WHAT ABOUT YOU, ELDERS?

Yes, history is very plain that deformation in the church always starts from the top and reformation vice versa. The degradation usually starts at the institutions of higher learning. There is plenty of evidence for that today also. Of course, it comes from there by means of the minister on the pulpit and in the catechism classroom.

Yes, history is very pbin that deformation in thc church always starts from the top and rcfonnation vice versa. The degradation usually starts at the institutions of higher icafning. There is plenty d evidence for that today also. Of course, it comes from there by means of the minister on the pulpit and in the catechism classroom.

But, what about you elders of the church—the overseers, the watchmen upon the walls of Zion? In checking the 1974 Yearbook of our denomination, I found that there are a total of 9,042 office-bearers according to classical statistics. There are in the CRC 1,047 ministers, the leaching elders, leaving the number of elders and deacons at about 8,000. Assuming that half of them are deacons, we arc left with about 1,000 elders or overseers of the church. What has puzzled me is what goes on in our denomination—our slipping away from our Biblical, Reformed foundation—and that this can happen while we have that many elders. You elders are about 4 to 1, even if all ministers were off the track. But, thanks be to the Lord, this is not half true yet, hope so you are 8 to 1, and perhaps even more.

Elders, overseers of the church, then you are to blame for the slipping away. You have not been faithful to your calling. All of you have promised when you were sworn into office before the church, and in the presence of the Lord, that you would do this faithfully. The work of the elders is that of ruling in the Name of the ascended King; and, as servants of the Great Shepherd, to care for His flock. It is, therefore, also the duty of the elders to maintain the purity of the Word and sacraments, to uphold good order in the church, carefully guarding the sacredness of the offices and exercising discipline. You should, moreover, with love and humility promote the faithful discharge of the office, having particular regard to the doctrine and conduct of the minister of the Word, that tile church may be edified and may manifest itself as the pillar of the Truth. You all said, “I do,” to that.

We have to assume, elders, that you have been considered capable of having this position. You don‘t need to have a doctor’s degree in theology, or n college education to be an elder. Your requirement is thnt you know your Bible real well and the doctrines of our church, and that you live godly life. Above all, you should be men who love the Lord, and His church. Whether you are a doctor of theology or a sewer-digger, yon may humbly thank the Lord that He gives you the honor and privilege to serve Him in this office of overseer. If you are faithful to your calling, the Lord will bless you. The ordination form states this upon Biblical ground as a reward of grace.

But what if you are not faithful? You answer the question yourself. Brethren, it pains me to have to say this, but the elders of our denomination have not been faithful to their calling. Had you been, we would not be where we are today. Yes, there is one here and one there. The last Synod proved that. May the Lord bless them abundantly. But, how come you don’t stick together, you four thousand?

Dr. Harry Boer proved very plainly in his article in the May 12 issue of The Banner that you have let your ruling power be taken out of your hands by the ministers. You don’t have that anymore in the denominational boards, agencies, and committees. You overseers do not have nearly enough representatives at our Synods either. That’s way we get all those unnecessary study and restudy requests and those sophisticated, confusing, and at times, completely unbiblical results. That’s why we get that deterioration in our denomination.

Again I say, it always starts at the top. It‘s your neglect, elders, not only at the Synod where you had 74 delegates, but especially in the consistory room, 4,000 of you. How come you have not stood up together, and remained standing up? Why have you ciders failed? This is the question we have to face squarely. Do you consider your position only one of honor instead of responsibility? We are afraid that it is lack of faith and courage. Or do we want peace at any price? We must have faith and courage to stand up for the Truth, but what is most essential is to remain standing, regardless. What good does it do to stand up temporarily, and sit down readily when one does not win immediately? Remember this, as you keep standing bravely, the weaker ones who do agree with you will soon stand up too, and then you may gain the victory. Oh, if you elders would only have a little of the great faith and courage that the great reformer, Martin Luther, had, standing alone with danger to his life, before that powerful church assembly! Praise the Lord for him!

Do I write all this because of a negative attitude? Far from it! Neither do I point a finger at any individual elder. My conviction is that it is our calling to encourage our faithful preachers. Their task is most difficult.

Now, elders, delegates, how could you vote in favor of that decision with a clear conscience at the 1974 Synod to have ACRL members disciplined? You have to answer for that to the Lord also. To me this is a beginning of what is going to happen in the latter days: the church will persecute the Church of Jesus Christ. No doubt one or two elders voted against that decision, but what about the 69 or 72 who with the help of a few faithful minister-delegates could have crushed this wicked deed. Rev. C. Boomsma could have used much stronger expressions than horizontalism and secularism when he analyzed the situation we are in as a denomination. Indeed, it is much more serious than any of us can fully comprehend, because Satan works as an angel of light to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. I am not a pessimist; no real Calvinist can be. Satan will destroy denominations, but not the Church of Jesus Christ. But we have to be a means in God’s hand to protect that Church of which our denomination is a very small part.

Now, brethren, you need more faith and courage, and we certainly will give you our support. This will be our prayer for you. Let’s face the facts squarely. You elders are not in the minority. There are still 4,000 of you even if some of you have already fallen away. You have to work together and you had better not wait any longer. Time is precious. Since we live so far apart from one another, it will have to start locally and statewise. Now we know very well that we have to work together with our faithful ministers, without whose leadership we cannot accomplish what we should do. We greatly appreciate these faithful ministers. Without them we would not have an organization of Reformed Fellowship, Inc. and THE OUTLOOK. No doubt, some of those ministers need more faith and courage also, and they need our strong, prayerful support.

In true unity, based upon Scripture, and in love for our Lord and His Church, we can stand up together and never lose. At our last Synod it was evident that we do indeed have some faithful ministers and elders who stood up boldly for God’s Name. Praise the Lord! These men, and the writers who have faith fully and openly upheld the Truth in THE OUTLOOK should be remembered in a special way in our prayers. Let them know about it also as much as we can.

Elders, brethren in Christ, remain or become faithful to the utmost of your ability before it is too late.

PETER ALPHENAAR

 

RECOMMENDS CHRISTIAN TEXTBOOKS ON SCIENCE

I read with much interest Aaldert Mennega’s article in THE OUTLOOK of September on “Seek ye first the kingdom –in science.” He wrote: “Needed  Christian textbooks – Question: . . . Why sufficient Christian text book materials have not been available for the natural sciences at different levels. It is true that in very recent years some materials have appeared at the elementary level. For this we are thankful. But there is still a great dearth of solid comprehensive, scientific writing from the Christian point of view.”

I would have felt it more helpful to those readers who are not aware of de· tail~ and especially for parents of teenagers and pre–teens who live in areas where Christian schools are not avail· able to tell them what is available in the fields of life sciences and physical science as good material written from the Christian point of view.

Allow me to make mention of materials that have been well received in our in our family throughout the last decade and have contributed greatly to form the basis of a Christian point of view in the sciences. I refer primarily to the excellent work done by the Creation Research Society and the Bible-Science Association. A textbook committee of the form had after four years of work a biology textbook published by Zondervan Publishing House entitled: A Search for Order in Complexity along with a student workbook.

The Bible-Science Association is dedicated to: Special Creation, Literal Bible Interpretation, Divine Design and Purpose in Nature, A Young Earth, A Universal Noachian Flood. Christ as God Men – Our Saviour, Christ-Centered Scientific Research. They publish a Bible Science Newsletter monthly which through the years has given excellent articles popularly written (they do not publish a July or August issue), on Scientific subjects from a Christian viewpoint.

They also publish school science readers for children: Our Wonderful World, grades 1–3, single subscription $2.00, 10 or more $1.00 each; Our Orderly World, grades 4–6, single subscription $2.50, 10 or more $1.40 each; Our Scientific World, grades 7–9, single subscription $3.50, 10 or more $1.70 each. Teacher’s Helps are included with the three editions when ten or more subscriptions are ordered.

All available through Bible-Science Association: Bible-Science Association,  P.O. Box 1016, Caldwell, Idaho 63605. Many other books and pamphlets are available by writing. They carry many excellent works on subjects related to creation versus evolution. Subscription price for the newsletter is $3.00/year ($3.25 for Canada).

E. H. POL

TAKES ISSUE WITH SENATOR BYKER ARTICLE

This letter is in regard to the recent article by Mr. Gary Byker which appeared in your November 1974 issue.

While Mr. Byker expresses a good attitude toward Christian principles in government, he maintains a weak position on the adequacy of Scripture in that area. This is indicative of the failing of the church.

Mr. Byker says, “The Bible is rather vague on what constitutes the God-preferred social–economic.political system. Specific blueprints for political systems can hardly be gleaned from the Bible.”

The Bible is not vague or inadequate at all on these vast and important issues. Ownership of land and property was not only a right in Israel but years of jubilee returned to the original owners that property which had been sold. Birthright and the right of inheritance was an important matter; thus the Bible teaches that the family is the rightful custodian of property.

Today, however, the state imposes itself ever more into the ownership and control of everything and this by the will of the people. As people move away from godly principles they become less and less responsible and more and more dependent upon care by others.

God hates a false weight. Money is always spoken of in Scripture in terms of weight. Thus a currency must be based upon a precious metal, it must have intrinsic value and not have its worth determined by sinful, greedy government administrators and agencies.

Today the government is committed to a confiscatory tax structure—rob the rich and give to the poor. As good as this sounds to the humanistic and the poor man, it breaks the eighth commandment and doesn‘t even help the poor.

The law of any political system must reflect the Law of God. For hundreds of years the great documents of the Western nations reflected this truth but now men find the source of law and wisdom in themselves . . .

(REV.) DALE K. DYKEMA