The Living Church of God, as we all know, pathetically instituted a voluntary fast for little reason but to do it because they used to - oh, and to get a little humility, I guess. It was little more than a drizzle of ecclesiastical power, since fasting is supposedly one of the most spiritual acts of humility to God that one can do. More than this, it is intended to be intrinsically personal. Mandating a fast in a weak and lethargic manner is just as wrong as yelling that you're fasting to everyone on Facebook. Those who do that should be responded with every picture of a burger, steak, potato salad, soup, and prime rib you can find, in my opinion! Why not, the minsters did that to us on Atonement - verbally.
Even so, the wrong use of the fast didn't start with Gerald Weston. All one has to do is look back in history a little bit to see the wrong use of fasting - that started back with Herbert Armstrong in the mother church. The lack of respect for fasting went back decades ago.
The clip that I will use for this writing will be the Co-Worker letter of November 2, 1972. At this time in our collective past, the financing for the jewel-encrusted, gold-leafed Auditorium was completely secured. Also, commitments were made that actually caused Armstrong to say that if the funds had to be taken out of the so-called Gospel Proclamation to pay for the Auditorium, then that would be what would have to happen.
After the traditional "You're letting down and now you are in MORTAL DANGER of the Lake of Fire" guilt-trip threat to the members, because the members' interests had been gravitating toward "material and worldly concerns and interests" (WOW - Never mind he just guaranteed MILLIONS of dollars on an extravagant Gold-ridden auditorium which would be used for worldly interests!! I can do it but don't you!), HWA then turned to issuing a proclamation in presidential style, using Abraham Lincoln as a template, saying in his most west-wing prime-time authority:
"And whereas, it is incumbent on us (there's that word, incumbent again - sorry) at all times to revere the Supreme Government of GOD, [ ME] and to pray earnestly "Thy Kingdom come -- quickly -- thy will be done" -- and to bow in humble submission to His chastisements now laid upon us in this present financial dilemma,[My, Herbert Armstrong's, pleads to you because we're running short on money] and to CONFESS and deplore our SINS in becoming LAX in prayer and personal Bible study, [Yeah, this too, but I really mean what I am about to say] as well as our SINS in allowing worldly interests and pleasures to start drawing us away from our God, [Spending money on other things besides sending them here to pay for the Auditorium I just committed to and financed] and our zeal for HIS WORK, I call on all Brethren to CONFESS this lukewarmness [Not giving me as much money as you used to] and this drift from the needed CLOSE WALK WITH GOD, [putting your priorities in line with MY priorities] and to PRAY, with all FERVENCY and CONTRITION, for God's pardon for these offenses, [DARING to use the money earned for your own purposes] and for a permanent BLESSING on HIS WORK henceforth, continuously to its final completion. [Sending the money to me until I get these friggin' loans PAID OFF!]"
And whereas, when this beloved WORK OF GOD and His Church was, until three or four years ago, blessed, united, and producing abundant fruit for God's Kingdom, it is now AFFLICTED WITH FINANCIAL PROBLEMS OF UTMOST SERIOUSNESS [I just spent MILLIONS of dollars to finance this auditorium, and now I'm scared ****less], it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of GOD in this terrible visitation, and in
repentant remembrance of our own faults, and laxities, and neglects, [Yes, I may have gone over my head with this thing but it's your fault because you aren't doing what I thought you'd do when I signed those papers] TO HUMBLE OURSELVES before the living Christ, [I'm his representative, so I'm really saying, ME] and to cry out to Him in deep earnest for His mercy, and HELP in overcoming -- to pray that we may be spared from further punishment though justly deserved.
"Therefore, I, Herbert W. Armstrong, by God's grace His chosen Pastor over His Church, do appoint Sabbath, November 18th as a day of humiliation, prayer and fasting for all members, in all humility and solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of the whole Body of Christ may ascend to the Throne of Grace, and RESTORE THE INCOME FOR GOD'S WORK TO THE PREVIOUS 30% annual INCREASE!"
Well, FINALLY, at the very end of this very veiled financial complaint, we get the truth. Yes, as the director and the chosen founder of his tithe slaves - er, I mean, Church, he wants to appoint November 18th as a "day of humiliation" (type faster, you know what you're getting to), to the end that every member of the Worldwide Church of God may run up to God, the throne of the Law, and Restore the income of the Church to what it was.
Yup. A fast for money. Many may say, yeah, so what? Actually, it's the highest point of deplorable atrocities from HWA.
Luke 18:11 actually puts the pharisee in a bad light for fasting and giving money - thinking that that's what earns his salvation. What a coincidence that these two things are the very things Herbert Armstrong is asking the brethren to do: Fast, and give money.
Let's look at Isaiah 58:3-7. Since HWA always looked at the old covenant for guidance, this should be most appropriate:
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Compare this with Matthew 23:31-46:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
"When did I see you build an auditorium and I failed to pay for it" is not in there. You'll never find it. Look all you want.
For Herbert Armstrong to call a fast for financial increase to fund an auditorium that did the exact opposite of what the purpose of fasting was intended for - to loose the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, to break every yoke (which is what Jesus came to do! - Are you listening Dave Pack?) and then to completely reverse that process for the purpose of money? That's morally reprehensible, wrong, and absolutely evil to demand and extort money the way that it was done. Untold harm resulted in the financial damage that Armstrong caused to finance his projects - the worst of which was that building. But to call for a fast to increase money? There is absolutely no biblical, moral, or ethical standard to okay this. There never was. There never is.
But the opposite is also true. To call a fast just to call a fast is just as wrong. If you don't know what you're fasting for, what's the point? If you don't understand why you're doing what you're doing, why do it? Throwing around a fast like it's leftover thanksgiving dinner or some kind of water balloon on a hot day is spiritually irresponsible. Besides. Any fast that is done besides Atonement (for those of COG persuasion, had to put that in there, because I know it would end up in the comments if I do not) is personal between YOU and GOD. No one else. It is intrinsic to the relationship between you and God, as are the reasons for it. No pastor can, or should, just throw it around because you can.
Christians need to take responsibility for their personal relationship. It is not God to Gerald to You. It is God to You and You to God. Gerald needs to be kicked off the party line in this manner, because he is becoming more of a nuisance and a hindrance then a help. Take charge of your personal relationship between you and God. You don't need a middle-man to tell you how and when to fast. You just need God's Spirit.
And last I checked
Yes, Gerald Weston reminds me of that character on Office Space. You know the one.
"Yeah, ummmmm......so, yeah, I neeed you to fast... on, ohhhh...... let's say.... um.... Saturday....yeah. I'll need you to fast on Saturday. That'll do it. Thaaaaaaaanks."
Maybe the directive was actually sent by the guy who always wanted the Red Stapler. Sounds more like it would come from him than a denominational leader of a "Living" church. Because that call - not to harp on it too much - seemed dead to me.
contributing writer: SHT
