“Holy Sees?”
By Evangelist Paul Mershon
September 3, 2010
I surely do not wish to stir any undue controversy, nor do I want to make arbitrary, unmerited or unfounded statements of concern. I know that I may well be taking a risk here, but I feel compelled to share with you the following thoughts. Please know that in the writing of this article no malice is intended.
During the course of the last half of twentieth century, a rising phenomenon came on the scene that has taken hold and seems to be very prolific within the realm of modern fundamentalism. We have seen several mega-churches developed over the years, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. The churches of which I speak are within the independent Baptist circles of fellowship, not just within the various evangelical, new evangelical or charismatic groups. Along with this rise in the mega or super-church movement has come something that has been disturbing and disconcerting to me. Many of these large works have become central to the camp mentality that has taken hold and gained much traction and acceptance over the years. For many years First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana was looked upon by many men as a sort of “holy see” whose pastor, Dr. Jack Hyles, was treated by many as if he were a “Baptist pope.” Indeed, one pastor of a large church of which I am familiar has been facetiously assigned the title of “Baptist pope” of the state where his work is located. What in the world are folks thinking when they say such things, even if in jest? How this must grieve the heart of God! Beloved, God has not ordained that we should have “holy sees” or “Batiist popes.” And though we condemn this thing of “holy sees” and “denominational popes” in other groups, it seems to me that we are not willing to judge the same unacceptable behavior amongst our own.
I have been asked over and over again if I stand with certain preachers, wholly support certain Bible colleges, run to every mega-church conference, and declare my fealty to certain personalities. It is as if my spirituality and claim to being a Biblicist Baptist is judged by the mega-church and celebrity preacher of the hour I am connected with. I always try to graciously reply that I am thankful for these works and the men who lead them, but I am not a member of the church in question, nor is the pastor of that church my pastor. God has added me to a local New Testament church and given me a wonderful pastor, and that is good enough for me. I don’t have time to run to every special meeting or conference that any number of large churches sponsor, and I chose to stay busy in my home church when I am not on the road in revival meetings. I do enjoy, and benefit from good fellowship meetings and other endeavors made available by the many good churches around the country. I especially enjoy revival meetings and other similar meetings that have been a help to me over the years. But I am careful that I do not overtly align myself with any one specific mega-church, Bible college, or big-name preacher in order to establish some sort of identity. I want people to know me for who I am, not who someone else is. I identify with the local church of which I am a part, and am under its authority. I do not want to be identified with a camp or an ecclesiastical machine in order to find any measure or acceptance with fundamental brethren.
There appears to be a movement afoot whereby independent Baptists are being drawn more and more to large centralized churches for all sorts of activities that seem to me to be within the realm of the local church. It is as if the local church is ill-equipped and incapable of training its own sheep and must look to the super-successful mega-ministry to provide whatever is thought to be lacking. Though this statement may be considered as hair-splitting, I honestly do not see any Scriptural reference or authority for a powerful central church to which all others look. The Bible is always and only centered around local assemblies – the autonomous, indigenous local church. Now, I am certainly not an isolationist, nor am I advocating for an “us four and no more” spirit. I am just saying that God has equipped and enabled the local church for the care and feeding of the flock of God. Do not misunderstand. I am certainly not opposed to pastors and other church leaders attending helpful conferences that will strengthen and encourage . It is good when churches attend and support revival meetings and other special events held by area sister churches. My concern is with the centralized Baptist mega-church that takes on a “holy see” flavor. When the sun rises and sets on one mega-ministry and one well-known mega-pastor, that is problematic to me.
The following is a pertinent quote from an article I wrote in 2006.
Is modern fundamentalism fragmenting into some form of inner-sectarianism and religio-political exclusivity? Are good fundamental, Bible-believing men judged by what "camp" they identify with, what Bible college they graduated from, what conferences they attend, what fellowship group they are a part of or what mega-ministry they gravitate to? Is there today a form of spiritual superiority and elitism developing amongst our fundamental men that excludes other good and godly fundamentalists who are not of their "stripe?" And what about the trend towards what I have termed "copy-catism" whereby too many otherwise good local independent Baptist churches are cloning themselves in the image of those larger church ministries that most influence them? I worry about any local New Testament church engaging in the "copy-cat" mentality, losing the identity, individuality and uniqueness of that particular body of believers. It concerns me that good men, especially young men in the ministry today feel they must be like someone else in order for their church to be a "success." To me there is much liberty in being who and what God made each and everyone of us to be without trying to be someone or something else. If we are to be like anyone or anything, we ought to strive to be more like Christ in all that we do and in the way we serve and worship Him, conformed to His image alone (Romans 8:29). Amen, and amen!
I guess it would go without saying that I intensely dislike anything that smacks of religio-political "camps." I have found that those who submit to the religio-political "camp" mentality, over-emphasizing their particular group as being of the "straitest sect," and the personalities around which that "camp" is built (often fine men with good intentions), tend to develop an exclusive spirit, sometimes to the degree of some form of isolationism. And mark it down, isolationism and biblical separatism are not one and the same. I am absolutely for ecclesiastical separation, but absolutely against isolationism in any form. I am absolutely opposed to separating from good fundamentalist brethren for unscriptural or extra-biblical reasons. When we must separate from other men, it must be for good reasons. We must continually remind ourselves, we fundamentalists, to never look down our noses at good, godly Bible-believing men of the fundamentalist persuasion just because they have not attended a certain school, do not have a master's degree from a particular seminary, do not attend the meetings and conferences we endorse, or do not hold some form of membership or affinity with the fellowship of our choice. Fellowship must always be based upon the Word of God and obedience to it, not what "camp" we are in, or what fellowship we are a part of. I have found anything else to be very controlling, and it gets to where those of the "camp" mentality are more concerned with what the brethren think than what God thinks. "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10).
As an older evangelist, it is my heart's desire to help and encourage the younger evangelists coming on the scene today. We have a number of fine young men beginning their ministry in full-time evangelism and revival work. Praise the Lord! But the one thing that dismays and hurts me is that for many a young evangelist (and some not so young) to succeed in today's complex world of ecclesiastical machinery, there is pressure to subscribe to, or be a part of a network in order to be accepted in one or more segments of fundamentalism. Not only does this tend to politicize the young evangelist, but it truly limits his ministry in many ways as he will become part of a "camp" rather than be truly free from all controls and the limitations of the network he feels he must operate within. This causes me to wonder what ever happened to the local church? Is something else taking its place? I see no precedence established in the New Testament for much of what I see today in the way we conduct some facets of ministry.
When Paul and Barnabas were sent out of Antioch, they were ordained by that local church, sent out by that local church (Acts 13:1-4), and reported back to that local church. They did not network nor were they dependent upon religio-politics. They were called by the Holy Spirit, separated for the work by the Holy Spirit, and sent forth by the Holy Spirit, commended by the ministry of the local church. Do not misunderstand, dear friend. I am not saying that it is wrong or unscriptural to establish a good report with and a good working relationship with godly Christian leaders and good churches whereby one can be a blessing and a help to them. In fact, we could use much more inter-cooperation and fellowship amongst the independent, fundamental, Bible-believing brethren of our day. My only concern is that men of good faith and conscience beware of the trap of religio-political machinations that seem to be more prevalent in this day and age than ever before. I have seen an unhealthy competitive spirit develop amongst men the result of this, and we need to flee from this unholy behavior.
I believe in voluntary fellowship with men of sound and solid Christian character, no matter what "camp" they are in, no matter what fundamental Bible college or university they have attended, no matter how many degrees they have, no matter what conferences they go to, and no matter who their favorite preachers are. I am instructed to be "a lover of good men" (Titus 1:8). To me it is important to judge a man individually, based upon the content of his Christian character and his personal walk with the Lord. My heart is to fellowship with men of like faith, walk, order, doctrine, practice and discipline, men of humility and tenderness of heart who believe it is important to live a holy, separated, sanctified, consecrated life for the Lord Jesus Christ. I need to be around men who reject a man-centered focus of the Christian life, and adhere to a Christ-centered walk with the Lord. I am not at all opposed to a fellowship of pastors that brings God's preachers together for prayer and mutual support, but I still believe that we must be careful that we do not allow fellowships to become more than just that, a fellowship of men who love one another and desire to uphold each other as we walk the pilgrim's path in our earthly sojourn. I love good fellowship meetings where Christ is exalted, the Word of God is upheld, and prayer is the focus of our gathering together. However, where I draw the line is in this matter of membership in anything other than a local New Testament church. When someone refers to my ministry, I do not want anyone to identify me with anything other than the local church.