Views: 5<\/p>
[Note:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles<\/strong>\u00a0 page.]<\/span><\/p>\n Introduction<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Rampant liberalism in churches of Christ has produced rampant apostasy over the past five decades. Hundreds of congregations that were at their inception strong in the Truth have become unrecognizable by New Testament standards. This phenomenon has produced a circumstance in which thousands of brethren, still faithful in their convictions in the Truth, have found themselves members of apostate churches. Numerous brethren have asked me what they can\/should do about the liberal congregation of which they are members. This question and its Scriptural answer are as practical as they are consequential. Let us consider these matters.<\/span><\/p>\n When God announced the coming destruction of \u201cBabylon\u201d in Revelation 18, He warned His people: \u201cCome forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues\u201d (v. 4). This warning applies to God\u2019s people in the \u201cBabylons\u201d of every age and species, including the many apostate congregations of our time that have rebelled against Heaven. What can\/should faithful brethren who may still be in them do? The answer from Scripture is clear: \u201cCome forth, my people<\/strong>….\u201d <\/strong>Many good brethren have obeyed this warning and have left such corrupt bodies in recent years, but likely thousands of unhappy saints yet remain in them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCome forth\u201d\u2014The Fellowship Factor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Heavenly voice warned God\u2019s faithful people to \u201ccome forth\u201d because they must \u201chave no fellowship\u201d with Babylon\u2019s sins. Fellowship <\/em>refers to sharing in common or jointly participating in given activities and\/or interests with others. Those who stay in a liberal congregation are in fellowship with its errors\u2014it is that simple. God has never <\/strong>approved of His children\u2019s having fellowship with His enemies.<\/span><\/p>\n Zero fellowship permitted: <\/strong>\u201cSome\u201d fellowship with sin and error is not an option. The consistent rule of Scripture is \u201cno <\/strong>fellowship\u201d: \u201cHave no <\/strong>fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness\u201d (Eph. 5:11; cf. 2 Cor. 6:14\u201318; emph. DM). In such passages, the Lord through Paul addressed fellowship with unbelievers, but the teaching is the same concerning apostate brethren: \u201cReceive him not <\/strong>into your house, and give him no greeting<\/strong>: for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works\u201d (2 John 10\u201311; cf. 1 Cor. 5:9\u201311; 2 The. 3:6; emph. DM).<\/span><\/p>\n God\u2019s Word knows nothing of the Rubel Shelly scheme of \u201cBig F\u201d and \u201cLittle f\u201d \u201clevels of fellowship\u201d\u2014the doctrine of \u201climited fellowship\u201d (which apes the heretical Ketcherside\/Garrett \u201cGospel\/doctrine\u201d dichotomy). Those who remain in a church bent on error violate the Lord\u2019s \u201cno fellowship\u201d prohibition.<\/span><\/p>\n Contributing money on the Lord\u2019s day is one means of fellowship with a congregation. Contributors in a church that is unfaithful help support false teaching from its pulpit, liberal missionaries, and all of the erroneous doctrines and practices of that church, even if said contributors object to them. Liberal elders and preachers (and most brotherhood-related university administrators) pay little attention to verbal opposition. The one language they understand is M-O-N-E-Y<\/strong>. There is little hope of eradicating the current digression so many congregations now manifest, but it might be significantly slowed if thousands of objecting brethren would \u201ccome forth\u201d from them and cease supporting them financially.<\/span><\/p>\n Besides their financial fellowship<\/strong>, good brethren who remain in a bad church also implicitly endorse <\/strong>the congregation\u2019s errors. All the objections one might offer to digressive elders and preachers begin to sound hollow and insincere after a while when one stays despite the doctrinal departures. Merely registering objections is insufficient. Verily, if one is a member of an apostate church, he is endorsing its apostasy. For this reason, <\/strong>John forbade extending any indication of encouragement or endorsement to false teachers; to do so is to participate in their errors and the Lord\u2019s judgment against them (2 John 10\u201311; Mat. 7:21\u201323).<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCome Forth\u201d\u2014The Danger Factor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Lord stated a second significant reason His people must exit \u201cBabylon\u201d: He was going to bring plagues upon her, which those\u2014good and evil alike\u2014who remained in her would also suffer. One dare not assume that God will hold only the leaders <\/strong>in today\u2019s \u201cBabylons\u201d responsible. While their responsibility is greater, their supporters are likewise culpable, and will suffer the same judgment rendered against their leaders. Even the apostles would have been \u201crooted up\u201d or would \u201cfall into the pit\u201d (i.e., be lost) had they followed or supported erroneous leaders (Mat. 15:13\u201314).<\/span><\/p>\n Had Lot, his wife, and his daughters not fled Sodom, God would have destroyed them with that wicked city. The Lord urged their hasty departure <\/strong>to escape God\u2019s judgment (Gen. 19:12\u201317; cf. 2 Pet. 2:7). Likewise, the Lord would have His faithful ones to \u201ccome forth\u201d from corrupt congregations to escape the \u201cplagues\u201d that God will surely visit upon them (Rev. 2:20\u2013 23; 22:18\u201319).<\/span><\/p>\n One who remains in an unfaithful congregation also runs the risk of becoming \u201cdesensitized\u201d to error. Though at first he might strongly object to the departures he sees, by staying in such a church one may be lulled into complacency toward them\u2014the \u201cboiled frog\u201d syndrome. He may begin to rationalize the errors and to exalt sincerity over Truth.<\/span><\/p>\n Further Motivations to Move<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Revelation 18:4 sets forth two reasons why faithful saints must flee modern \u201cBabylons,\u201d but there are additional fundamental and practical reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n While otherwise good parents in liberal churches may at home point out the errors the children are encountering in \u201cBible\u201d classes and worship assemblies, eventually those children will figure out their parents\u2019 hypocrisy in staying in such a church. If parents want their children to grow up with any semblance of strong convictions in the Truth, they dare not linger in a liberal congregation.<\/span><\/p>\n Excuses, Excuses<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In spite of the numerous compelling reasons why Truth-loving brethren should have nothing to do with an apostate religious body (even if it falsely still sports a Church of Christ <\/em>sign on its property!), a large number of them continue to do so. They offer various excuses for their behavior:<\/span><\/p>\n Some cannot bear to leave behind the building their money and\/or hands helped to build. A brother once asked me what he should do about the liberalism in the church (which had earned its well-deserved reputation over several years) of which he was a member. He told me many sad details about their departures. I knew he had at one time been an elder there, but he told me he had resigned some time earlier because his objections were repeatedly ignored. I had assumed he agreed with the liberalism because he had continued to stay there. When I asked why he stayed he said that he (and some others) did not want to \u201cgive up\u201d the building. He failed to comprehend that the liberals long before gained control of the building (as his resignation indicated). In such cases, it is folly to think that one is \u201csaving the building\u201d by staying.<\/span><\/p>\n A building is only a building. It can be replaced, but a soul that stays in a digressive church will be lost and never recovered\u2014for the Truth or for eternity. As I would unhesitatingly urge a man to flee his fire-engulfed house as a lost cause, so do I counsel brethren who remain in liberal-infested churches in their vain attempt to \u201csave the building.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I confess to encouraging division when the Truth is at stake<\/strong>. Our Lord is \u201cthe Prince of Peace\u201d (Isa. 9:6), but He rules with a \u201csword\u201d that is often divisive (Mat. 10:34; Luke 12:51\u201352; Eph. 6:17). When some in a congregation refuse to submit to God\u2019s Word and others are determined to do so, division is inevitable. The Lord anticipated such divisions, and they have His blessing (1 Cor. 11:19). Those who have abandoned the Truth are the culprits in such cases<\/strong>, regardless of accusations to the contrary. Brethren should not let the church divider <\/em>charge intimidate them.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Those faithful spiritual ancestors understood the spiritual application of Solomon\u2019s words: \u201cBetter is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith\u201d (Pro. 15:16; 16:8). Some of these godly folk began congregations in their homes with only their own family unit as members, but they were determined to be faithful to God. The time has come again to demonstrate such grit and character for those in unsound churches who would \u201cworship in spirit and truth\u201d and maintain a \u201cgood conscience\u201d (John 4:23\u201324; Heb. 13:18). While the modern innovations are more varied than those of the past, they represent the same kind of rebellion against New Testament authority. God-fearing brethren who live in areas where sound congregations exist have no excuse for remaining in unsound congregations. They cannot sincerely ask, \u201cWhere can I go?\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Paul dealt with these errors as soon as he learned of them\u2014before their perpetrators had become entrenched and had gained unbreakable control. Unlike many present-day error- plagued congregations, the Corinthian errors did not represent a long-standing pattern of liberalism and disregard for the Truth. Numerous faithful brethren have again and again exposed and rebuked the errors of modern apostate congregations, only to see them resolutely march further into radicalism. Unlike the Corinthian church, there is no realistic hope that they will return to the Truth. Anyone who would appeal to the Corinthians as an excuse for apostasy and\/or for remaining in an apostate church should be ashamed.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In appealing for good brethren to leave bad churches, I am not encouraging \u201csheep- stealing.\u201d I am simply encouraging godly men and women to have the courage of their convictions and to make loyalty to the Lord and His Truth their priority. Although it may require sacrifice, the Lord\u2019s command to them is: \u201cCome forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues\u201d (Rev. 18:4).<\/span><\/p>\n [Note: <\/strong>I wrote the MS for and it originally appeared in a slightly different form as an \u201cEditorial Perspective\u201d in the February 2005 issue of The Gospel Journal<\/em>, of which I was editor at the time.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution:<\/strong> From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 5[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles\u00a0 page.] Introduction Rampant liberalism in churches of Christ has produced rampant apostasy over the past five decades. Hundreds of congregations that were at their inception strong in the Truth have become unrecognizable…<\/p>\n\n
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