Recent articles in the secular press have unmasked the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.1 Their support of terrorism and marxist ideology is now more than ever openly exposed. For a long time they have trampled the Gospel of Jesus Christ underfoot, but at last even the lethargic members of many mainline denominations are waking up and realizing where their church offerings have gone.
In Reformed circles we can be thankful that our adherence to the Word ofGod and our Reformed Confessions have thus far kept us at arm’s length from these radical organizations. The Belgic Confession’s clear warning about the false church (Art. XXIX) has helped us to steer clear:
As for the false Church, it ascribes more power and authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God, and will not submit itself to the yoke of Christ . . . it relies more upon men than upon Christ; and persecutes those who live holily according to the Word of God and rebuke it for its errors, covetousness, and idolatry.
For decades discerning Christians have noticed and voiced concern about the lurch to the left, the marxist politics and anti-American sentiment, in the ecumenical movement.
A Movement Among Us
The time has come for us within Reformed circles, however, to see that although most Reformed denominations2 are not official members of the World Council or National Council of Churches, yet there is within our own circles a growing lurch to the left politically. This is especially evident among the bureaucracy of the Christian Reformed Church. We cannot think that all is well in our particular part of Zion simply because we are not official members of certain ecumenical groups. We must dare to listen to what is being said in our own church offices in Grand Rapids and Burlington, Ontario. We must dare to read what is being written, lest through inaction we find that a small but politically astute minority maneuvers itself into ever increasing influence in our own backyard.
In World Relief
One area of concern in th is regard is presently a minor one, like a cloud the size of a man’s hand. It is this: the CRWRC has dealings with the Church World Service, an arm of the National Council of Churches. To be sure the record of the CRWRC is clear -there are no direct contributions made to Church World Service or its projects. The CRWRC has, however, sent relief funds for the Italian earthquake disaster through Church World Service. Also in the domestic settlement of refugees in the U.S. certain funds are channeled through Church World Service.* It would seem that this present relationship is minimal, open, and above reproach. Yet the question remains, why must we have any relationship at all with an organization such as Church World Service which is tainted with the unsavory smell of left–wing politics and humanism? Why channel even a penny of our church funds through an organization that gave nearly half a million dollars for Vietnam’s “New Economic Zones,” which are in reality concentration camps and for funding political activists in the U.S.?3 We should urge the CRWRC to disassociate itself from even the slightest involvement with the National Council of Churches and its Church World Service.
Canadian Developments
For our members and congregations in Canada there is an even more urgent situation. The Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada at its November 1983 meeting will be urged by certain observers to join political pressure groups such as: Project North, the Inter–Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America, Project Ploughshares, and the Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility. Already at this time these groups are receiving money from the Council, so that funds from Christian Reformed offering plates are presently supporting these groups.
The above mentioned political lobbying groups are marked by a number of objectionable features: they consist of and/or are dominated by liberalistic protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church; they are theologically vague and have no real confessional stance; they play partisan politics with generally leftist, anti-business, and antiAmerican sentiments frequently and fervently expressed. To participate in such groups, to send observers, to contribute even token funds is to compromise our witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
It is the mark of a false church that “it ascribes more power and authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God.” Taskforces and pressure groups that ignore the norms of Scripture, that operate with no explicit confessional standard , that make political pronouncements without the approbation of the members of the churches, whom supposedly they serve, obviously ascribe more power and authority to themselves than to the Word of God. Thus they reveal themselves as false.
What goes on in one section of the church ultimately has an influence upon the entire church. A possible lurch to the left by the Canadian Council may not have an immediate effect upon the Christian Reformed Church as a whole, and it may not disturb the life of your local congregation or mine. Do not think, however, that the denomination or the local congregations will be unaffected in due time.
There appears to be a growing segment within our churches to whom the romantic rhetoric of marxism and ecumenism greatly appeals. Let us not underestimate this phenomenon. Public opinion at large and within specific groups, including the churches, is shaped and formed to a large extent by a small number of opinion leaders. In today’s world those opinion leaders tend to be those in control of the media.
Slanted News
We must come to recognize that the church media with which we are familiar are controlled, and often the “news” we receive is slanted with a leftist bias. Thi s is certainly the case in regard to news from Central Amer ica. We are all well aware of the difficulties and human rights violations in Guatemala. Church publications have spared no effort to set this information before us. What have we heard lately, however, from these same sources about Cuba and Nicaragua? The communist dictators in Cuba and Nicaragua are daily persecuting the church; human rights there are to all intents and purposes non-existent. Yet, where is the righteous indignation in the religious press? Where are open letters to Castro? What protests and appeals have been issued lately from the church bureaucracy to urge the American and Canadian governments to pressure Cuba and Nicaragua to improve their atrocious record of religious persecution and violations of basic human rights?
This ongoing manipulation of the religious media is happening now in Reformed circles. Our official church publications, news releases, and newsletters are taking on a noticably more political tone. Those in control have evidently realized that these publications can be used for partisan purposes, and unless there is a clear reaction against this, there is every reason to believe that this practice will continue and grow worse.
Investigate and consider this matter for yourself. We all have plenty of opportunity to do so. Our mail boxes are filled with all sorts of newsletters from various church agencies, and many of us, no doubt, subscribe to official church publications. Read through this material carefully. Notice what persons , organizations, and countries are praised and which ones are criticized and attacked. Take note of whose mistakes are condoned and whose are vitriolically denounced. I believe that you will see unmistakable signs of a lurch to the left. The politics of the left are praised where possible and injustices committed by left-wing governments, if they are reported at all, are glossed over. This is media manipulation. It is equating Christianity with a partisan political program. Such a politicization of spiritual life is contrary to the declaration of the Lord Jesus: “My kingship is not of this world” (John 18:36).
As devoted adherents to the Reformed faith let us wi sely observe what is going on around us. Our task is clear: we must voice our concern about the lurch to the left; we must make sure that funds offered for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ are not diverted to leftist causes and organizations. We must also pray and work that by the grace of God present trends can be reversed and the Reformed faith and practice reestablished in all its purity among us.
Notes
1. Reader‘s Digest Aug. 1982, Jan. 1983. “60 Minutes” CBS 1/23/83
2. only the Reformed Church in America is officially within the WCC and NCC.
3. Reader’s Digest Jan. 1983, pp. 123–124.
*In 1982 the Sioux Center News reported a gift of $50,000 by the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee to Church World Service for relief and development work in Lebanon. Editor.
Gregg V. Man in is the pastor of the Charlestown Christian Reformed Church, Prince Edward Island, Canada.