Apostasy is Both Gradual and Progressive, Part 1

The Bible is replete with stories of mankind apostatizing from God. It began in Eden and continued though the Old Testament times. The children of Israel were known for their spiritual instability and they often digressed from the way in which God wanted them to travel. Eventually, both Israel and Judah went into captivity because of their love for foreign gods. But, the apostasies did not occur overnight. The adverse influence of Jeroboam, Jezebel and Ahab, along with other leaders, including priests, took time to permeate the general populace. Eventually the worship to Jehovah God became corrupt because of the desire to serve other gods. Often it took a generation for the apostasy to be completed. But time is not an obstacle too great for evil influences to overcome that which is good and right. Error possesses patience and can work so gradual that no one generation might be completely aware of its destructive destiny. The apostle Paul wrote in I Timothy 4:1 - 3, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” The sad fact is man does not remain faithful to God very long.

Because of the great desire of certain men in the first part of the nineteenth century in America , there was an effort to return to New Testament Christianity. The gospel began to be preached in its purity and the number of conversions to the Lord multiplied rapidly. The growth of the church of the Lord was phenomenal. However, in time the teaching of doctrines foreign to the New Testament and unscriptural practices such as the use of instrumental music in the worship assembly divided the church of Jesus Christ . What occurred over one hundred years ago is now happening again in the church of our Lord. The truth of the matter is there is already a schism in the body of Christ. This is due largely to certain men in our brotherhood who have exerted tremendous influence through their preaching and in their various publications. One book that has been well received by many is THE JESUS PROPOSAL written by Rubel Shelly and John York, published in 2003. This book is mentioned because one of the authors, Shelly, wrote a book that was published in 1984, some nineteen years earlier. It is amazing how much this author has changed in his understanding and preaching since he wrote the book I JUST WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN. In comparing the contents of the two books one can readily understand that apostasy from the teaching of the Word of God is indeed gradual and yet very progressive. It would indeed be wonderful if our young men and women would take the time to see how far this author has digressed from his earlier writings since many of them esteem him very highly and are influenced by his teaching.

The first observation that I want to make is regarding the study of the Holy Scriptures for oneself and coming to the knowledge of the truth. Shelly wrote in the first volume (I Just Want To Be A Christian): “One thing which an undenominational approach to the religion of Jesus Christ demands is that each man or woman be allowed to come to the Scripture with the right to study it for himself or herself and to come to such conclusions as he or she sees justified. Teachers may be helpful. Books and research tools are welcomed. But each person must take the responsibility of drawing his or her own conclusions about the will of God.” In the book, The Jesus Proposal, the co-author, York , wrote, “The more individualized we have become and the more certainty with which we believed we could objectively know truth, the more divided the church that Christ died for has become. The denominational world of our experience in America is directly tied to the belief that each of us can read and study the Bible for himself and arrive at the same truths of Scripture. (p. 29). On page 114, York wrote, “Our proposal to focus on Jesus means that Scripture is no longer a set of proof-texts or a collection of facts or God’s rulebook for human behavior. Scripture is the unfolding story of God acting both to create and to re-create. It is not an easy book to understand. It was never intended as a document to be individually read and interpreted –a sort of correspondence course in salvation”. Again, “Just as identity in Christ is always community identity, our reading of Scripture becomes a community reading as well. While we still have access to reading as individuals, we stop asking, “What does this mean to me?”as though there is such an isolated meaning. Instead we have a group mentality that asks, “What does this mean to us?” More importantly, we lay aside individual interpretations precisely because they are inevitably argumentative and divisive. We give up the right of individual interpretation and take on the accountability of shared reading. This is not a pooling of collective ignorance. The Bible is full of stories from ancient and often quite alien cultural settings and belief systems, and we cannot ignore those differences. So we listen to the voices of scholarship just as we listen to the child who intuitively hears what God is saying in a particular story.”

As one can plainly see, brother York disagrees with the earlier statement that brother Shelly made regarding the fact that each disciple can and should study the Bible for himself/herself. Jesus taught in John 8:31, 32, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Please observe that the ones to be made free from sin are those that would abide in His word. Therefore it is correct to understand that an individual can come to the knowledge of the truth by abiding in (studying) the word of the Lord. The apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to “study” and “give heed to reading” the Word of God (II Timothy 2:15; I Timothy 4:13). Paul also wrote in Ephesians 3:4, “how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ). Again, he encouraged the brethren in Ephesus in this matter, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). One of the reasons for the division among us today is not that each person is reading the scriptures for himself/herself; rather, it is the arrogant attitude that asserts that the average member of the church should leave the interpretation of the Word of God to the ‘scholars’ among us. The fact is the ‘scholarship’ among us over one hundred years ago contributed greatly to the apostasy that occurred then and such is happening again. (To be continued)

No comments: