Vol. 3, No. 8

September, 1966

No Cure But To "Leave"

In the fall of 1948 nine men lectured on "Why I Left" various denominations and this material was published by Campbell-Caskey. Floyd A. Decker, one of the nine, told why he left the Christian Church. There is much food for thought in his remarks about church organizations -- something apart from he local church itself, through which a plurality of churches function. Read carefully: ----------------------- "My friends, departure from God's word, in church organization, resulted in the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church. Would you argue with me about that? I think not. Departures in church organization resulted in putting the Pope upon the throne and the establishment of the Roman Church. Every departure from the truth, as far as I know, had its beginning in the organization of the church and then from there spread out into other fields. I say once more, when the authority of God's word is given up, there is no place to stop. Let us have a care. History does sometime repeat itself. Let us be careful in the field of education, in the field of benevolence and in the field of evangelism. Institution, brethren do not reform. (emph. rft) I hoped twenty years ago that I would be able to save that congregation I was preaching for. I was unable to make an impression on them to that end. Many of them came along as months and years came and went, but they did so individually. There is no way to go out and convert people on a wholesale basis and turn whole denominational bodies over.		There is no easy way to build up the church of the Lord in the world. There is no easy way to convert the world. Victory comes most of the time as Churchill said, "Through blood, sweat, and tears." Men and women must be of earnest anxious hearts, enthusiastic souls who refuse to quit when quitting would be easier. Institutions fail sometimes and break up; but reform them , never! It cannot be done." --------------------------- In 1864 Moses E. Lard wrote, "No matter how unanimous or how kind the voice of remonstrance may be, the spirit of innovation never retraces its steps." In July 1950 Foy E. Wallace, Jr. reprinted Lard's remarks in "Torch" and remarked, "Innovators do not hear warnings nor heed admonitions." These things come to mind as I see the course of apostasy today, with respect to church organization. History is filled with examples of the disastrous results of so-called brother-hood projects in benevolence, evangelism, etc.; which necessitate the pooling of funds and authority. But warnings fall, for the most part, on deaf ears. We look for no wholesale turning from current institutional error. We do plead with individuals to "come ye out from among them." 6 [Previous Article] [Next Article]

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