Why Do You Wait?
by Dr. Clay Nuttall, IBFNA Moderator
We used to sing the hymn by George Root "Why do you wait, dear brother, 0 why do you tarry so long?" It reminds us of the admonition of Ananias to Saul, "And now why tarriest thou?" (Acts 22:16). Obedience is something that we are to do, but we are to do it without delay. Then why do individuals and churches remain in groups and institutions when those groups have embraced apostasy?
As a result of exhaustive research relative to this church's history I have asked several questions. How did so many true believers get involved in the old Northern Baptist Convention? How did the NBC become so liberal and therefore apostate? Why did so many stay in a movement that had identified with the apostasy? Obviously a group does not become liberal overnight but it begins by accommodation to liberal doctrine. When the first signs appeared some of the faithful saints left. Others struggled to leave. In the end, some stayed even though infidels were by then firmly entrenched in leadership roles.
Looking back there were many reasons why some stayed. They had pensions to depend on. There was the fear of recrimination, such as blacklisting and hindering those who departed from getting another church. Some would rather cower than stand, but "the spirit of fear" is never becoming to the servant of God. In some cases property was owned by the convention and they wondered how they could continue without their property. Some true brethren had already accepted the human conclusion "that they could do more from the inside for the Lord." One wonders how disobedience can ever be productive for anything. Prestige is a dangerous thing particularly when coupled with dependent identification and the desire not to be misunderstood. These all, however, led to many wrong decisions.
What baffled me most was the ignorance cherished by so many. Some of this may have been a deliberate desire not to know about the liberal doctrine and specifically, the doctrinal error that had come through educational institutions. Pastors and people back home in the churches were playing their "church games" and paid little attention to what was happening. If someone was brave enough to challenge depar tures from the Scripture, the "fearful" would chastise the "faithful" as just being trouble mak ers. Or they looked at those aberrations as just isolated instances to be tolerated. Even when blatant illustrations of the apostasy marked by liberal doctrine became obvi Otis they passed it by. When the scoffers denied a literal hell, the sonship of Christ, the saving blood and the blessed hope, they received only a glance from the fearful who had decided to stay, even when the apostasy was embraced.
It was not just ignorance, but deliberate ignorance that was so offensive to God. As the educational institutions and social agencies filled with liberal doctrine, the time came when those professors and speakers were openly and brazenly displayed as a badge of honor. They gave them another name, for the cause of educational excellence, whatever in the world that may mean. Finally, identification with all kinds of religious and political error was openly accepted and the ecumenical nature of the apostate beast was fully developed---still some stayed.
Why did they stay? I have asked that same question about the very same thing that is happening at this hour. Why do individuals and churches tarry, when groups and institutions are following the very same path that the NBC walked? Some argue that those relationships are not official, but they are indeed very real! The careful observer is asking why would churches stay when many have embraced Promise Keepers, which by any definition is ecumenical and embraces apostates. It may be ignorance, but more than likely, it is deliberate even though Catholics, Mormons, speakers connected with the National Council of Churches, ecumenicals, and those with every doctrinal error you can think of speak at and lead these meetings.
When Luther left the Roman church he carried too much baggage away. That was true of all groups that came out of that movement It is easy to shine a light on others, but let me try shining one on us. Many reading this are in churches that came out of that old liberal system as did ours. Most shocking is the baggage we brought out with us. While we may have held to the fundamentals there is one thing we brought with us that will ultimately soften every church for a return to its NBC roots. (When I read our constitution, I realized that it was not only written under the NBC, but also represents a practical side of liberalism.) It is not enough to say that the Bible is our final authority and sufficiency. We need to practice that. It might shock some of us to know just how much we have been influenced by the liberals' methodology. I dare you to read your constitution and other church documents with an open Bible. What's so unbelievable is that many consider these human documents higher than the Bible, or care little what the Bible teaches on specific subjects. That in my view is a serious affront to our Heavenly Father. The point is that many of the churches who once came out of liberalism are now returning in practice; their long time dependence on human wisdom and documents rather than the Bible is a clear highway to disaster. The bridges to liberalism have not been destroyed.
My prayer for the people and churches who have gathered with us for fellowship is that they will deal with any possible thread that would lead them back to the place where we have painfully removed ourselves from twice or more. I speak to this issue because as a fellowship we need to ensure that we do not support any position that in reality puts human thinking above God's Word.
Clay Nuttall is the Director of Project 21 at Piedmont Bible College
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