| October 11, 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 24
|
An oft-repeated charge against members of the church of Christ is that we seem to think that we are infallible. Herein we intend to address ourselves to the validity or invalidity of such a charge with the aim of clearing up any mistaken impressions.
First of all, a fundamental principle upon which our examination must be based is the fact that NO MAN can truthfully claim infallibility! “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Since sin and infallibility cannot co-exist, we must conclude that all men are fallible including members of the church of Christ.
Secondly, I have never known of a member of the church who has claimed infallibility. I have known some few who ACTED as if they were perfect, and perhaps a few who thought they were. But the point is this: members of the church of Christ do not generally and publicly claim to be infallible humans.
How then did the charge originate? If we do not claim to be infallible, and in view of our constant references to such passages as Rom. 3:23, why do people think we claim perfection? Consider a few possible reasons.
(1) We believe in an infallible Christ. Unlike the modernists, we believe without any doubt that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, that He died on the cross for our sins, that He arose from the dead, and that He now serves us in heaven [as High Priest of God]. We believe what Peter declared on Pentecost when he said: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made this same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). We are also convinced that He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Our Savior is a Perfect One!
(2) We believe in infallible authority. After Jesus was raised from the dead, He declared: “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). Later the apostle Paul wrote that God “hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:21-23). So the authority upon which our religion is based is infallible. The blind unfounded expressions of human authority are not approved by a God Who gave all authority to His Son.
(3) We believe in only one infallible way to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Thus it is our blessed belief that the way of Jesus is the only infallible way to glory. This means that we, with God, must reject the “many ways to heaven” concept, and do our best to encourage our religious neighbors to do the same.
No!! Members of the church of Christ are not infallible. But we believe in an infallible Savior Who has by His authority revealed through the New Testament the only infallible way to heaven. Some of us may fall from that way, 1 Cor. 10:12, and we may not always follow the example of our perfect Savior, but we firmly believe that “Ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:10).
--Warren Berkley
A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his five year old son waiting for him at the door. “Daddy, can I ask you a question?” “Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man. “Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?” “That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.
“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy. “If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.” “Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”
The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours every day and don’t have time for such childish games.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he asked. “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on your earlier, said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.” The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you Daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.
“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled. “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”
--author unknown
Jesus, in Matt. 6:22-24, said, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, you whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Jesus had just spoken in verses 19-21 about the importance of laying up treasures in heaven. Continuing along that line, He now tells us that if heaven is our goal, we must focus in on that goal. We cannot afford to let our eye wander and try to focus on two separate goals at the same time. Greek scholar W. E. Vine comments, "Singleness of purpose keeps us from the snare of a double treasure and consequently a divided heart."
Perhaps one of the best examples of a person who tried to focus on two goals at once is the rich young ruler who came to Jesus in Mark 10:17-22. He recognized Jesus as the good master/teacher. He was interested in eternal life. He was interested enough in it to ask the Teacher how it might be obtained. But he had a problem. He was trying to serve two masters. Interested as he was in eternal life, he was still more interested in his earthly wealth. Mark tells us, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, `One thing you lack.'" Some of us may find that sentence shocking. Perhaps we have been led to believe that those who love us will tolerate our every fault and never seek to set us right. Just the opposite is true. Because He loved the rich young ruler, Jesus sought to correct his error. Jesus, in effect, told the young man that he would have to give up his service to wealth or else give up the thought of going to heaven. And then another shocking statement shouts out to us from the written page: "he was sad... and went away grieved, for he had great possessions." In our materialistic society we might expect the text to say the young man went away happy because he had great possessions, but alas, not so. He was grieved. He knew his love of money was going to cost him the hope of everlasting life, yet he was not willing to give up that love and center his attention on the better goal. He had great possessions. Or in a very real sense, his possessions had him! He couldn't be happy without his material wealth, yet he couldn't be happy with it, knowing it was costing him the true treasure of heaven. Thus as Jesus said, no one "can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon [wealth]."
--CRJ