10/24/2005

The Baby and the bathwater

"And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; Yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs" (Eccl. 12:9)

Those of us who were raised in the Deep South are quite familiar with the subject of proverbs. The parents and teachers of our generation taught us the great truths of life through proverbs, and they seemed to have a saying for every occasion, Sometimes it was one of the proverbs of the Bible: "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1), or "the rich and poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all" (Proverbs 22:2); or "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith" (Proverbs 15:17); or " A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city" (Proverbs 18:19); or any of hundreds of other biblical proverbs. Sometime it was the proverbs that had accumulated over the years, written or spoken by men, but based on the clear facts of nature. "A stitch in time saves nine," or "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" or " don’t count your chickens before they hatch." Simple reminders of the inviolable laws of nature; stated so as to be easy to remember. One of these was the instruction "not to throw out the baby with the bathwater."

Now, I never knew anyone to actually throw out a little infant when dumping the water in which the infant had been bathed. But it could have easily taken place and the word of warning applied to many situations in life when disgust over what was wrong might lead to hurried action, and the resultant loss of that which is good. Water back then was a precious commodity; it had to be drawn from deep in the well with manual labor, or hauled from the creek or pond; and especially on washdays, a lot of hard labor was involved. Most rural homes on South Georgia and North Florida had dirt yards (which were swept with a "brush-broom") and to dispose of dirty water, one simply carried the pan or pail to the back stoop and tossed it into the yard (or if there was any shrubbery in the yard, it would be tossed on that to water it)

But although I never saw anyone actually throw out a baby, I have seen men who became too hurried to dispose of a wrong element that had arisen among them, and actually do more harm than good by also throwing out good and profitable things in the effort to get rid of the bad. And especially in the old church, I have seen this take place again and again. Because of a wrong which had been admitted (and sometimes because of a supposed wrong) the leadership of the church would call for immediate action without having taken time to labor with the erring member, and actually cast away the fellowship of sister churches in their rush to dispose of a small pan of dirty bathwater.

Now, let me hasten to state, that there are times when immediate action is required and when labor would be useless. A member who leaves his wife and marries another woman (or another man as is the growing custom in this day and age) should be immediately disciplined by being excluded from the church. What would you accomplish by laboring with a man who has openly and defiantly committed this sin and continues to live in it? The Apostle Paul in the 5^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians says nothing about laboring with him or delaying action on this matter, but chides the church at Corinth for their delay, and instructs them to "deliver such an one unto Satan." "Purge out therefore the old leaven." "With such an one no not to eat" (The communion service): (I Corinthians. 5:5,11). The same is true for those who advocate false doctrine within the church. A preacher who denies the resurrection of these bodies from the grave is in clear contradiction of the inspired word of God in I Corinthians, chapter 15, and other places, he does not need months and months of labor; but the scripture clearly says such is an heretic, and is to be rejected after the first and second admonition (Titus 3:10).

But there are many false notions and ideas in the minds of natural men which need to be lovingly corrected and gently admonished (I Thessalonians. 5:14;James 5:19-20). And in these cases sometimes the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. Let the bath water represent false ideas and notions – whether in practice or in doctrine (but not denying the articles of faith of the church); yes, it needs to be cast out lest the "little leaven" soon "leaven the whole lump" (I Corinthians 5:6) Could it not be done tenderly and carefully lest the offending brother be insulted and lost to the case and the church be disturbed in the process? Let the baby represent the fellowship of the saints – one of the greatest of God’s blessings upon us as we travel here. Those who wish to introduce something new among the people of God should consider carefully whether or not it will disturb the church or churches. But even when they fail to consider, we should be willing, while opposing the false teachings, to bear with them until labor is extended with the hope of seeing them return to the "old paths" of God’s word.

In my early years with the old-line Primitive Baptists I saw this very thing take place, the baby was thrown out with the bathwater. When I joined my home church she was a member of the Union Association, a strong association of 31 churches of deep South Georgia; Churches that were blessed by the abundant blessings of God. The year before I asked for a home at Cat Creek Church, I asked the late Elder O. J. Rives if I could borrow copies of the association minutes of the Union for the past ten years. I was then with the progressives Primitive Baptists and I had a ten year collection of the minutes for their 10 associations in Georgia and Florida. I compared the two and was astounded at the results. The Progressives had everything to appeal to the natural man and what the world teaches to promote church growth. – Revival meetings, musical instruments. Preacher’s schools, Sunday Schools, Youth Camps, organized mission movements, etc. – and yet, the number that applied for membership in the churches of these ten associations was very meager. In contrast, the old-line Union Primitive Baptists Association had none of these things, but experienced growth and in-gatherings year after year. Those who had much to offer the natural man were declining, while those who had nothing to interest the natural man were growing. Can you explain that any way except by the blessings of the Spirit of God?

But trouble came to the Union from other associations and we were told we could only preach the preachers they approved and fellowship the churches they declared to be in order. The Union once had a wide correspondence with all the associations in middle and south Georgia and all of north, central and south Florida; this was then reduced by the little group who seemed to run the association, to just two associations in north Florida; and then in another year one of these was dropped, and we were left with a total fellowship of one small association consisting of three churches. Despite the fact that our minutes had long carried a statement that one of the purposes of the association was to assist in a "chain of correspondence among the churches throughout the country," now only a small handful of churches remained. Many churches began to leave the Union and go forth as independent churches (which my home church also did and so remains); and to day, 35 years later, there is no longer a Union Association. Why? Simply, because THEY THREW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATHWATER. I promised my Lord that I would not be a part in another split among the people of God – I saw families divided; I heard the groans of those who loved the old church and loved each other and were now separated. I stood outside of Wayfare Church at Bell, Florida, the day the Suwannee Association adopted their non-fellowship bars; and watched as the tears rolled down the faces of the old sisters who said our church home will never be the same.

In one way or another, this has taken place among the Old Baptists in practically every section of the country. We lost the good will of the communities where the church was located by fighting with each other; we lost a whole generation of members in the churches; these young people (who are now middle age) watched their parents and kinfolks fighting with each other in the church and quite naturally shied away from her.

Now, there are some among us today who want to tell us who we can fellowship and who we cannot fellowship. They are concerned, as I have been these many years, about the unscriptural practices some are trying to add to the old church. I will agree that the bathwater is dirty when you place mission programs, preacher’s schools, youth camps and anything else that is not authorized in the word of God into the old church, and that dirty bathwater needs to be cast out. But, brethren, I beg of you to do it gently, peaceably, after much prayer and much labor; and with the understanding that there is no higher order on earth than the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is the right of each individual church to decide who she will and will not fellowship and what preacher she will or will not use.

There are listings of preachers on the Internet that are termed "conservative" (and maybe some listings that are termed "Liberal"), but be careful that you understand that these listings are the work of men and not of God. I do not need an internet listing to tell me if a preacher is sound, liberal or conservative; let me listen to him preach, observe his decorum and learn the history of his service, and it will be obvious to me or to anyone else who looks at him.

Be careful, brethren, let not your zeal exceed your knowledge, and let not your desire to lord it over God’s heritage mislead you into thinking you can dictate to other churches or ministers what they should do. God’s servants stand or fall before Him alone (Romans 14:4). Speak out strongly and scripturally against the falsehoods of doctrine and practice that appear among us; throw out the dirty bathwater as given opportunity, but be careful not to throw out the baby as well. Written in love for the cause of truth in the earth. --Bob Dickerson