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In the light of the ecumenical movement to abandon the past and to restructure the church we can find examples of what called “relevant church work.” In Miami, Florida, such a program is outlined by a denomination as follows:

1. Boycott West Coast grapes. The wine makers are not paying what producers feel they ought to have, so the church should boycott the grapes.
2. Protest marches. This church joins the local labor unions in strikes, sit-ins, and boycotts. They lead the parade in civil rights disturbance. They champion the “Great Society.”
3. Civil disobedience. They tell men to put conscience above the law. No one in the New Testament ever put his conscience above the law. Peter and John, in Acts 4, did not put their conscience above the law. There were two laws before them--God’s law and man’s law. They chose to obey God’s law. They did not allow their conscience to be their guide, but the law of God guided them.
4. Lobbying. They are active in Washington D.C., lobbying for various programs such as Red China, Viet Nam, etc. The gospel is not God’s power to save from sin but to renovate the slums. The church is made a tool of the politician.

Young People's Work

A relevant program for young people is set out by a church in California. (See Ladies Home Journal, March, 1969, p. 86.) A mother tells of a relevant youth program. Her church, she says, is pushing agape programs for hippies. Smoking, drinking, and sex are encouraged among fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds. High school groups are taken to San Francisco to interview drug addicts and homosexuals. This, brethren, is the uplifting, relevant program of an active restructured church! Are we ready for this?

Protest

This effort by a few to remake the church in their image is new among us but old in the denominational world. They are growing tired of it just when we are catching on. A Mr. Kenneth S. Keys, millionaire of Miami, Florida, working with a group called “Concerned Presbyterians,” says “Thousands of Christians are leaving the church because of liberal trends.” In 1967, he said, “One thousand two hundred and ninety-five of the presbytery’s 3,987 churches did not receive a single new member on a profession of faith” (The Miami News, March 15,1969, p. 4A). These churches have “relevant sermons” and preach the “gospel of the ghetto” and not the gospel of salvation. Catholics are saying “churches are interfering more than is necessary in civil rights.” People who are caught up in these activist programs are asking, “What has happened to the old-time religion when Sunday services meant uplifting sermons, soul-cleansing hymns, and warm, personal fellowship?” This has gone out the window and is laughed at by the new intellectual and is contemptuously called “pietistic worship.”

There was never a greater opportunity to preach the primitive gospel than today. We should not presume to remake the church but get people to return to it. Jesus built the church, and its work and worship were defined by the Spirit of God as revealed in the New Testament. Like David, we should pray, “Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins.” These are presumptuous men who would restructure the church; all of them claim to be directed by the Holy Spirit. However, there are no two who agree, so we wonder just which one is led by the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit (?) leads one preacher to support L. B. J.’s “Great Society” and another, the “Social Justice” of Adolf Hitler, or the society of the hammer and sickle of Russia. We can only wonder what kind of a spirit leads. We feel that the adjective “Holy” could be well left off.

Let us respect God’s Word and His church.  We should not attempt to remake them.

G. K. Wallace

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