WHY OFFSHOOTS SHOOT OFF

MANY are they who were once a part of the body of Christ but are now defec­tors, detractors, and organizers of new move­ments. Their strident appeals for reform are so numerous as to constitute a Babel of negative protest. Their accusations can­not be ignored, nor their voices hushed. Labeled "offshoots" by the founder of the largest of these groups, the question arises, "Why do offshoots shoot off?"

High on the list of reasons is the one that lies closest to all men, namely, human nature. Some men are literally born with a leadership complex. They must direct, or else. If denied this privilege, in their own eyes they are being mistreated.  Wounded pride may transform them into venomous serpents. Subversion is the tool of reaction. To this depth they even dare to stoop. The frustration of ungratified ambition has led many to seek strange paths to self-satisfaction.

Others have departed from the faith due to a fatal fascination for what they term "new light."  Having assembled an impos­ing array of texts and quotations in support of their contentions, they are prepared to judge the church on the acceptance or re­jection of these arguments. Dejection usu­ally follows rejection. What is often for­gotten is that new light must not contra­dict old light. Also it must be related to spiritual living. Many a brother descends on Washington, brief case in hand, request­ing a hearing when what he really wants is an airing.

There is another group that has a genu­ine concern for the sins of Israel, some of which are not imaginary.  These demand visible evidence that the church is "weeping between the porch and the altar." Not an unreasonable suggestion, incidentally. "Reform!" is their watchword, "Purge!" their battle cry. To this the church cannot object while she retains her conscience. But when action is not immediate and drastic and the voice of mourning is not heard, the would-be reformers separate to escape "contamination." In this they err in three glaring particulars:

1. In fighting the church as an enemy from the outside, one actually becomes just that.

2. If reform is difficult from within, it is impossible from without.

3. There are always casualties in such a struggle, innocent bystanders who lose their way. Apostasy is obviously not the answer.

Then there are those who are not with us because they never were. Harboring un-confessed sins, their association with the brethren merely serves to aggravate their troubled consciences. Being "in" but not "of" extinguishes the candle of faith, plung­ing the unfortunate apostate into dark­ness "blacker than a thousand midnights."

Perhaps the strangest of the apostates is the man who neither sees nor understands the responsibilities of a world organiza­tion. To such a man, organization is of it­self an evil. The slightest degree of central­ization of authority is labeled "popery." He views organization as an infringement upon individual liberty. Thinking thus, he falls away. Granted that no earthly form of organization is perfect either in structure or administration, what more ac­ceptable form would one desire than the present one, namely, government by committee, the most democratic form of col­lective action? This is heavenly, consider­ing the two alternatives—rule by bishops or the anarchy of unrelated segmentation.

Therefore he [Satan] deceives even the professed people of God and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality; that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course, and to remain especially distinct from bodies of Christians who are united and are laboring to establish discipline and harmony of action. . . . It was and now is Satan's special work to lead men to feel that it is God's order to strike out for themselves and choose their own order independent of their brethren.—Evangelism, p. 318.

Then there are the hangers-on, who pay court to the church for security reasons. For the loaves and the fishes they pursue their faithless ministry, experiencing an unhappiness that is not worth the effort. An offer of more security in another line of work is all that is needed to attract such a man from the ranks.

Preoccupation with business schemes, many and sundry, has taken its toll from our ministerial ranks. It is probably no accident that most of the evangelists in the history of the church were not men of means. Money is not a curse, nor its pos­session a sin, but to love it above one's spiritual interests and ministerial calling is the surest path to the casualty list.

For these and many other reasons, off­shoots shoot off and bright lights go out. The result? Shock to the believers, grief to the brethren, and eternal loss to' the man himself.

No man is naturally immune to apostasy. Perhaps the most sobering fact of all is, "It can happen to me." This realization is also the first line of defense against way­wardness. Apostates are human beings, some of them sincere in purpose and pro­cedure. To realize that but for the grace of God it could be me should temper one's relations with these people. Realization of personal danger and susceptibility is the first step toward immunity to defection.

"Positive thinking" is another of the safeguards that is vastly underrated. The Scripture enjoins that we abstain from

negative thinking for our own spiritual good (Phil. 4:8). This is no appeal to pass lightly over the sins in Zion or to white­wash hypocrisy. It is a fact, however, that no useful purpose is served by feeding con­tinually on the negative side of a positive operation. "Let us sing a song that will cheer us by the way." There is a time for and a need to sigh and cry and to weep "between the porch and the altar." But the same Bible says, "Rejoice evermore," and "Be of good cheer." Reformation can be cheerful. A little boy, having seen the film Martin Luther, made this comment: "Did he ever smile, Daddy?" In the heart of the Christian minister there is no room for gloom. In the normal order of things every minister will be faced with good and evil. The forbidden tree still stands in the garden of God. He cannot escape its pres­ence, but he need not succumb to its power. His safety depends in part on his state of mind. To "think on these things" —the positive, the encouraging—is the key to strength of mind and health of soul.

Never give place to a thought of discouragement in the work of God. Never utter a word of doubt. ... It is not our privilege to speak words that will depress. . . . Let us become familiar with the good that is being done by our brethren, and talk of that. —Ibid., p. 633.

Not the least of the factors affecting the stability of the worker is the prayer of com­mitment. This is not a plea for help, nor is it an expression of thanksgiving for bless­ings received. Confession of sin is always in order, but is not the burden of this type of prayer. The prayer of commitment should be offered several times a day, every day. The petitioner assures his Master of his total allegiance. In effect he says, "Lord, I am on Your side. And should I in the future indicate by word or deed a waning of spiritual order, hold me until I come to my senses. Preserve me from internal weakness and external pressures. I give my­self to Thee today and forever, Amen." Prayer is itself a stabilizing influence. Few men will argue with the following state­ment from the pen of inspiration: "There is too little prayer among the ministers of Christ, and too much self-exaltation. There is too little weeping between the porch and the altar."—Ibid., p. 641.

Many a man has lost his way because of lack of personal familiarity with the teach­ings of the church. Having read what others have written, they are content, little aware that the yellow blight of decay tints the soul of every man who neglects personal study. Have you attended a church where the doctrines are listlessly presented and there is unconcealed relief on the part of the congregation when the sermon is fin­ished? You are probably familiar with the story of the woman afflicted with insomnia, whose friend suggested, "You should come with me to church sometime; that might help." Could it be that her minister did not search the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so?

There is something delightfully refresh­ing in the style and content of a sermon delivered by the man who "mined the ore." Sleeping saints, aided and abetted by the pulpiteer, bring joy to the devil and shame to God. Not a few among us are too busy to study. Such a man is too busy. His lean­ness of body and spirit are reflected in his tired, anemic sermons. The "falling away" of the saints is but one symptom of this malady. Probably more serious is the dam­age done by the man himself to himself. He is sowing the seeds of his own apostasy.

Many accept the truth without digging down deep to understand its foundation principles. , . . Too often their piety degenerates into a form, and when the appeals that first aroused them are no longer heard, thev become spiritually dead.—Ibid., pp. 367, 378.

The preservation of one's faith is, in the final analysis, a personal matter. The church can only provide the atmosphere favorable to Christian growth and develop­ment. It cannot immunize against apostasy. Nor does any church office impart to its holder piety commensurable with the privi­lege. The minister himself must secure the fortress of his own soul. If the truth was recorded in the annals of the backsliders, it would read, "His own vineyard hath he not kept." Steadfastness in the faith cannot be absorbed through association with the brethren or be generated by a constant round of activity. It is achieved and sus­tained in the quietness of personal com­munion with one's Maker.

In the divine order of things the day will come when individual souls will be individ­ually tested. Individual anonymity will be rendered impossible in the full glare of the next inquisition. That which is without will be of little value then. We shall stand or fall on the strength or weakness of the inner man. An inspired apostle was heard to exclaim, "None of these things move me".' May it ever be true that in this he speaks for us all.

E. E. C.