either churches or individual Christians should support them. Our editorials were not intended, in any sense as an endorsement of such projects. But we were writing on the assumption that the elders of some given church DID endorse and approve such projects, did think them to be scriptural, and were set on including such things in the church budget to receive funds from the church treasury.
In any such case, as an alternate to keep from splitting the congregation, as the lesser of two evils) we pleaded with the elders to put up the boxes in the vestibule, and NOT force brethren to violate their consciences in contributing to that which they believed to be wrong. We still so plead! Is there an eldership among that the Missionary Society SHALL receive funds from you, then let it be done on an individual basis, and do not involve the church in your apostasy.
Is there an eldership among us that is contemplating the putting of Father Flanagan's Boystown in the church budget? This is a Catholic orphanage, and presumably does a fine work in rehabilitating delinquent boys. If any eldership anywhere is on the verge of including this project in the church budget, we plead with them not to do so. For in spite of all the good work done at Boystown, and in spite of the glowing tributes that might be given, there are faithful and sincere Christians in every congregation who would be conscientiously opposed to the church's contributing to that work.
Is there an eldership among us that is fully convinced that Boles Home, the Lubbock Children's Home, the Herald of Truth, and Gospel Press should be put in the church budget? If so, we earnestly plead with such elders NOT to "lord it over God's heritage" by including these and similar projects. For be assured that there are faithful and sincere Christians in nearly every congregation who are conscientiously opposed to the church's supporting these things.
Are we suggesting that every church in the land put up a row of contribution boxes in the vestibule, variously labeled Orphan Home, Boystown, Red Cross, Colonial Dames, Heart Fund, Herald of Truth, Daughters of the Confederacy, Community Chest, Christian College, Veterans of Foreign Wars, etc.? Certainly not. Some of these things might he supported as individuals; but not one of them should receive one cent from the church treasury of any faithful New Testament congregation. But IF the elders of any given church are thoroughly convinced that any one of the above named things should be included in the church budget, and are planning to so include it, THEN we plead for the box in the vestibule as the lesser of two evils. This will relieve tension, promote unity, and will not violate the conscience of any Christian.
And is not that better than division? We would like to have the reaction of Brother Totty and Brother Goodpasture to this suggestion.