____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ May 6, 2001 ____________________________________________________ Products of Our Environment by Jack Harwell In A.D. 51, the apostle Paul arrived in the Greek city of Corinth on his second missionary journey; at the time, the Christians back in Judea may have wondered why. In the first century, Corinth had a well-deserved reputation as a den of immorality. It was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, and was strategically located on the main trade route between the eastern and western halves of the empire; this brought much wealth to the inhabitants. It was also a pagan city, going back to the days of the Phoenicians. There was a temple there to Aphrodite, the Roman goddess of love, where more than a thousand ``priestesses'' engaged in ritual prostitution. Such was the city's notoriety that actors who portrayed Corinthians in plays invariably appeared to be drunk. If a preacher in our time expressed a desire to go to such a place, there would doubtless be many raised eyebrows and whispered comments. But Paul was determined to carry out the Lord's command to ``go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature'' (Mark 16:15). So he stayed a year and a half in the wicked city, preaching the good news to anyone who would listen; first, to the Jews in the synagogue, and then, when they rejected him, to the Gentiles. ``And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized'' (Acts 18:9). Some years later, Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church, in which he had to address the sort of problems that arise in a church that exists in an immoral society -- sectarianism, lawsuits between brethren, food from idolatrous sacrifices, abuses of the Lord's Supper, and adultery. The church at Corinth has become a worst-case scenario for Bible students who seek to learn just how bad things can get in a congregation. Should we expect any different, given the circumstances? Anyone who knows what Corinth was like in those days cannot be surprised that people who call themselves Christians would sink into such depravity. In our own time, we are seeing problems in churches that would have been unheard of a generation ago. The greatest danger, though, is not the transgressions of modern Christians, but rather that we may become so accustomed to them we are no longer shocked by them -- or even worse, we no longer condemn them as wrong. We will have become the kind of people Paul warned Timothy about in I Timothy 4:2: ``Having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.'' This is exactly the complaint Paul raised to the Corinthian brethren in I Cor. 5:2. They had become puffed up, he said, instead of taking the action necessary to put this sin away from them. He didn't soft-pedal the issue or try to play it down because of their circumstances, because the circumstances didn't matter. God's word reads the same in the presence of blasphemers as it does in the presence of apostles. His commands never change -- nor do His expectations of us. Consider this: After going over all their sins, individual and collective, in chapter 10 Paul tells the Corinthian brethren exactly what they need to hear. All of the Hebrew fathers, he said, ate the same spiritual food, but some of them died in the wilderness anyway (vv. 1-5). They serve as examples of what can happen to God's people when they disobey. The Corinthians drank the same spiritual water, from the same Christ (v. 4), as had all other Christians. But they were now committing some of the same sins that had caused the Hebrews to lose their inheritance in the land of promise, and as a result they were placing their spiritual inheritance in jeopardy. Paul concludes his thoughts this way in verses 12-14: ``Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.'' There is no question that the Corinthian Christians lived in an environment that was not spiritually healthy. Even so, they still had an obligation to obey God's laws, even the ones that were inconvenient. They could not use their surroundings as an excuse for their misbehavior -- and neither can we. That is a concept that will need to be driven home to Christians in the 21st century. Everywhere we see and read about people who are claiming they are not answerable for any wrongdoing they commit because of some vaguely defined emotional condition. The great hope now is that science will come up with a pill we can take that will make us responsible, just as we have pills that will cure headaches and sinus blockage. Recently I read about a pharmaceutical company that is testing a medication -- and I am not making this up -- that will cure shop-a-holics of their insatiable desire to spend money in stores. Bad environment, emotional stress, or whatever, will not stand up in the day of judgment. We are each responsible for what we do -- or fail to do. We need to remember that (Romans 14:12). -- Via The Exhorter, November 26, 2000 ___________________________________________ It Is Your Move! by Robert Turner While in Baltimore, Md., I visited successfully old Ft. McHenry which withstood a British naval attack in the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key's poem ``The Star-Spangled Banner.'' Fifty or sixty tourists sat in a small theater to see a stirring dramatic film presentation of the battle. ``The rocket's red glare gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there.'' At the conclusion of the film, the curtains on one side of the theater were slowly opened, the thrilling strains of our National Anthem were played, and we saw Old Glory flying gallantly from the tall standard in the fort. It had a wonderful impact. And I sat right there with all the rest of those sophisticated tourists. I had the immediate impulse to arise and stand respectfully at attention. But I didn't!! As we filed from the room my conscience was hurting, and I mentioned my abortive impulse to one who had sat near me. Sheepishly he admitted that he too had had such a thought, ``but no one started it!'' Do you get the point of this article? ``No one led the way!!'' I could have obeyed my impulse--when it really counted--and my neighbor would have stood with me. I am persuaded that every man and woman in that room would have arisen and paid the homage due our flag (Rom. 13:7). But a few moments later IT WAS TOO LATE! This is not written simply to ``wave the flag,'' although I think a little patriotism would do us good. This is written to stress the need for ``speaking up'' and ``acting'' when the need is present. To obey that impulse to do what is right, instead of weighing the cost of possible embarrassment, etc., ``and holding off.'' There are churches that could have been saved from digression--if ``some one had led the way'' when it would have counted. There are souls that would have been saved--"if someone had invited." At this moment, someone is waiting for our word of encouragement, our example. WILL WE GIVE IT??? -- Via Plain Talk, September, 1968 ___________________________________________ The Pharisee Shield by Terry Benton Often when a person does not have a defense for his/her position, but wants to guard their errors, they have invented a handy device that works wonders for their conscience. I call it ``the Pharisee Shield.'' This is how it works. First, you imagine that anyone who challenges your novel ideas of a subject are Pharisaic if they want scriptural proof for your beliefs. You imagine that God doesn't care what you believe as long as you do not believe in strict obedience. The only spectrum of faith that really upsets God is those who demand scripture for everything they believe. To guard against this pathetic crowd, you can grab ``the Pharisee Shield.'' What this shield does is call people names in the place of giving a Biblical answer to their questioning of our belief or practice. It also salves our conscience. The ONLY reason anyone would ever question our position is because they have a PHARISEE mentality. If they could or would get rid of that Pharisaic attitude, they would KNOW that it doesn't matter what anyone believes about anything. Grace is all that matters, and it covers everything anyway. The Pharisee Shield can be used conveniently when someone asks us to PROVE that grace is all that matters or that it automatically covers everything anyway. We do not have to ``prove'' anything as long as we can keep ``the Pharisee Shield'' handy. We can pretend that we know and appreciate the grace of God better and that we love the brethren more. But, we can get pretty ugly toward ``the Pharisees'' among us. Use the shield when brethren insist that we ``prove all things and hold fast that which is good.'' Use it when brethren insist that Jesus has ALL authority and that we must do all things whatsoever He said to the apostles. Use it when you subjectively judge that the issue being discussed is ``petty.'' Use it when you feel like you do not know the ``truth'' about something and you cannot allow that anyone else knows the ``truth'' either. They are PHARISEES, and that should end all discussion of the matter. On your side of the shield you have your unprovable ideas of God's ``grace'' and ``love'' to keep your conscience seared (I mean protected) against the ``truth'' that only PHARISEES would dare to insist on. You know with your imaginations of ``grace'' and ``love'' that only the PHARISEES could be so pathetically mistaken about so much. Who are these modern ``Pharisees''? Anybody we want to imagine who does not know and appreciate the grace of God (our imagination of it) like we do. With the Pharisee Shield we can protect ourselves conveniently against any threat to our way of thinking. Just imagine you see a Pharisee each time someone thinks we have to DO something to be saved, or to keep saved. Don't attempt to answer them with Scriptural proof. You might become pathetic like them. Instead, just use the Pharisee Shield. On second thought, isn't that what SELF-righteousness is? Aren't those who hide behind the Pharisee Shield just a little self-righteous toward those they imagine to be ``Pharisaic''? Unless a person is willing to ``prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God'' (Romans 12:2), then their form of righteousness is invented, coming from within the imagination of self. This cannot be ``God's righteousness,'' because God's righteousness is ``revealed'' (Romans 1:17). This requires that one go to the revelation to demonstrate the ``truth'' of one's belief before it can be proven to be ``God's righteousness'' instead of ``our own righteousness'' (Romans 10:1-3). If it is not provable by scripture, but is merely fanciful imaginations of what we would like the ``grace'' and ``love'' of God to be, it can still easily be ``self-righteousness'' (a righteousness that comes through the individual's imagination rather than the ``revelation'' of God). We can either throw up the convenient ``Pharisee Shield'' or we can test what we believe by discussing the scriptures. I tend to think that the only real ``Pharisees'' among us are those who self-righteously hide behind ``the Pharisee Shield.'' They resisted Jesus' appeal to the scriptures in the first century. They resisted Stephen's appeal to the scriptures in the first century. They are still resisting today, and the sad thing is that they think their imaginations of grace is the equivalent of true grace. These are they whom Jude said ``they turn the grace of God into licentiousness'' (Jude 4). They are they whom Peter warned that with great swelling words ``they promise LIBERTY'' (2 Peter 2) and ``allure through the lusts of the flesh.'' The flesh lusts to be able to use ``the Pharisee Shield.'' We must beware. It is not really a shield from an imagined spiritual enemy. It is just another one of Satan's devices. A Shield that becomes a spiritual trap. Beware of those who use the Pharisee Shield. They are usually unaware that they have fallen into a cunning trap that provides them with a false sense of security. In the end they find themselves to be slaves of corruption. -- Via The Exhorter, April 18, 1999 ___________________________________________ News & Notes I heard from Lou Pitman recently who mentioned that her husband John is doing somewhat better, due to the doctors finding the right medicine and proper dosage. He's even able to sit out on the porch at times, but is still far from perfect health. Their home (in Kentucky) is now up for sale, and they are hoping to be able to move closer to their family in North Carolina within a couple months. They would be glad for our prayers that all will work out swiftly and smoothly--for one of their daughters, who has been with them for several weeks now and wants to help out with the moving, needs to soon get back to her home in California. The gospel meeting in Marietta will be May 21 through the 25. I'll be speaking on the 21st (Monday). I'll also be preaching five sermons in Piscataway, NJ, June 1-3 (Friday through Sunday). ________________________________________ Avondale CHURCH OF CHRIST P.O. Box 421 1606 Glen Willow Rd., Avondale, PA 19311 (610) 268-2088 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 11:00 A.M. Worship 6:00 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:00 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (610) 925-3567 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://www.mypage.onemain.com/tedwards/avondale ________________________________________