Andrey Popov via 123rf
If Jesus warned that the enemy would sow tares among the wheat; if John warns that already there are ‘antichrists’ in the church; if Paul warns that even the devil disguises himself as an angel of light in order to deceive God’s people; why is it then that so many modern day churches and denominations resist any attempt to investigate the legitimacy and orthodoxy of their public teachers?
Among the roles of a faithful pastor is the need to point to ideas and ideologies that emerge in the public square or in the pulpit and to identify them as ‘heresy’ or ‘unhelpful’ or ‘untrue’. Sometimes they will even be required to identify a certain person as a ‘false teacher’ or a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’.
This is wildly unpopular in every age, but it is part of the responsibility of the faithful pastor.
If you know me, you know that I am not a lover of discord or trouble; I am a lover of truth and a lover of the gospel. I invite you to find any of my sermons online and to listen for a moment if you need to be persuaded of my passion for the glory of God and the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I hope that I am a man of some humility; although I know myself to struggle with pride; this is a regular matter of prayer for me, especially in advance of debates of this sort. While I hope to be found to meek; I do not for a moment make the mistake of confusing humility for uncertainty, or meekness for unwillingness to rebuke. I hope to be found as bold as Paul when he writes to the Galatians and as certain of truth when John writes his second epistle to the ‘elder and elect lady and her children’.
In the past week, a letter likely arrived at your church in a mid-sized manila envelope marked with a simple sticker stating: "-Attention Pastor- The enclosed poster is provided without alteration for your discernment by the CLRA churches of the CBOQ. We do not endorse the content." Inside was the unaltered poster of the Gathering of Baptists’ Spring event. This mailing has caused confusion amongst some, anger amongst others and likely indifference amongst many. I write this brief notice to answer a few questions.
1) Why did CLRA send a poster advertising a seminar they are clearly opposed to?
2) Why did this arrive without any cover letter or further explanation?
3) What am I supposed to do with this information?
I expect there are more questions, but these seem to be the ones I have been asked the most in the past coupleof days since the mail arrived. So here are three concise answers to those questions:
1) Why did CLRA send a poster advertising a seminar they are clearly opposed to?
When this poster came to the attention of many of our pastors, we were amazed at how boldly the enemies of the gospel were operating in our midst. To openly publish an agenda that clearly promotes a liberal approach to reading the scriptures and a welcoming, affirming stance on homosexuality was stunning to me. To conclude the poster with a rainbow flag seemed smug and certain, as if the fate of our denomination was already sealed.
I showed this poster to a gathering of evangelical ministers I belong to from various denominations and they were shocked that this was coming from a group of Baptist churches. It occurred to me and others that there were pastors in our own denomination who knew nothing of the things that were so openly talked about and posted on the internet. I wouldn’t have known about it had not another pastor sent it to me, so we decided that we would take what had been posted in one place and make it known to every corner of our denomination.
We were not mistaken in our assumption, there were many pastors and churches that even at this late date had no idea that these ideas were spoken of openly in some CBOQ churches.
2) Why did this arrive without any cover letter or further explanation?
If this was an error in judgement, then I own full responsibility for it. The pastors who make up CLRA are not always agreed on every detail of every decision that is made. This was one of those details that was met with some disagreement. I pressed hard to send without any detailed explanation and with only the invitation to read with discernment.
I confess in retrospect that this may have led to perplexity and confusion amongst many who are unfamiliar with this issue and where CLRA stands. Had we included a cover letter, it would have perhaps asked what fellowship can light have with darkness; because we believe this is darkness that is threatening to cover our churches. It may have asked whether our tent is too big or whether there is a point at which we become too diverse.
It has ultimately led some non-CLRA churches to ask whether we need some sort of doctrinal centre which all churches in our fellowship agree to. If the lack of a cover letter has resulted in our cause suffering, I willingly admit my responsibility for that decision.
3) What am I supposed to do with this information?
If you’re a Baptist pastor, in a Baptist church, in a Baptist denomination, then use your autonomy wisely. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then you have the capacity to read with discernment.
When this poster first came to my attention I read it to my deacons board and asked them whether they were concerned that such things were being addressed in our denomination; I asked them if they wished to contend against such teaching; I asked them what they wanted to do. They wanted to withdraw from fellowship; or, if there was yet opportunity to contend for truth, to contend.
I am still not of the mind to tell you what you should do with this poster, but I hope it is a rousing call to do something; at least to know the times in which you are living and come to your association and to assembly prepared to discuss the nature of our fellowship with one another.
As I close this very brief article, I am aware that I have made some bold statements that seem out of place in this 21st Century where we often fail to tell the truth in order to maintain some guise of mock civility. If you wonder the axis upon which I gauge truth, it is very simply the Word of God. I understand that there are interpretational differences as we come to the scriptures, and I allow for that. What I absolutely repudiate is the pastor or leader who dismisses some passage of scripture as irrelevant, out-dated, or just uninspired.
Let us debate the meaning of texts with our Bibles open before us, but the one who states that the scripture is in error because the writers were not aware of X, Y, or Z… that is the wolf and my sworn foe.
That is what I saw in this poster, and the reason I recommended it be published and distributed at our own expense.
SDG
Marc Bertrand