Conquering the Enemies Within

In his letter to Timothy, Paul spoke of "perilous times" that would come in "the last days.' And he set forth some of the symptoms which would in­dicate why the church would have members with "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."

Formal Christianityhas crept into the church, yes, even into the remnant church, and it is imperiling the very foundations. The simplicity of faith and life of our founding fathers has to a large degree departed from our midst. The prosperity of the movement, indicated in the sweeping advance in foreign lands, and more especially in the home­land, is in itself an element of danger. It is to the remnant church that God directs the words : "Be­cause thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3:17.

Leaders, ministers, Bible instructors, and church workers have been made recipients of the grace of Christ in order that they might watch over the flock, restoring to health such members as may be found dying in trespasses and sins. We must face the facts realistically. We need to analyze conditions that exist, and take necessary steps to correct whatever faults we find. There are causes for so many apostasies. What they all are can be determined only by careful and prayerful study. We set before you a few suggestions as to some primary reasons as they appear to us.

1. LOSS OF SPIRITUALITY.—Naturally, one of the first is the loss of spirituality. However, it is not true that those that apostatize never have been spiritual at all. There are evidences in the Bible of men who were godly but who fell from grace. Some were restored, others never. We have such instances today.

2. LACK OF DOCTRINAL UNDERSTANDING.—An­other cause is that of lack of understanding of the spiritual force and value of fundamental doctrines. The doctrines of Christ were lived by their Author. His followers are not only to accept them as truth, but to live them in truth.

3. FAILURE TO BECOME PART OF MOVEMENT.—Failure to become actual members of the church, "members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones," is a paramount reason for apostasy. Some members have never fully identified themselves with the movement, sorrowing with it in its trials, sharing its hardships, sacrificing for it to the full extent of their ability, spending their lives in its service, rejoicing in its victories and triumphs. They have never become more than members of a church. We need to build our people into a move­ment, not simply a church among churches.

Many have come into the faith through so-called "high-powered" evangelistic meetings. Night after night, week after week, they attended taber­nacle or theater, with its brilliant lights, its highly influential atmosphere. They heard special singing of wonderful gospel songs, and joined in congrega­tional singing led by dynamic, lively song leaders. They listened to sermons out of the ordinary, illus­strated by charts, images, cartoons, and pictures projected on the screen. Some of the sermons were highly colorful, spectacular, and stirring. The crowds attending the meetings added zest to it all and in the hubbub of the event, with the daz­zling splendor of the meeting place, the courtesy and helpfulness of the evangelistic workers, they were drawn to accept the message. They were sincere in their belief at the time, but the reaction that followed in some cases caused disappointment.

The evangelistic company moves on to another field. The new members are in the church. The pastor or local elder may not be as brilliant a speaker as was the evangelist. The church does not have a specialized song leader, and there may not be a choir. The regular routine of church life begins. The new member then begins to look around, to take stock of the other members. What does he find? Cliques, factions, criticisms, gos­sipings, lack of faith, worldliness, and a falling away from the high standards which were pre­sented by the evangelist or Bible instructor. (I know that I am painting a dark picture, but it is taken from a cross section of our church life.) The new member begins to drop out of church at­tendance. Faith begins to wane, and no one calls upon him to see what the reason is for his absence from Sabbath school and church services. Thus another member is dropped from the church rolls for apostasy, and too often it is said, "Well, the evangelist baptized him too soon ; he wasn't ready."

4. INTOLERANT, CRITICAL ATTITUDES. — The question of attitudes comes in for its share of anal­ysis. It is unfortunate that there does exist on the part of some ministers and church workers a spirit of condemnation toward the unfortunate weak mem­ber. Too often individuals are pushed down and out of the church by this harsh, un-Christlike at­titude. They might have been helped up and thus been established in the faith through prompt, lov­ing action. The spiritual are to help the weak, according to divine counsel. Christ did not drive Mary Magdalene away, even though she had been taken in grievous sin. Humbled and penitent she sank at His feet awaiting the words of condemna­tion. Instead she heard Him say, "Neither do I condemn thee." Those words brought Mary back to God and to salvation.

Let us not tolerate sin in the church, but let us be filled with compassion toward the poor, weak sinner, who because of his weakness has fallen into the snare of the enemy. We are to save, not de­stroy. Restore such a one and bring him to God in your arms of faith. Christ spoke scathingly to the hypocrites, but love and tenderness filled His heart and overflowed from His lips when He spoke to the weary sinners that thronged His steps.

5. LACK OF GUIDANCE.—Too many new mem­bers are left without guidance when they join the church. A child is taught how to maintain bal­ance, and thus to walk. Nor is it expected that he will never fall down once he has learned the art of walking. No, the falls still occur at times, and kind hands help him to his feet. So we need to guide, by love, the steps of the new ones, born into the family of God. Guide their feet along the way until they are certain of their steps.

6. FUNDAMENTALS NOT UNDERSTOOD.—Failure to understand the underlying and all-pervading fundamentals of commandment-keeping is another cause for apostasy. The principles enunciated by Christ in His conversation with the lawyer are all-important : "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Matt. 22:37, 39. To have an experi­mental knowledge of thus keeping the command­ments will most assuredly prevent apostasy.

7. NOT ENOUGH PRAYER.—"Lord, teach US to pray." How much we need prayer and daily con­versation with God. But many people do not know how to pray. They must be taught. Ministers and those engaged in soul winning must teach peo­ple how to pray. This they cannot do unless they themselves know how. There is great need for us to get back to the old-fashioned method of knee-bowing prayer, rather than the form which has be­come too prevalent among us—that of standing with bowed heads.

8. UNFRIENDLINESS AND COLDNESS.—Lack of warmth and friendliness is another cause for apos­tasy. As I visited a large church recently, I was appalled by the frigidity of it. I felt better when I stepped out of doors into the sparkling sunshine. Had it not been for the fact that the pastor asked me to meet the people at the door, I doubt that anyone would have spoken to me. No one spoke to my wife, not even the pastor's wife, and it was our first visit to that church. There should be a warmth and love among us that will transmit itself to those that come into our midst. Coldness freezes people out of the church, but love and friendliness brings them in.

9. DISAPPOINTMENT IN LEADERS.—Let us say a word to ministers and workers regarding their ex­ample. Paul told Timothy to be "an example of the believers." He was to exemplify what a true Christian ought to be. Is that not what God ex­pects of us as ministers? This is a reform church, and we are a reform people. There should be no need for any offshoot of men seeking to bring in reforms among us. If every minister anal worker lived to the best of his ability, the reforms which God has given to us, I believe apostasies would be reduced. When the minister fails, the church fails.