For most members of God's Church, the 1990s were a very difficult time. The organization that had introduced most of us to the Truth began to teach heresies, and abandoned biblically sound doctrines. When the organization's leaders began to modify doctrines, we were told that nothing substantial had changed, and indeed that no major doctrinal changes would be made. Yet as time progressed, and we saw more and more doctrinal deviations being introduced, the picture that emerged was very clear: the organization whose doctrines we had embraced was rapidly becoming— when measured by those doctrines—unidentifiable as God's Church!
Most of us shared common feelings of denial, betrayal, anger and hurt before we accepted the reality of what had happened and we chose to take action, separating ourselves from what was no longer God's Church. Yet although we shared many feelings in common, we often found our individual experiences different from those around us, sometimes because of our varied personalities and sometimes because of the varied ways the changes were handled in our local congregations. As a result, different people learned different lessons from the apostasy—and from how they responded to it. What lessons did you learn? What lessons should we all learn? And what do those lessons mean for us today?
Both the Bible and secular history demonstrate that it is easy to look back at history and draw the wrong conclusions. There are many examples of people who learned the wrong lessons from the past, and who as a result had to endure the bitter consequences of their mistakes.
After God delivered them from slavery, the Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness because they had learned the wrong lessons. The Israelites had witnessed, first-hand, the awesome power of the great God of Israel, who had begun to introduce Himself and His power through the ten plagues. After they walked on dry land through the parted sea, they saw the pursuing Egyptian army destroyed behind them. The wandering Israelites saw God's care for them as He provided manna for their daily meals. Yet, despite these and other miracles, the Israelites failed to trust that God would continue to care for them. In fact, they learned the wrong lessons when God delivered them from Egyptian slavery. Many became complainers and gave in to murmuring, and were destroyed (1 Corinthians 10:10). Later, many even hardened their hearts in rebellion against the God who had delivered them (Hebrews 3:15). Did they feel complaining was okay because they had something to complain about? Did they feel it was okay to have a hardened heart because of past suffering? Did that hardened heart justify rebellion? Clearly, the Israelites learned many lessons upon their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. But their actions demonstrated that much of what they thought they had learned was wrong!
Drawing the wrong conclusions from our past experiences can be dangerous—even fatal. Scripture shows us the condition of the Church just before Christ's return, and warns us about the trials God's people will face. To prepare for that dangerous time, it is vital that we draw the right conclusions from past lessons—and in particular from the apostasy that so recently destroyed our former association. How can we be sure we are learning the right lessons? Is there a way to be sure we have drawn valid conclusions from our past experiences? Certainly, there is—and the Bible is ever our guide! Whatever issues and situations we are facing, others before us have also faced (Ecclesiastes 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 15:4). Before we assume we have learned the right lessons, we should look to Scripture to validate—or refute—our assumptions.
If we do not learn from the mistakes of history, we are bound to repeat them. What lessons did you learn from the apostasy of the 1990s? Many of the most common lessons people have taken from their experience are, in fact, wrong.
Lessons about Governmental Structure
One common lesson from the apostasy involves the suitability of a particular form of Church government, or the approach needed toward leadership. Entire organizations have been formed directly around people's conclusions about this lesson. But has the right lesson been learned? Are the underlying assumptions valid?
Scripture shows us that on this earth, God's perfect form of government has always been applied through imperfect tools. God does things decently and in order, without confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40). God's form of government has always been one of servant leadership based on love. His form of government has always been hierarchical, yet no one in the flesh has ever practiced it perfectly except Jesus Christ.
Consider the example of King David—a man after God's own heart, who will in the future rule over Israel in the Kingdom of God (Acts 13:22). David was far from perfect. In fact, during his reign, he was at times headstrong and ignored wise counsel (2 Samuel 24:2–4). He allowed a rape to go unpunished because the rapist was a family member. He committed adultery with the wife of a loyal and faithful servant, and then was responsible for the murder of that devoted servant in a botched effort to keep his sin a secret (2 Samuel 13:1–21; 11:2–17). David's conduct would be the stuff of sensational tabloid headlines today. He was a man who made some terrible mistakes— he was very human.
Can David's faults be blamed on the form of government under which he ruled? Or does the fault lie with the human tool God selected? Seeing how both Saul and David had sinned, did God change His form of hierarchical government in future administrations? Certainly not, and neither should we. The form of government that exists in the God family today—and that will exist in His Kingdom—is hierarchical. The forms of government that God used throughout both the Old and New Testaments, as well as in the physical family unit, are hierarchical. God's approach has been—and always will be—consistent.
The old adage "once bitten, twice shy" sums up the lesson many people learned from the apostasy of the 1990s. Most who endured those troubled times became distrustful and suspicious of leadership. Why did so many learn this lesson, in spite of the clear biblical pattern? Why were they no longer willing to imitate the godly conduct of, or follow the godly example of, true Christian leadership (1 Corinthians 11:1)? Because they felt hurt and betrayed by what they had experienced. Satan used people's hurt to promote his message—that you cannot rely on God to provide His leadership in His way; instead, you need to trust in your own human reasoning to protect yourself and your personal interests, even if this goes against God's clearly established pattern.
In abstract theory, it is easy for us to acknowledge that all leaders will make mistakes because they are human. However, in practice, it can be hard for us to keep the proper perspective when we see—or think we see—a leader making mistakes.
To have the proper perspective, we must have faith— without which we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). That perspective includes a deep understanding that it is God who appoints people to positions of leadership, to work out His purpose as He sees fit, even though we often do not understand why He has done things the way He has (Psalm 75:6–7; Isaiah 55:8–9). If we always understood what God was doing—and why—we would not need faith, because we would be able to see and understand for ourselves. Faith requires that we walk with God, trusting that He knows what He is doing and will see us through until the end, as long as we walk with Him (Hebrews 11:3).
Self-preservation is an aspect of human nature, but God expects Christians to overcome their carnal human nature. Many correctly saw during the apostasy that their leaders cared more about themselves than about the brethren. How sad and ironic it is, then, that some brethren have decided that they, too, must look to self instead of to God to protect their interests. Such a faithless and self-centered approach is not compatible with living faith and daily surrender to our Creator.
"If only I had known…"
If you knew back then what you know now, what would you have done differently? What should you have done differently?
Perhaps you could have tried to stop the apostasy. However, Scripture reminds us that the Church was led astray by individuals whom God had placed in their positions of leadership (Psalm 75:6–7). Anciently, King David clearly recognized King Saul's failings. Yet even though he knew he was to be Saul's successor, he also knew better than to try and hasten God's timing (1 Samuel 26:9–11).
Christ recognized character flaws in Judas. He knew that if He selected Judas to be one of the twelve, he would betray Him. However, Christ chose Judas in spite of his failings, because this fit with the purpose God was working out at that time.
Similarly, it was God who allowed leadership positions to be given to those who led so many people astray in the 1990s. By allowing those leaders to lead, He was working out a purpose that none of us saw or recognized at that time.
What was God doing? What good did He accomplish? How does what happened fit in with Romans 8:28? In retrospect, we can see that God was pruning His Church (John 15:1–2). Pruning explains the pain that we went through and the reason for it. Pruning also explains the destruction that we witnessed. God did this for our growth and for our benefit; He wanted us to deepen our relationship with Him, and as a result bear more fruit in our lives.
We all recognize the need to be close to God and to rely on Him. Yet we often need a motivator like pain or danger to give us a sense of urgency about our need to draw close to our Savior. Scripture shows us that ancient Israel apostatized many times. The Gospels warn of apostasy. Paul writes about it. So do James and Jude. From Scripture we learn that apostasy tore at the Church early in the New Testament era, and that it will tear the Church at the end of the age. We find a very blunt warning about this in Acts 20:29–30.
So what should we have learned from our previous experience—and what can we do to avoid going through it again? Scripture records the answer. Notice what Paul says of the Bereans: "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Not only did the Bereans study God's word daily; they also received what they were taught with "all readiness." They did not receive it with suspicion, or with doubt, but rather with eagerness and an open mind. They had a strong desire to be fed spiritually, but how did they receive what they were fed? Not with unconditional acceptance (like so many did during the apostasy of the 1990s), but rather with the Bible in hand. The Bereans diligently searched Scripture to determine the truth of what they had been taught.
From Acts 17:11, we know that the Thessalonians had a different approach than the Bereans. What did Paul counsel the Thessalonians? "Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21). Instead of being predisposed against what they were taught, they were to test it against Scripture. Paul told the Thessalonians to hold tightly to what they proved from God's word as true, and to discard anything that was otherwise. Should we do any less today? Certainly not!
Had we more closely followed the example of the Bereans, would the outcome of the 1990s apostasy have been any different? For many of us, the process would have been much less painful, and we might have recognized the apostasy earlier than we did. Sadly, while many of us were emulating the Bereans imperfectly, many more were not emulating the Bereans at all—and as a result they were led astray.
From Paul's words we can understand that it is not enough to have "proved all things" just once. There is never a point at which we can say, "I have searched the scriptures enough." Unless we are daily re-proving and strengthening our relationship with God, can we really say that we love God with all our "heart, soul, and mind" (Matthew 22:37)? David loved God's word and thought about it continually (Psalm 119:97). He never grew tired of it. His desire to study God's word never grew stale. Our adversary the devil is very subtle, and he has not given up on trying to destroy us (2 Corinthians 11:3). When people's lives are going well, it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of safety and become complacent—and this is exactly what our adversary seeks. When this happens, people become careless and let their guard down. Armed with a false sense of safety, they let down the armor of God and no longer search the scriptures daily. They stop relying on the Bible to prove the truth of what they are being taught, and instead rely on their own human reasoning (Ephesians 6:12–13).
If we continually look to the Bible as our guide—the true source for evaluating the lessons God is teaching us throughout our lives—we can be confident that we are learning the right lessons. Other writings can be extremely valuable in helping us understand Scripture and how we should apply it, but no human being's writings are a substitute for, or should take precedence over, the words of Scripture. When someone asks you to follow a human being's words that contradict the words of Scripture, you can be sure such a person is promoting a personal agenda that is not of God's word or His Work—so turn away (2 Timothy 3:5)!
As we search Scripture daily, we can easily distinguish between the false conclusions that some have drawn about the apostasy, and the valid conclusions that we should draw—and we can recognize the difference that this should make in our lives.
We do not get to choose which trials we go through. However, if we learn the right lessons and draw the appropriate conclusions from our experiences—and the experiences of those around us—we can ensure that the trials ahead will be much less painful. King David endured many difficulties during his lifetime, and came to understand this principle very deeply. In Psalm 23 he wrote of the comfort we can have if we make sure, when we walk even through our darkest days, that we walk with our Creator.
What effect has the apostasy had on your life? Are you more cynical and distrusting of authority? Or do you trust in the words of the Apostle Paul, who admonished us that "there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Corinthians 12:25–26)?
God used the apostasy of the 1990s to prune His Church, so we as its members would bear more fruit "till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). Our trials will either make us bitter, or they will make us better. Which has it been—and will it be—for you?