The Truth Shall Make You Free: Chapter 18 1979 vs. 1939

published by: 

The Truth Foundation

11 Laurel Court

Freehold Township, New Jersey 07728

1981

Chapter 18    1979 vs 1939

(pg 247) IN MAY 1978, SRI INTERNATIONAL, A LARGE MANAGEMENT Consulting firm in Menlo Park, California, delivered to the Church its report entitled "Evaluation of the Institutional Marketing of the Worldwide Church of God." SRI had conducted an in-depth analysis of the Church membership. Former religious affiliations, geographical data, and income levels were all taken into account. The means by which members came into contact with the Church and later into membership were carefully analyzed. Apparently, their findings were totally ignored.

In their summary they stated that early action was urged. The report stated: "The studies conclusions and recommendations cover several matters that SRI believes should be given the highest possible priority by the leadership of the Worldwide Church of God. In SRI's judgment, problems connected with the institutional marketing of the Church call for immediate attention and early action to prevent further deterioration of deleterious trends that threaten the continued well-being of the Church."

It was felt that a turnaround was achievable. As the report continued: "The final section of the report is action-oriented. Several recommendations are offered that SRI believes can and should be implemented. If the principal recommendations are implemented, SRI believes the Worldwide Church of God will be able to achieve a turnaround. If not implemented, SRI believes the Church's (pg 248) growth-related problems will probably remain unresolved, and the future well-being of the Church will remain in question."

In a comment that Armstrong should have paid particular attention to, the report stated: "The most profound kinds of changes are emerging from the bottom upward, not from the top downward." The report went on to say: "SRI'S understanding of the current era of change leads it to conclude that organizations like the Worldwide Church of God will have to be more flexible and more communicative than they have been in the past, to be able to adapt to the various constraints that were not present in the environments of the 1950s and early 1960s. It will be advantageous to develop improved flexibility so that changes can be accommodated with a minimum of disruption. Also it will be more advantageous to be more communicative with the people and groups that are affected by the Church, so that those groups and the Church will have a better understanding of the other's thinking."

In its conclusions and recommendations, the report stated that the Church was confronted with the necessity of significantly curtailing its expenditures to affect a turnaround in the Church. The report confirmed our own claim that much of the Church's money went for purposes other than preaching the Gospel, other than the purposes for which the money was collected. On this matter, the report stated: "Until this year, activities that contribute directly to the future regeneration of the Worldwide Church of God have received a relatively small and declining share of the Church's total budget, whereas a large and growing share has gone for nonregenerative purposes, such as Ambassador Auditorium, the AICF, Quest Magazine and Ambassador College."

Among its recommendations the report urged that "the Church try to reverse the deleterious trends that underlie its current financial predicament within the next year or two." In further recommendations, the report suggested "that the Worldwide Church of God consider temporarily curtailing its non-essential activities to give the Church time and funds to reverse the deleterious trends discussed previously."

The only action of note, taken by Herbert Armstrong in the month of May when this report was received, was that he fired Garner Ted Armstrong. And if there was ever any question in one's mind at that time that Stanley Rader was moving to take over completely, that should have become more clear through the passing (pg 249) months. It should have become especially clear through the early months of 1979 when it was quite apparent that it was Rader, not Armstrong, who was calling all the shots. And if that still was not enough to convince anyone of Rader's ultimate intentions, one must wonder if the event that took place in Herbert Armstrong's home on September 27, 1979 would be sufficient. At that time, Stanley Rader and his lieutenants Ellis

LaRavia and Joseph Tkach were ordained as evangelists. Rader, who had never been a minister, now holds the highest rank in the ministry other than that held by Herbert Armstrong as apostle. One can only speculate how long it will be before the crown prince is officially designated heir apostle by Herbert Armstrong.

Finally, the coup was complete, and while many members were stunned by the announcement of Rader's ordination, most cheered and applauded.

"Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar (whitewash), seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them saying, thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken." (Ezekiel 2:27 and 28.)

One must wonder if it was always Herbert Armstrong's motivaton to build an empire for himself. Or, could it be that there was a time when he was sincere, truly believed in what he was doing, and was trying to follow God's ways and grow in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ?In 1939, he apparently was quite differently motivated. In February of that year, an article was printed in a publication called The Good News of the Kingdom entitled "Did Christ Reorganize The Church?" Regarding organized Church government, Armstrong wrote that the old covenant as recorded in the 24^th chapter of Exodus was a marriage ceremony. In that ceremony, the Lord joined himself to ancient Israel in a symbolic spiritual marriage. Armstrong writes: "IT WAS THE MARRIAGE THAT FORMED GOD'S PEOPLE INTO AN ORGANIZATION HAVING CHURCH GOVERNMENT!"  Because Israel had slid back and turned away from God, Armstrong notes that in Jeremiah 3:8, the Bible says: "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I HAD PUT HER AWAY AND GIVEN HER A BILL OF DIVORCE." But then even Judah began sinning worse than Israel (pg. 250) and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured them and destroyed Jerusalem, at which time the authority to rule and govern was taken away completely from God's people and given over to the Babylonians. He then points out that until Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God and destroy the Babylonian rule of this world, there is to be no Church government as a spiritually ordained line of authroity. He points out that at the time Christ was on this earth, He did not establish a biblical form of organization or a definite Church government. Armstrong states: "There is not one single HINT in the New Testament of any Church BOARD with authority to rule, to govern, to decide doctrine, or to handle tithes and Church finances (the whole Church)."

In total contrast to the present Worldwide Church of God form of centralized dictatorial authority, Armstrong said in his 1939 article: "All authority and power to rule is limited solely to each LOCAL congregation. But there is NO BIBLE AUTHORITY for any super-government, or organization with authority over the local congregations!" He then continues: "How, then did ORGANIZATION, and the idea of CHURCH GOVERNMENT get into the Church!”

“It came out of BABYLON! Spiritual BABYLON - that is, ROME! The same as nearly all other false doctrines of Satan."

Quoting from various publications such as the Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, and also from Myers' Ancient History, Armstrong shows that the idea of centralized Church government originated with Leo, the fist Pope in the real sense of the word. He reigned from 440 to 461 A.D., and it was Leo I who set up an ecclesiastical form of government. Armstrong comments: "And thus the very PRINCIPLE OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT becomes the IMAGE OF THE BEAST! “

“The whole thing is FALSE! It is NOT ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE! It is part of BABYLON! Those who are IN, and MEMBERS OF such an organized Church government, submitting to doctrines declared by unscriptural boards as a fellowship test are IN BABYLON and actually worshippers of THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST! And God is calling us, HIS people OUT of BABYLON today, before it is too late-before the PLAGUES fall!”

“Brethren, let us have the courage to accept the TRUTH, and to COME OUT."

In 1939, Armstrong was calling people out of spiritual Babylon. (pg.251) Forty years later, Armstrong is leading people right back into spiritual Babylon. Just as the Church of God at Rome, in the first few centuries after Christ, fell into total paganized Babylonish worship, Herbert Armstrong, instead of remembering his early teachings, has strayed from his ways and led this end-time Church of God in its first steps on a return to Babylon.

Armstrong continued in his article pointing out that the New Testament Church was a spiritual body, that no one organization constituted the true Church. His current teachings are totally contrary to that. He points out that when Christ returns, He will make a spiritual marriage with His Church. This is clearly stated in Revelation 19:7 where it is written: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." The Lamb referred to here is Christ and His wife is the Church, the spiritual body of true believers. And Armstrong clearly understood this in 1939, for he wrote: "This MARRIAGE will not be made with some one organization! It is THE INDIVIDUAL SAINTS - not some organization which shall possess the government, and rule."

He said further: "The CHURCH is the collective body of individual saints who are sanctified and CLEANSED by Christ! Let us stop speaking of some organizations as 'The Church' or 'our

Church'."

Regarding government and authority, he stated: "Our Heavenly Father never planted any super-organization, or established any Church GOVERNMENT, or set men IN AUTHORITY over either spiritual or financial affairs, in the New Testament church. Any such 'plan' was never planted of GOD - and therefore IT SHALL BE ROOTED UP!"

And if only he had remembered what he had said near the close of his article: "Organization and Church GOVERNMENT has brought us only strife, jealousies, divisions, bitterness! It is not of God and it can bear no other fruit." Yes, if only Herbert Armstrong had remembered the truth that he was teaching in 1939. One must wonder what it was that had caused Armstrong to go wrong.

It appears that as the Church began to grow and there was a great deal of money coming in, Armstrong's priorities changed considerably. Soon friendships with world leaders and a desire for magnificent buildings appeared to have a greater importance to him. And somehow he felt that he could rationalize this all away in (pg. 252)  his mind as part of his service to God. But once one begins to dabble in rationalizations of that sort, God quickly begins to withdraw His blessings and a downhill slide has begun. Armstrong is so proud of the fancy Ambassador College campus, so proud of the Ambassador Auditorium, so proud of the fine clothes and fine works of art that adorn his home, that he has forgotten the following passage from Isaiah 66:1 and 2:

"Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

Apparently Armstrong never totally lost his old original desire. Once he began to stray, that desire again manifested itself to the point where his main objective was to visit world leaders under the guise of preaching the Gospel. In his autobiography he stated, regarding his past, "Now I had an idol. My whole mind and heart was set on that idol. I had worked hard, night and day, for that false god. My false objective was the intense desire - the desperate, driving, overpowering ambition - to become 'successful' in the eyes of important businessmen - to

be considered by them as outstandingly "IMPORTANT" - to achieve status"

One can see that attitude as a very prominent part of Herbert Armstrong's make-up today. It is no wonder, then, that he no longer can be effective as a spiritual leader.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15.

It appears though, that in spite of Armstrong's constant, increasing drift toward an attitude of total authoritarian rule, finally culminating in his appointing himself an apostle, that he was having a battle within himself. This can be seen in his rather ineffective attempts from time to time to move Rader aside. His strongest effort in that direction was his attempt to remove Rader at the end of 1978 and put him in a position of less authority. Yet we see that when the pressure was on, Armstrong literally jumped right back into Rader's arms.