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REDEFINING THE
BODY OF CHRIST #2
FRIENDS IN TIME OF WAR
In a foreword to the classic Christian bestseller,
Flee The Captor, by Herbert Ford, Dr. W. A. Visser ‘t Hooft writes about
his longtime relationship with John Weidner, the hero of this World War
II story. These two men had worked together tirelessly during the years
of Nazi terror to help Jews and Allied airmen escape from Hitler's grasp,
aiding a thousand desperate men and women in crossing the barbed wire
fences from occupied France into neutral Switzerland and safety.
Why did Weidner risk so much, Dr. ‘t Hooft wondered. Why did he put his
life on the line literally hundreds of times, for men and women he had
never met? John Weidner had a simple faith, a belief that he was "at
all times in the hands of a loving God."
"He did not talk much about that,"
writes ‘t Hooft. "But he could show real astonishment when it was
suggested to him that life in the Resistance movement was an uncertain
affair. Uncertain? Not for one who read his Bible and knew about the divine
care. And it was because of this dimension of John's life that he, a Seventh-day
Adventist, and I, the Reformed pastor, regarded ourselves not only as
comrades in a common human cause, but also as fellow citizens of the Eternal
City."
That's very touching, isn't it, but it also shines
a spotlight on the question we began to ask yesterday. Here were two men
of differing denominations. On certain very core doctrinal issues they
didn't agree. All during World War II they continued to not agree. Neither
one ever crossed over the fence, if you'll forgive the pun, to join the
church of the other. And yet clearly both of these men felt that they
were a part of what we're calling here "the Body of Christ."
It's interesting that war stories often illustrate this principle. In
the marvelous book I Will Die Free, by Kay Rizzo, many hundreds of Christians
were imprisoned by Castro's henchmen. And believers of all denominations
— Protestant and Catholic — organized churches and had deacons and elders
and prayer meetings and the whole thing. Sometimes Baptists would preach,
or Episcopalians, Catholics, Pentecostals. The main character in Kay's
book, Pastor Noble Alexander, was also a Seventh-day Adventist . . . and
he certainly took his turn. Under those unbelievably hard conditions,
the prisoners cheerfully worked out the Sunday-Saturday worship question
the best way they could — and they all worshiped together as one Body
in Christ.
Again, they acknowledged their differences. They very likely even debated
them during the 22 long years that Noble was held in that oppressive system.
But they accepted one another as fellow believers; Noble Alexander was
convinced that all of these other men were necessary parts of the Body.
He loved them; he ministered to them regardless of denominational affiliation.
He wept when one was tortured to death, or when one of his Christian brothers
would succumb to the torture of the guards and recant his spiritual convictions.
It's worth noting that this mentality seems to be present more under adversity
than in the relative calm of 1999. The Body of Christ shrinks down quite
a bit during peacetime compared to when we're in the concentration camps.
But which approach is right? Does "truth" matter? Are people
Christians who don't see things the way that we see them?
And what things? What things might constitute dividing lines? Just a few
months ago we talked about the relatively "small" issue of how
a few scattered Christian denominations, including my own, observe what's
called a footwashing service before Communion or the Lord's Supper . .
. but the vast majority of churches don't. Probably most believers you
polled would agree that this could be a "live and let live"
kind of thing. But what about the bigger things: the virgin birth, the
divinity of Christ, the inerrancy of Scripture, the death and resurrection
of Jesus, the Second Coming? Which of these must be believed before a
person is still a Christian, still a part of what the Apostle Paul here
in First Corinthians chapter 12 calls "the Body of Christ"?
In Chapter One of his book, The Kingdom of the Cults, the late Dr. Walter
Martin describes cults as groups which contain "major deviations
from historic Christianity." But as you consider that five-word phrase
— "major deviations from historic Christianity" — how you define
the words "major," "deviations," "historic"
and "Christianity" would tell a lot.
Well, friend, it's sometimes frustrating that the Voice of Prophecy is
just a 15-minute broadcast each Monday through Friday. It might be most
rewarding to spend a few months on this very issue: the parameters of
"historic Christianity." But today I'd like to basically reiterate
something we began to say yesterday. And here it is: Truth is important
. . . and only God is all-wise. Let me say that again. Truth is important
. . . and only God is all-wise. Only God knows everything. Only God knows
all hearts. Only God perfectly understands, not only the Bible — His own
Word — but the richness of its meaning, the divine mind, the pure spiritual
intent of every word in the canon of Scripture.
But first let's lift up this vital pillar: truth is important and necessary.
Frankly, I have to agree with Dr. Martin when he continues in Chapter
One of his book to basically say that truth is truth. Circles come from
r² and they always come from r². You can't get them from anyplace
else. And if one mathematician tells you that a circle's area is defined
by r² and another mathematician tells you that it's defined by 4/3
r³ . . . one of them is right and the other one is wrong.
By the same token, if one church teaches that Jesus Christ is the pre-existent,
divine Son of God, and another one claims that He isn't — both can't be
correct. And to say, as we all sometimes do, "Well, such-and-such
a way is just how we interpret it" — really isn't enough. Truth is
truth.
At the very beginning of his book, Mere Christianity, author C. S. Lewis
asks us to consider a country where people were admired for running away
in battle, or where a man felt proud of doublecrossing all the people
who had been kindest to him. He then concludes:
"You might just as well try to imagine a country where two and two
made five."
So friend, truth is an important thing. No matter how you define the Body
of Christ, every member of that Body needs to be a seeker after truth,
to study and search for it, to explore the great pillars of the Christian
faith and even some of the smaller questions. The Bible rightly commends
the practice of study, of the diligent search. We're told that the Holy
Spirit will guide us — not into fuzziness or ambiguity — but into truth.
Bit by bit, day by day, year by year, your views should become more right
and less wrong. A bit later in C. S. Lewis' book, he talks very charitably
about some of the world's other religions — non-Christian ones, that is
— and then observes:
"But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where
Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they
are wrong."
You know, even as a relative newcomer to this ministry,
I'm deeply grateful that the Voice of Prophecy as a ministry, as a heritage,
has been committed to truth. These radio programs have been going out
over the airwaves for 67 nonstop years now. And with so many other Christian
radio programs also out there, a listener could certainly ask: "Why
are you still on too? Why bother? Quit and go do something else."
Well, we think there's truth to be shared: sometimes common, shared truth,
sometimes distinctive, unique viewpoints — but the journey is an all-important
one.
However, then comes Part Two of that very necessary attitude: "Truth
is important . . . but only God is all-wise." Friend, as we try to
define the global Church, the Christian community, let's remember that
only God fully understands hearts or truth. Any creed established by man
is going to be incomplete and faulty.
For 67 years, as I just said, we have preached a Protestant message on
the radio. The Voice of Prophecy, with its Adventist heritage, has some
very clear lines of demarcation, of disagreement, with, for instance,
the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes on this program, we've talked very
openly about those disagreements with the system of Rome. Let me say again,
with the system of Rome. And where Catholicism and Protestantism differ,
we're convinced that Protestantism has the truth.
However, do I, Lonnie Melashenko, know the mind of every Catholic in this
world? Do I know which ones have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior
and are trusting in His sacrifice on Calvary for their salvation? No,
I don't know that. I'm convinced that there are millions of Catholics
who are faithful Christians in the finest, truest sense of the word. I'm
further convinced that only God — not me or any other theologian — even
completely understands the issues that divide these huge religious movements.
Only God has a complete understand of what is truth and what is error
. . . which means that I need to be very humble before going into the
fence-building business. I still seek for truth and proclaim it as best
I understand it here in front of this microphone. But I'm grateful that
God makes Himself responsible for His Church, for His Body. That's never
been my job or your job and it never will be. Even Jesus Himself told
His disciples in John chapter 10:
"I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep."
"The Lord knows who are His," it adds in Second Timothy chapter
2.
Walter Martin himself, who fearlessly crusaded for
truth and for the fundamentals of the Christian faith, often liked to
quote from Augustine, who made these words his creed:
"In essentials, unity; in nonessentials,
liberty; and in all things, charity."
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