God has shown such love and mercy to forgive our sins, and to forgive us for our wrong teachings as a church. How eternally grateful we will all be to our Lord and Savior who did not leave us in our errors.
The church has changed its position on numerous long-held beliefs and practices during the past few years. At the heart of those changes has been an acceptance that salvation is by grace through faith.
For decades we regarded the law of Moses as the basis of our righteousness. We attempted to relate to God through old covenant rules and regulations.
In his mercy, God has shown us that old covenant obligations do not apply to Christians, who are under the new covenant. He has led us into the riches of his grace and a renewed relationship with Jesus Christ. He has opened our hearts and minds to the joy of his salvation. The Scriptures speak to us with fresh meaning, and we rejoice daily in the personal relationship we have with our Lord and Savior.
At the same time, we are acutely aware of the heavy legacy of our past, and the pain that many of our former beliefs have caused us.
The Holy Spirit is working today in the body of Christ to heal historic wounds and restore good relations between offenders and offended. This is true not just in our own fellowship but in many others as well. Keith Stump has written an article "Healing the Wounds" for the March-April issue about this.
He writes: "As Christianity prepares to enter its third millennium, an important phenomenon is sweeping the Christian world. It is a wave of confession and repentance for past sins and offenses.
"Many Christian groups have recognized a need to repent for those times in history when they or their forebears deviated from the spirit of the gospel, injured others and brought shame upon the name of Christ.
"This mass expression of regret and contrition is unprecedented. Many Christians attribute this wave of repentance to a powerful working of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ worldwide.
"They characterize it as a surging tide of God's grace, designed to wash Christianity clean of its historic sins and achieve long-overdue reconciliation--the restoration of harmony and good relations with injured individuals and groups."
It is my painful responsibility to acknowledge that the Worldwide Church of God has been among the offenders.
Our flawed doctrinal understanding clouded the plain gospel of Jesus Christ, and led to a variety of wrong conclusions and unscriptural practices. We have much to repent of and apologize for.
We were judgmental and self-righteous--condemning other Christians, calling them "so-called Christians" and labeling them "deceived" and "instruments of Satan."
We held to a works-oriented approach to Christian living. We exercised a strongly legalistic approach to church government.
Our former approach, based on the old covenant, fostered attitudes of exclusivism and superiority rather than the new covenant teaching of brotherhood and unity.
We overemphasized predictive prophecy and prophetic speculation, minimizing the true gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
These teachings and practices are a source of supreme regret. We've been wrong. There was never an intent to mislead anyone. We were so focused on what we believed we were doing for God that we didn't recognize the spiritual path we were on.
Intended or not, that path was not the biblical one.
As we look back, we ask ourselves how we could have been so wrong. Our hearts go out to all whom our teachings have misled in the scriptures. We don't minimize their spiritual disorientation and confusion. We earnestly desire their understanding and forgiveness.
We recognize that the depth of alienation can make reconciliation difficult. On the human level, reconciliation is often a long and difficult process over time. Yet we pray daily for it, realizing that the healing ministry of Jesus Christ can close even the deepest wounds.
We make no attempt to cover up the doctrinal and scriptural errors of our past. It is not our intention to merely paper over the cracks. We are looking our history squarely in the eye and confronting the errors we find there. They will always remain a part of our history, serving as a perpetual reminder of the dangers of legalism.
But we cannot live in the past. We must move forward. We say, with the apostle Paul: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).
Now, I want to spend some time taking stock of where we are as the Church of God and share with you some things I discussed at a meeting with headquarters personnel Oct. 31.
When people understand the mission of an organization to which they belong they are more likely to use their talents to help it succeed. Therefore, I want us all to understand why we are being asked to do the things we do.
Jesus Christ has focused our vision on the commission he gave the church--the commission he gave to the original apostles--to preach the gospel of Christ and make disciples of all nations.
It is not by human might or power that God's work is done, it's done by the Holy Spirit, by the strength God supplies. We will, as a church, grow as long as we remember our mission is to focus upward, exalting God in all our worship; inward, ministering to those in our fellowship; and outward, encouraging others to embrace Christ as their Savior.
To help us accomplish the commission we will need the full participation and dedication of all our employees and members.
In the past, our organizational model at headquarters and in the local congregation was like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid a few people instructed those below to simply do what they were told. Employees and church members were not expected to think.
We now see that model as being unbiblical and we are moving toward a model that recognizes everyone's spiritual gifts. This new model is inclusive and will require every church member to think and contribute.
This will require some reorganization at headquarters and within the local congregations so that peoples' skills and spiritual gifts are recognized and used in the service of God's work.
Such reorganization is not unique to our fellowship.
The most important factor of production in today's economy is no longer just the interplay of land, labor and capital. A key factor in success today is knowledge. For most of human history knowledge was available only to a few people, usually those at the top of society.
Today, however, technological advancement is making knowledge, or information, available to everyone. To succeed in the information age, the issue boils down to a full use of information and the best use of people's skills, talents and gifts.
For the Christian, knowledge includes action. It is to follow the teachings of the King of kings. God gives us knowledge and gifts of his Spirit to equip us to fulfill his commission. We all, ministers, employees and members, are part of God's work and he equips us all for the tasks he gives us to do.
At headquarters, reorganization means that employees may find themselves assisting in areas beyond their present responsibilities but for which their talents and skills make them suitable.
In the local congregation, reorganization means that a pastor will no longer be running a one man show. Church members will need help discerning the spiritual gifts God has given them so that those gifts can best be used in worship, in the nurture of the congregation and in evangelization and community service.
My dad often quoted the motto, "Work smarter, not just harder." The motto expects us to think more about how we do our work and to find the best ways to accomplish the tasks with the skills and gifts God has given us.
I pray that we all share the desire to have every member of the church become active participants in the work of God.
If we are to be God's church we must all represent Christ to the best of our ability and be shining examples of Christianity.
At the employee meeting I also discussed the comment I made during my Festival sermon that church employees are required to tithe.
Also speaking at that meeting were Mike Feazell and Bernie Schnippert.
A few employees have asked why they are required to tithe when the church does not require strict tithing as a condition of membership.
Let me answer by explaining our beliefs and practices. First, a comment about a misconception that some have about the new covenant. Living under the new covenant, being in Christ, and being freed from the slavery of old covenant requirements does not equate to doing whatever one wants to do. If we are in Christ, we voluntarily place ourselves under his authority. He is Lord of all.
Rumors that we condone adultery because we are under the new covenant are ridiculous. Such allegations betray a serious lack of understanding about what Christians commit themselves to because of their faith and belief in their Lord and Savior.
For Christians, tithing is not a requirement for salvation. That statement means that an act or a behavior, in this case tithing, cannot be a criterion for salvation. Salvation is freely given, by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing we do is a requirement for salvation.
But the New Testament is clear about the holy life that Christians live as a result of having been saved. Because we are saved, we are called to holiness in Jesus Christ. The New Testament has many sin lists and virtue lists that demonstrate that the Christian walk includes an extremely high ethical and moral standard, not a low one.
The old covenant included carefully delineated, exacting tithes, offerings and sacrifices. Giving in the old covenant was not voluntary. It was absolutely obligatory and required. Failure to comply with this system of tithes, offerings and sacrifices excluded you from being a part of the people of God. You would not be purified, you could not worship and you would be excluded from fellowship.
The new covenant introduces the concepts and principles of Christian stewardship. Christian financial stewardship is built upon the old covenant practices of tithing but is different in philosophy and orientation. In some respects, Christian stewardship is far more demanding than the old covenant practices of tithes, offerings and sacrifices.
Old covenant tithing was a matter of the law; Christian stewardship is a matter of the heart and attitude. It is an expression of our devotion to God. Christian stewardship includes not only the responsibility to give of one's monetary resources, but it also includes the moral demands that the gospel of Jesus Christ places on our time and our talents.
Therefore, it is entirely consistent that we would expect our employees who are members of the church to tithe. We expect a high moral behavior that is Christian in every respect.
And, because employees are employed by a church that is voluntarily funded by tithes and offerings, it is reasonable to expect employees to exercise the principle of Christian stewardship in their lives.
Tithing is the foundation of Christian stewardship. According to the Bible, Christians should contribute cheerfully and liberally for the support of the gospel. Other churches recognize this biblical principle and expect their employees to tithe.
Some employees have reasoned the following: "I have not had a raise in a long time. Therefore, I will not tithe." In effect, they propose giving themselves a raise.
But, a Christian is obligated to give. Jesus gave us the greatest gift, his own life, for our salvation. We are absolutely indebted to him and voluntarily give of our substance so that others may hear the gospel and share in the gift of salvation.
Another perspective on this issue includes the fact that all employees are paid from money that is given to help proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We who derive our living from the gospel need to set the pace.
Therefore, employees have a moral commitment to support the church, which, in turn, provides them with their livelihoods. Members will be encouraged to know that employees, whom they employ with their voluntary tithes and offerings, are doing the same.
When members perceive a lack of commitment by headquarters personnel, then we cannot expect members to be generous.
Our policy is that we expect employees to tithe. However, I want it to be abundantly clear that we do not police our computer records, we do not go on a witch-hunt, nor do we make any effort to catch every employee who is not tithing.
Generally, we check to see if someone is tithing on three occasions: 1) when we are considering hiring someone, because we expect our employees to tithe, 2) when we are considering ordaining someone to an office of servanthood within the body of Christ, because those who are called to lead should be individuals who are generous, devoted, servants of Christ and good stewards of their resources, and 3) when we're considering promoting someone to be a supervisor or manager.
Another factor we are facing concerns our budgeting and cash flow. We have demonstrated that Christians walk by faith and not by sight when we announced that we could no longer require tithing as a condition of salvation. Before that announcement, in early 1995, we had an expectation of what our members would give.
As I also mentioned in my Festival sermon, we need the members to be consistent in supporting our gospel efforts. We cannot pay employees, plan for the future, or give pay raises until we have a basis from which to plan. Employee tithing is one component of our cash flow expectations.
Because of all this, it is not inconsistent for the church to expect employees to tithe. If an employee does not tithe, we are not making a moral judgment about his or her salvation being adversely affected. We know, and acknowledge, that it is between that person and God.
To make contributing easier, we are making it possible for donations to be made by credit card. This will benefit people who have credit cards that give them points toward buying an automobile, plane tickets or cash rebates.
Anyone can now make a credit card donation by calling 1-800-423-4444.
A new personalized envelope designed to handle credit card donations, as well as cash and checks, will be mailed in the next few weeks. In addition, we plan to have automatic credit card debiting for those interested. Information about automatic debiting will be released when we have the system in place.
Regarding church assets, we will not own a corporate jet or a limousine. The limousines have already been sold and we will sell the jet as soon as we have a committed buyer.
We have met with three of the largest real estate agencies in the United States--Grubb & Ellis, Cushman & Wakefield and Coldwell Banker. If we do not sell the property ourselves within a short time we will contract with the agency that gives us the best contract proposal.
To determine the final site of relocation a search committee has been established. The committee will be chaired by Bernie Schnippert and includes Leigh Sniffen, Mssrs. van Pelt, Feazell, Albrecht and perhaps others. Employees are encouraged to give input about possible relocation sites.
Some criteria we will use to find a new home for headquarters includes reasonable cost of living; reasonable housing costs; tax friendliness; good schools; air transport; facilities conducive to our needs at the right price; and weather that is not severe.
Cities recommended by an earlier committee are Albuquerque, New Mexico; Colorado Springs-Pueblo-Denver, Colorado; Big Sandy; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Tyler, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Boise, Idaho; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Apple Valley-Victorville, California.
When we sell and relocate we intend to set up a formal pension program. I shall keep you updated on these matters when we have more information.
Through the love and mercy of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit we have set our minds and hearts on Jesus Christ and have come to trust explicitly in him. I have never been more thrilled about the state of our fellowship!
We are pooling our energies and moving forward in preaching the gospel worldwide and equipping our local congregations to be healthy examples of the body of Christ.
We are learning to use the spiritual gifts we have been given, and are capitalizing on the intense dedication to Jesus Christ--now rightly channeled--which has long characterized our church.
So we stand today at the foot of the cross--the ultimate symbol of all reconciliation. It is the common ground on which estranged and alienated parties can meet. As Christians, we all identify with the suffering that took place there, and we hope that will bring us closer together.
It is only by the blood of the Lamb and the power of the Spirit that we can put the hurts of the past behind us and move forward toward our common goal.
P.S. On another subject, you will notice on page 12 of this issue an article about Christmas. As the article explains, and as we have explained at numerous question and answer sessions at ministerial conferences, we should not judge one another concerning this day.
Although various customs associated with Christmas were originally associated with paganism, many Christians believe that the customs long ago ceased to be pagan. Each person should be convinced in his own mind, but he should not judge his brother regarding such matters.
Remember, Christmas is not part of our annual celebrations, but it is not sinful to get together with family during this time. Neither is it sinful to read and reflect on the story of the birth of our Savior as recorded in Matthew and Luke. It is sinful, however, to practice idolatry, drunkenness and revelry. Sad to say, in the past this kind of behavior sometimes even occurred at the Feast of Tabernacles. We hope that such problems will remain in the past.
Those who are concerned about Christmas issues may want to read a book by Ralph Woodrow on this subject. Mr. Woodrow used to preach against Christmas, just as we used to. His new booklet, Christmas Reconsidered, explains the evidence that led him to change his approach to this subject. Copies are $4 each, postage paid, or $2.50 each for five or more copies. Send orders to Ralph Woodrow, Box 124, Riverside, California, 92502-0124.
[ Worldwide Church of God | Worldwide News | November 14, 1995 ]
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