When Should We Oppose Departures?

by Gardner S. Hall

We all admit that departures from the Lord’s way should be opposed.  At least, we all say we do.

When should our opposition begin?  Should it begin the minute unauthorized devices are introduced?  Or should we wait until they have led to much greater apostasies?  Should one cry out the moment he sees the danger or wait until many see it?

If one warns as soon as he sees danger, he will be misunderstood, and good people will accuse him of jealousy and persecution against his brethren.  Some will call him an old grouch and a faultfinder, a mote hunter.

Should this deter him?  Not if he loves the church and the souls of men more than himself and popularity.  John the Baptist lost his head because he condemned sin.  How many talked Herod’s conduct over the back fence but dared not to do anything? Paul fought the encroachment of Judaism from its incipiency and his fight brought him into conflict with Peter (Gal. 2:11-21).  Peter was saved by Paul’s bold reproof, and no doubt many others were.  He could have waited till the error had built great strongholds, and allowed many more to be lost.

Many thought David Lipscomb was straining out gnats when he opposed societies and instrumental music.  But the element of the church that introduced these innovations was on its way to modernism.  It was not so easy for many good men to see then what the end would be; but we who have seen the outcome recognize the foresight and wisdom of Lipscomb.  In the present institutional battle, those who are truly awake can already see that to be acceptable to the institutional brethren one must not simply accept church related orphan homes.  There is a big package in which these homes are wrapped and one must accept the whole package.

The innovations of this generation will not be the last ones.  They will multiply rapidly in the next generation; extreme will follow extreme.  If I accept the present innovations but then get my eyes shocked open by the flood of new ones soon to come, then begin opposing them, I will really be called a crank.  This is what a few will do, whereas the masses will be swept away in the apostasy.  If I do not oppose the first ones, I will be responsible for some who will begin sliding downward and never stop until they hit the bottom.

All Christians ought to study.  But all who lead or teach certainly should study and be sure they are safe leaders and teachers (James 3:1).  They should be able to discern the Scriptural from the unscriptural, that which has New Testament authority from that which is of man (Mk. 11:30).  They must be able to see, not only for themselves, but for great numbers who lack the power of discernment – the ones Paul speaks of as simple, or innocent (Rom. 16:18).

Blessed is the church whose elders test every move by the Scriptures and cry out against everything not backed by divine precedent or authority.

It is unfortunate when a church has leaders who receive everything with open arms, provided it is big and is launched by big men. — The Sword of Peace, January 1963

 

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