By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them?

by Jeff Kingrey
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 3, September 1993

"Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good treecannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:15-20).

While traveling around raising support to go to China, I grew weary under an increasingly heavy load of "care for the churches."

1. A member of Church #1 died, whose major contribution to the church was financial. The brethren lament the diminished treasury. No tear for dear departed Whatsisname, just his money.
2. Church #2 "hired" a young man to do personal work while the older preacher held meetings. Preaching was done by the brethren, hungry to get into the pulpit. The man they "hired" was to do "personal work." He ran off after a skirt, and everyone is broken-hearted. Now they are looking for another youngster to do personal work.
3. Church #3 has a problem with pregnant young teenage Christians. Young men in their street clothes lounge in the back row, whispering or sleeping during the preaching. The lament is "Why can’t we keep our young people?"
4. Church #4 has a problem because the preacher’s family is a mess.
5. Church #5 just "asked" the man they were supporting to work among them to "move on." He worked there for five years. The church is bigger, its resources are greater physically and spiritually, but he is not "effective" anymore.
6. Church #6 is divided over the eldership. Seems brother Elder’s wife passed away, and the brethren have asked him to step down and dissolve the eldership since he is now no longer the "husband of one wife." In his time of greatest need, damaged by grief, some of the brethren take a lick while he is down. Only in the Army of God do the soldiers shoot their own wounded.
7. At Church #7, the preacher admitted under duress that he had been carrying on an affair for years with a sister behind his wife’s back. He’s sorry, though, and his sermons are death on immorality.
8. Church #8 has sold some property and has tens of thousands of dollars in mutual funds, drawing interest. But the mutual funds are depressed right now, so it's "not a good time" to draw on their savings for needs like evangelism and benevolence.
9. Church #9 can’t help the preacher trying to raise support to go to a foreign country because they have added on to their building, building new classroom space for their intensive, college-level Bible classes. Why is it that after all these years of such "intensive" work, preachers and brethren know less and do less than they ever have?

If I advertised among the brethren, "Debating preacher needed. One year of preparation required for a series of nationally televised debates: Evolution with Carl Sagan; Evidence of God with Madeline O’Hare; Nature of the Church with Pope John-Paul II. Support provided by local churches," how many men would want to participate, do you think?

I can tell you that I have advertised in reality: "Gospel Preacher needed. One year teaching the Gospel to Chinese people in English. Chinese brethren available in the country to assist. The work is dangerous but fulfilling. Can take family, but would have to homeschool children. Support from the U.S. is doubtful and difficult to obtain. It would require great personal and financial sacrifice. Entry to cities now available throughout China." The Pentecostals send 200 people a year into China this way. There have been few "sound" Christians who have responded. I have heard from a Charismatic, a Roman Catholic, a Mennonite, and brother Ira Rice, who has an Indonesian Chinese brother who wants to go. Brethren have been in Asia for years.

On my journey, I looked for an Antioch church—a church that would support and send one, as Antioch did with Saul, Barnabas, and Silas. I’ve talked with lots of churches unsuccessfully. Time spent in China or the desire to return isn’t big on a professional preacher’s resume. One elder told me, "We are standing hip deep in preachers who want to work with us. We have a lot to offer: numbers, contributions, youth in our membership, and ability (most of our members are wealthy professionals). We’re looking for a big man. A big man."

I would have been glad to put on weight, but that wasn’t what they were looking for. Nor were they what I was looking for. Hip deep? Apparently, the large church, luxurious building, paneled office, new home, generous salary, and prestige among the other preachers in town enhanced the "work" in that church. It made it a "plum much sought after."

How many preachers do you think might answer the "Macedonia call" if it went like this?

"All expense paid tour of the German, Italian, and British churches. Preach in the cities of Europe in existing churches. Also forming tours of the Caribbean. Come to the Bahamas to teach our brethren. No commitment to stay required. Summer or short-term tours available. Tax-deductible. Be back in time for school."

Ask those small churches in New England and the East Coast how difficult it is to get "preacher-boys" attending college down south to come work with them through the summer. Then ask some of the large churches in Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville, Los Angeles, Birmingham, and Tampa how many of them had to turn them away.

What would happen to your "work" in your church if American culture and circumstances changed? Christianity is illegal. Your building is gone, along with the sign on the highway, the yellow pages ad, and the call-in radio or telephone program. Gone are the pews and folding chairs, cry room, classrooms, bulletin boards, office, xerox machine, word-processor, brotherhood journals, bulletins, Gospel meetings, and communion trays. No more library, prospects file, church secretary, janitor, F.C. lectureship, booster club get-togethers for the young people. No more church "work groups program," ladies’ Bible class, Bible class literature, men’s leadership class, or visits to the preacher’s house, or phone calls to your favorite preacher. No potlucks, door knocking, dress-up on Sunday, or church checking account. It’s all gone. It’s you, your Bible, your faith, and your brethren. You meet in one another’s homes, under a tree, in abandoned buildings, maybe even in graveyards. You stagger your arrivals and departures to avoid drawing the authorities' attention. The people you attempt to teach the Gospel could turn you in to the authorities. You can be arrested and imprisoned for converting people. What do you think that would do to attendance where you work now?

Are we patterned after the Lord’s church? If I believed some brethren’s concept of the Lord’s church as a collectivity of all the churches, I do believe I would give up. But what I have observed among churches of Christ assures me many brethren will fail of the promises of God. There is no essential difference between a church that takes liberties with God’s will and uses their treasury in a way for which they have no authority, and a church that ignores "that which is good" and buries their talent in the ground, and explains, "We’re holding our own locally." There is no difference between a church that substitutes emotionalism for revelation and calls it "Pentecostal" and the church that substitutes tradition for revelation and calls it "Conservative.''