CGI: Should the Church Remain Neutral Or Wallow In Politics?

CGI Can’t Decide About Whether or Not to Allow Politics in Church!

Lonnie Hendrix

The leadership of the Church of God International continues to try to straddle the fence on whether pastors and members should be involved in secular politics. Folks like Jeff Reed, Mike James, and Vance Stinson argue in favor of neutrality - while folks like Bill Watson, Adrian Davis, and Murray Palmatier see absolutely nothing wrong with their partisanship. Indeed, in spite of severe criticism, the politicians continue to be loud and proud about their foray into that realm. In reality, although most of the membership of CGI is very conservative and very Republican, the membership remains very divided on the issue of political involvement on a corporate level. Moreover, neither side appears to be satisfied with the leadership’s wishy-washy “neutrality.” In other words, it feels awfully lukewarm within CGI these days!

Although the Church of God International’s leadership has apparently decided to mothball  their Armor of God program and have removed Bill Watson from their payroll, in the latest edition of their Prove All Things: Politics and Voting webcast (Reed and James) interviewed ACOG member and proud Montana Republican, Bill Lussenheide. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Mr. Lussenheide, he is completely comfortable with his role as a partisan officeholder and supports the Republican Party’s platform in his state “one hundred percent!” In other words, he feels absolutely no conflict between the religion he professes and fully participating in partisan politics! Indeed, just like Ohio Bill, this Montana Bill believes that he is defending his faith and proclaiming the Gospel through his participation in the political process.

Speaking of that other Bill, Mr. Watson recently defended his own messaging on politics on his News Alert Blog on CGI Medina, Ohio’s website. Bill wrote: “I recently read an article by Caroline Woods (from The Blaze) that was rather interesting, especially since I have been accused of being ‘political’ more times than I can count. There are people today that think the pulpit should be exclusively reserved to address the Bible and only the Bible. They claim, to use the pulpit to address social issues, underscored by the Bible, is wrong and is out of order. That those pastors, should simply remain on point and only speak on Christian Living––stay away from social issues!” He went on to point out that pastors have addressed current events throughout the history of the United States (the old they did it before me excuse). Mr. Watson continued: “Keep in mind, those who shrink back in ‘cowardice’ from addressing the issues of our day forget; it’s not the Church that has become political, but rather, politics has become more excessive in violating our religion and God’s Church needs to stand firm and show our people their sins (Isa 58:1).” Watson clearly believes himself to be courageous and right, and that he consequently can’t be wrong in what he is doing!

If that doesn’t sound like circular reasoning to you, it should! In a recent post on my own blog The Allure of Politics for Christians, I pointed out that “In their desire to promote righteousness and God's will, Christians have too often found themselves drawn into the political systems of this world. Unfortunately, instead of influencing things in a better direction, the Christian often finds him/herself participating in a process which interrupts his/her focus on God, distorts the distinction between good and evil and causes him/her to compromise with the dictates of his/her faith and conscience. One candidate or policy seems to be the right one at the time we are considering the alternatives, but we often learn later that our choice(s) produced unintended negative consequences. In other words, in our attempt to avert an evil outcome, we often set the stage for an even worse future than the one we were trying to avoid!”

Next, I proceeded to point out many of the Biblical warnings against participating in the affairs of this world and to avoid being drawn into idolatry of the state. I also pointed out that Christ NEVER challenged or criticized Rome or its representatives in Judea, that he reserved his harshest rhetoric for the Jewish religious leaders of his day. Finally, I concluded with some advice that I think folks within CGI’s leadership would do well to heed: “Unfortunately, we Christians sometimes forget that we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth, and that our primary citizenship resides in heaven (Hebrews 11:13-16). Our salvation, spiritual and physical, is found in God's plan. In short, the political systems which humankind has devised are flawed, and they will fail someday. We must not forget that our faith and hope is found in God, and him alone! (Psalm 118:8)” While there is certainly nothing wrong with setting a good example and helping others in the here and now, it is NOT our commission or responsibility as Christians to fix the flawed political systems of this world!

The Sunk Cost Fallacy and the Church of God

 

Too Much Invested in This

Over the 38 years plus since Herbert Armstrong’s death, many of us have written a number of posts analyzing why folks continue to associate themselves with one of the successors of the now defunct Worldwide Church of God. Why? Because of all of the numerous books, articles, and now podcasts that have been written/produced which have definitively refuted so much of Armstrong’s theology, many of us continue to wonder how anyone could still be supportive of it! Our bewilderment is also augmented by the fact that the history of the movement since Herbert’s death has forced almost universal recognition of the fact that horrendous mistakes were made in the administration of the “church” (even among the membership of ALL of the splinters). Hence, it is reasonable for us to wonder: “What could possibly motivate a person to ignore so much evidence of failure and continue in it?”

I have a friend who joined the Worldwide Church of God as a young man and remained a part of it until the Tkach regime started making their changes. Then he joined one of the splinters and has been faithful to it ever since. Throughout those years, this person had a good job and tithed on his gross income. He faithfully attended weekly Sabbath services, the festivals, and many of the other gatherings and activities organized by the church.

Now, my friend is very intelligent, and he readily acknowledges many of the abuses that existed in the parent organization. He knows that people were hurt and bullied. He acknowledges that the Worldwide Church was poorly governed, and that the organization’s resources were often squandered and used to benefit and enrich folks who did not contribute very much to the church’s teachings or mission. Even so, this intelligent, kind, and sincere individual continues to attend with the splinter he joined and still contributes a significant portion of his income to their “work.”

Yet, when I ask him about his continuing loyalty in the face of what he has witnessed and experienced, he answers that he “still believes in the core teachings” of the church. Now, I know that many of the folks who will read this post have heard that same phrase from their friends and family who remain within the ranks of one of the many splinters who claim to have inherited Armstrong’s mantle. Nevertheless, if we actually got into the weeds of those teachings, I’m sure that just about all of these folks would have a different answer about what constitutes those “core doctrines.” At any rate, however they choose to define the “core doctrines” of Armstrongism, this appears to be one of the most common justifications given for a person’s continued association with one of the Armstrong Churches of God.

Now, I know that what I’m about to say will provoke denials from many quarters, but I really believe that what is really motivating these folks has more to do with protecting their own investment in a choice that most of them made many years ago! In other words, they simply have too much time, energy, resources, self-denial, and familiarity invested in Armstrongism to turn their backs on it now! Think about it. After spending 30, 40, 50, 60, or even 70 years, sacrificing jobs, relationships, various opportunities, and thousands upon thousands of dollars to maintain their association with like-minded folks, to admit failure now would mean acknowledging that they have wasted a good part of their lives. More importantly, it would mean admitting that their original decision to embrace Herbert Armstrong’s teachings and church had been wrong! In short, for many of these folks, acknowledging the failure of Armstrongism would be tantamount to acknowledging their own failure! It is such a part of their story and identity now, that the thought of chucking it poses an existential threat to them. Who would they be without this?

Of course, for many of us who have left Armstrongism behind, we rejoice in whatever time, resources and effort have been saved. For many of us, we feel like we have escaped a sinking ship and have saved ourselves from drowning and certain death. For many of us, we have removed the knife and staunched the bleeding. We have started thinking for ourselves again and employing our time and resources in more promising ventures. Yes, we have had to admit that we were wrong – that we made mistakes – that we made a big error in judgment and have paid a huge price for it. Even so, some of us have also experienced the joy of rediscovering Jesus and having our own personal relationship with the Divine. Moreover, a few of us have even discovered that we wouldn’t be in the good place that we are now without having experienced the delusions, disappointments, and hardships of Armstrongism! So, I would remind those of you who are still a part of that system of the old axiom that it is never too late, and that letting go of your ego and admitting failure doesn’t have to be a dead end!

Lonnie Hendrix/Miller Jones

Is The Mystery Of The Ages To Obey The Law Of Moses?

The Mystery of the Ages Revealed!

Followers of the teachings of Herbert W Armstrong will recognize in this post the title of the book which elucidated the most comprehensive and succinct statement of those teachings. According to Armstrong, God had revealed to HIM seven mysteries from the Judeo-Christian canon which had eluded mankind's awareness for centuries: the true nature of God, the nature of angels and demons, the nature and destiny of humankind, the origins of our civilizations, the nature and purpose of Israel, the nature and identity of the Church, and the future scope and structure of God's Kingdom on this earth. Unfortunately, most of the perspectives provided in that book were deeply flawed and based on the faulty reasoning and understanding of its author.

More recently, Pastor Vance Stinson of the Church of God International delivered a sermon on "The Mystery of the Ages" in which he approached the subject from a slightly different perspective, but which resulted in many of the same conclusions which Herbert Armstrong reached about a Christian's obligation to obey parts of the Law of Moses. To his credit, at least Mr. Stinson appealed to Paul's usage of the term in his letter to the saints at Ephesus. Unfortunately, instead of following the scriptural evidence wherever it landed, he ended up twisting it to conform to the teachings about the Law which his church received from Herbert Armstrong!

At any rate, we will begin where he began and take another look at what is revealed in that passage and elsewhere in Scripture. Paul wrote: "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel "good news". Of this gospel "good news", I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him." (Ephesians 3:1-12, ESV) What or who is this mystery of which he is speaking? Clearly, the mystery is that God is saving humankind through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth!

Mr. Stinson interprets the passage as revealing that "The mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs," which is certainly a part of the message. Here, and elsewhere, Paul reveals that this salvation is available to both Jews and Gentiles. Nevertheless, the context clearly demonstrates that Jesus Christ is what has been revealed to them - that HE is the vehicle of humankind's salvation. Before leaving this particular passage, we should also note that the phrase "The mystery is...." was added by the translators of the English Standard Version - it does not appear in the King James Version. Moreover, the New Living Translation makes clearer that Paul was speaking about the entire plan of salvation (of which Christ was the focus). This is underscored by the eleventh verse of that translation: "This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:11, NLT)

That this was the mystery that Paul was discussing is made even clearer in the opening to this epistle, and in its conclusion. In the first chapter, we read: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Ephesians 1:3-10, ESV) Likewise, toward the end of the epistle, Paul asked the saints to pray "that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it." (Ephesians 6:19-10, ESV) Clearly, the mystery which Paul was speaking about is the plan to save humankind through Jesus!

Indeed, this is the mystery which Paul proclaimed in all of his epistles to the saints of the First Century. In the conclusion of his letter to the saints at Rome, he wrote: "Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen." (Romans 16:25-27, ESV) Likewise, in one of his epistles to the saints of Corinth, he wrote: "When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you, I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. (I Corinthians 2:1-8, NLT) Also, in his letter to the saints of Colossae, he wrote: "I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:25-27, ESV)

Nevertheless, in his sermon, Pastor Stinson continued to insist that Christians are obligated to observe some of the tenets of Torah. Indeed, the Armstrongist practice of lifting a few passages out of context and using them as prooftexts was apparent throughout his message. His treatment of the second chapter of Paul's letter to the saints at Ephesus is a case in point. In addressing the Gentile Christians of this congregation, Paul wrote: "Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called 'uncircumcised heathens' by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us." (Ephesians 2:11-18, NLT) What had created this wall of hostility? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Torah was given to Israel, and that made them very different from the Gentiles who surrounded them? Clearly, Paul thought that Christ had accomplished this by "ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations."

Even so, after reading the italicized portion of the above passage as part of his text, Mr. Stinson pointed to the different courts of the Temple: One for the Jews, one for the Israelites, and one for women. He then proceeded to associate this with the "wall of hostility" which existed between the two peoples (Jews and Gentiles). Wondering where he was going with this? Pastor Stinson asserts that the Law of Moses was intended for EVERYONE, both Jews and Gentiles. What? He proceeded to point out that some Gentiles worshipped the God of the Hebrews and were included in many of the provisions of Torah. To underscore his point, he quoted many of the passages from the Torah which include "the stranger who sojourneth among you." (like Exodus 12:49, Leviticus 16:29, 17:12, 18:26, 25:6, Numbers 15:15-16, etc.)

The problem with Mr. Stinson's thesis, of course, is that ALL of these instances involve aliens/Gentiles who were then residing within the boundaries of the Promised Land. In other words, the Law of Moses did NOT generally apply to the Gentile peoples of the earth! Indeed, over and over again (as I have pointed out many times), we read in Torah "Speak unto the children of Israel." In other words, there is absolutely no disputing the fact that the Law of Moses was addressed to the "children of Israel!" Now, sure, illegal immigrants to the United States are still subject to the laws of this nation, but there is no escaping the fact that those laws were designed and intended for the citizens of the United States - NOT them.

No, Armstrongites can try to twist and reason their way around the PLAIN TRUTH that God's plan to rescue humankind from sin and death through Jesus Christ is the "mystery of the Ages" which God has revealed to the ones "he" has called out of this present system! The truth remains undiminished that the Law of Moses was an iteration of God's Law intended for the people of Israel and embodied the tenets of God's Covenant with THEM! As Paul wrote long ago to the saints of Galatia about his confrontation with the Apostle Peter over this very question of Christian observance of the Law: "When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, 'Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.' But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So, I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." (Galatians 2:14-21, NLT)

 Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix