The Deadly Results of Religious Apathy

Richard Helms was at one time the head of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. His adult life has been spent in studying various forces in the world which oppose the freedoms which we in America value so very highly. He has balanced that study with very strong opposition to the various forces which either oppose or have opposed those freedoms in many nations around the world (such as Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union). There is strong evidence that during Helms' adult life he has consistently held to the view that conviction and strength - not indifference and weakness - are the attributes which bring peace and a thwarting of the aggressive efforts of wicked men to wound and enslave America.

Helms, while serving on a commission which had the task of designing "the free-world's nuclear deterrent for the rest of the century," became very alarmed at the number of people in the West (the United States and its allies) who saw no significant danger either in the constantly growing military power of (1) Nazi Germany or (2) the Communist nations around the world. For example, many Americans either (1) foolishly accepted the Soviet declaration of peaceful intentions, or (2) grew pale with fear of what they viewed as undefeatable" Communist strength.

We can be deeply thankful for the leadership of America which, in both recognizing and preparing for the Communist strength, was able to blunt the Communist military might.

However, it must be noted that at the time of Hitler's rise to power as the head of the Nazi party in Germany, Helms was a UPI reporter in Germany. In the fall of 1935 he heard Hitler make the announcement: "At this moment German troops are crossing the Rhine bridges and occupying the Rhineland." Hitler's mesmerized audience in Germany cheered wildly for the German aggression. Helms, then only 23, was stunned. But the world - including the United States - merely shrugged.

The staggering truth was that Helms was only one of a small group of journalists and diplomats who understood the Nazi menace at a point when there was still time to stop Hitler's horrible aggression - an aggression that was to send most of the world into war and to initiate the imprisonment, wounding, and/or killing of millions of people.

Is there a similarity in those events to what is occurring in the Lord's church today?

No careful observer of what has been happening in the Lord's church itself can merely "shrug off 'the very disturbing trends which have been manifested in the church during - especially - the past 25 years. Some of us have seen it and have issued warning after warning about it. Yet - as did the world in regard to Hitler's initial moves which led to World War I! most members of the church have merely "shrugged" at Hitler's evil; the Lord's church is presently "shrugging" at the evil of theological liberalism.

As a result of this complacency, the very faithfulness of the Lord's church is being challenged. There can no longer be any doubt that a "drifting away" from a strong proclamation of the truth and a strong defense against doctrinal error has occurred among God's people.

At present, most of us who are basically on the right track are merely "shrugging" at matters which are - according to plain Bible teaching - absolutely obligatory (things which God demands that we do in obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ). No doubt, it is the case that many (perhaps even a majority) of the members of the Lord's church today are, I repeat, merely "shrugging" at the enormous growth of liberalism among the people in the Lord's church.

Since what I have said in the immediately preceding paragraph is true, it is evident that we are living in a time of disdain for what the Bible actually does teach.

What must we do in order to be faithful to God in the face of this situation?

First of all, I suggest that faithful brethren must face up to the fact that the situation in the Lord's church is as it has been described in this article.

Second, brethren must realize that the problem will not be solved by merely shrugging and, in effect, saying, "So what? There are not many falling away!"

Let me (as one who constantly strives to "keep his finger on the pulse" of both the world and the Lord's church) assure you that the problem is not merely going to "dry up and blow away" (as some farmers say). Let us all face up to the fact that we must "contend earnestly for the faith" (Jude 3) and "fight the good fight of the faith" (I Tim. 6:11-12; 2 Tim. 4:7). Truly faithful preachers and elders will not sit idly by while the church is swept into apostasy. We - not the "liberals" among us - have the truth! This is surely the reason why the "liberals" have - at least so far - refused to try to defend in public debate their various doctrinal positions (e.g., that sinners are saved by grace only without one whit of human activity").

In the next article, I plan to discuss in some detail some of the areas of apostasy which currently face the church from within - for example, (1) the view that no one can really know anything; (2) the rejection of the necessity of proving all things (cf. I Thess. 5:21); and (3) the view that salvation is by grace only.

May I urge all of us to remember that God will be with those who are faithful to him by being faithful to his word (Heb. 5:8-9; cf. Phil 2:8). We can all be assured that God requires all of us to be faithful. If we are faithful, then we can be certain that the results will be in harmony with the will of Almighty God!

Beloved brethren, think about these things!