What Would He Think Now
The quotes are from the first President of Harding.........J.N. Armstrong. They were given to me by a co-worker.
Jim Woodroof pointed out to me that at least once brother Armstrong was speaking in terms of what God had wanted, but the reality is that we have many times fallen WAY short of what God has wanted for us. For example, President Armstrong said "If there is one thing for which the church of the living God has stood for through all its history, it is the freedom of conscience of all its members." The church sadly has NOT ALWAYS stood for this freedom, hence the burnings of people at the stake. In fact, the same thing happens in 2007. No, not the extreme of burning people at the stake..........but you know as well as I do what happens when someone doesn't tout the company line. They get attacked personally, and for sure are "written up" in certain publications. They also get ostracized and are treated as persona non grata, or as we say in the south............"you ain't welcome in these parts". So yes, brother Armstrong was for sure talking about what God had HOPED FOR as far as how we treat each other, and not how we have actually done so.
As for GKB's comment.............no, I don't think J. N. Armstrong would have been about the business of forcing his opinion on anybody. Even about not forcing opinions! :)
The thing that hit me about all of the great quotes was this...............if he were alive today saying (and trying to practice) these same things, what churches would invite him to come preach, and what lectureships would he be welcomed to do a key-note address or teach a class? We all will probably have different opinions on that, but I don't believe he would be welcome in a LOT of churches, nor certain lectureships. Is there a message for us to hear in all of that? Is it past time we stop and recalibrate to check and see if we really are about the things that the Father calls us to be about? If President Armstrong was respected and welcomed by most folks in our fellowship back then, what has happend in the years that have followed to where he WOULDN'T be respected or welcomed now? I feel like theses quotes are representative of thoughts and admonitions that our Lord and Savior communicated while He was on earth, so the deeper question might be "how many churches or lectureships would welcome JESUS if He were also alive today?" Now I've gone to meddling, huh? :)
I thank God that the history of our fellowship is full of people, men and women, like J. N. Armstrong. I just hope and pray we can have more people like him and them.
What's your take?
3 Comments:
As a history type buff, I know what when wrong and when, David. Egotistical people bought out the brotherhood's publications and became bishops over many when they weren't qualified to be elders over their own church. Angry men built fiefdoms rather than Christ's kingdom. The period from 1900-1960 was one where we pursued doctrinal perfection at the cost of throwing away our unity, holiness, and compassion.
What Patrick said. And some people are still living in the period between 1900 and 1960.
Good thing these quotes don't apply to issues like instrumental music and things like that, huh?
I too have a soft spot in my heart for J. N. Armstrong. I do believe that Armstrong would lament a number of things that have transpired at the college he built. Here is a great quote from Armstrong,
"There is a great need to stress the importance of maintaining freedom of speech in the kingdom of God. Intolerance is dangerous to the future growth of the church ... All progress of truth - scientific truth, political truth, or religious truth - all truth - has always depended on free speech and progressive teachers who were not afraid to teach their honest convictions."
That is a great quote. Armstrong was part of has been called the Nashville Bible School Tradition and it is my prayer that it rises from the ashes.
I hope it is not presumptious to do this but a recent book coauthored by myself and John Mark Hicks explores J.N. Armstrong and the stream of thought he was in. The book is called:
"KINGDOM COME: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding" (New Leaf, 2006).
The book is available on Amazon.com. I think we have much to learn from Armstrong.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
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