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TATTLE TALE GRAY
RELIGION
Let's talk about soap.
This is a very commonplace and useful household
item. There was a time when housewives made
their own soap. When
manufacturers entered
this field on a large scale, competition became very
keen. Advertising played an important role in
seeking new customers.
Soap manufacturers bought up huge
segments of time on radio networks for programs that were know
as "soap operas." Each daily feature contained a
certain amount of drama mixed with plenty of suspense.plus
liberal doses of advertising.
The
main sales appeal was on "whiteness." Each brand
claimed that its product produced the whitest
wash. One company invited
comparison and
claimed that their brand would result in at least ten
tintomenter shades of greater whiteness as compared with
any rival product. So it went on for many years.
Each make claimed the best product, but all their effort was
calculated to sell their brand of soap. The user
was the judge of the results and some listeners were convinced
to use one kind while others preferred a different
brand.
It's possible for churches to emulate the
methods used by soap sellers.
Our Lord has told us that He
will provide white robes for all His followers.
In Rev.
6:11, it says: "And white robes were given unto everyone of
them."
Rev. 7:14, tells us the manner in which the robes
are made white:. "These
are they which came out of great
tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in
the Blood of the Lamb." The apostle Paul reveals
the kind of church our Lord expects by observing, "That He
might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish." (Eph. 5:27) Now, since our
Lord
has made it clear that He demands robes of white, perhaps this
explains why so many churches boldly assert that their brand
of religion comes the nearest to producing this unique
garment. And perhaps we should examine and
scrutinize our emphasis to determine whether we are just
trying to sell "our" soap, rather than seeking to be robed in
white.
Sometimes we act as though we believe that our
church turns out the whitest robes. We admit that
they're not perfect, but compared with other groups we
definitely are superior. The "tattle-tale gray" is much
more pronounced in other churches. Compare for
yourself. Try other brands first and then accept a
free sample of ours and see the difference. The
superiority of our product is beyond dispute.
This
indicates that we must be nearer to the truth than others
because our
brand produces a more spiritual quality in
adherents.
The Bible has something to say about the fallacy
of this reasoning. We
read, "For we dare not
make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some
that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by
themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not
wise. But we will not boast of things without
measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God
has distributed to us, a measure to reach even to you. For we
stretch not ourselves beyond measure, as though we reached not
unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching
the gospel of Christ not boasting of things without our
measure." (2 Co. 10:12-15a)
Churches were not
meant to be mere "spiritual Laundromats." The
Bible
quotations cited indicate the danger of making
ourselves the standard of
measurement rather than Christ,
the official standard. The temptation to
"stretch" ourselves beyond our measure is always
present. "Boasting of
things without our
measure" may only reveal our own shortcomings, when
compared with Christ, our Standard. Our goal
of perfection is described in
these words: "Till we all
come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of
the Son of God, unto the perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:13)
Soap companies proclaimed the special and sometimes mysterious
ingredients, which they maintained, made their products
superior to other brands. Is it possible that
churches may spend more time on the subject of superior
doctrinal differences of their faith, than they do seeking to
uplift Christ as Saviour and Lord?
When we stand before
the Great White Throne, can we imagine the Almighty asking
anyone: "What kind of meat did you eat on
Fridays?" Which day of the week did you worship
on? What kind of dress or adornment did you wear?
Were you baptized with triune immersion or just
once? Were you baptized as an infant?
These and many other things that concern us here, will seem
strangely out of place and irrelevant before God's Great White
Throne. He won't ask us the kind of "soap" we
used, but what garment do we wear. The label on
the soap doesn't clean anything. There's no
cleansing in the directions on the box. The
trouble with many of us seems to stem from the remedy we seek
to apply to the description given in Isa. 64:6, which says:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Confronted
with the evidence of filthy rags, has turned the energy of
many churches to the task of demonstrating how their brand of
"doctrine" makes rags less filthy. But our
assignment is not to clean rags. It's something
much grander and more attractive. In many respects
the gospel is a sensational story entitled, "From rags to
riches," or better still, "From rags to robes."
This result is not achieved by pinning our labels on their
rags, or putting their rags through our ecclesiastical
Laundromat. The old rags must be discarded and the
robes must be "imported," because they're always "fit for a
king" and no substitute is permitted in the presence of the
King of Kings.
Standards are important.
Down in Ottawa, Canada and in Washington, D.C. you'll find the
Bureau of Standards. There you'll find the
statutory yard kept under glass at a certain uniform
temperature and well guarded. You'll also find the
standard of weights and measures with the accurate pound and
the prescribed gallon or liter. These weights and
measures are the standards which determine all measurements in
North America. Business men, don't
advertise.offering the biggest gallon, the longest yard or the
heaviest pound. Competition doesn't extend to
selling greater tons.
Anyone who tries to tamper with
standard weights and measures is liable upon conviction to
severe punishment. Everything is governed by the
standard and valued accordingly in relation to that
standard.
The church has a standard too.
It's preserved in our capital in heaven at
the right hand
of God. Yes, Christ Jesus, the Lord is our
standard and it's
according to "the measure of the
fullness of the stature of Christ," that
all perfection is
gauged. Grace is not measured by the various sizes
of
our ecclesiastical cups, with each one claiming to have
the largest or best
cup. Nor is spiritual
stature achieved in terms of our "stretchy"
theology. Christ, and only Christ, is the
standard. Spiritual cleanness
is not attained
by washing our rags, but by wearing the new robe.
Since
Christ will judge us before the Great White Throne,
would it not be prudent
to let Him be our Judge here, and
now? "Some men's sins are open
beforehand; going
before to judgment; and some men they follow after." (1 Tim.
5:24) Will your sins tattle on you before
God? Your robe.or your rags will
tell.
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