Abuse of Scripture

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     In these days of division among the people of God, party prejudice and a desire to defend that exclusiveness which is so much a part of the sectarian spirit often cause brethren to make forced applications of the sacred writings which completely distort the divine revelation by ignoring the context. We do not think there is always deliberate intent to "handle the word of God deceitfully" but innocency of motive is no guarantee against a harmful result from such unfair manipulation of the word of God. It is no honor to scholarship when one who poses as a teacher reveals his utter lack of knowledge of the most obvious implications of a passage.

     As an example we cite a common usage of Ephesians 5:11. "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." In their zeal to destroy unity among God's children and to dissolve relationship with them, rabid factionists have branded every item of disagreement as an "unfruitful work of darkness." The party champions draw a circle which they label "Darkness" and inside of this they inscribe a catalog of things such as instrumental music, missionary societies, orphan homes, colleges, pastor system, Bible classes, uninspired literature, tuning forks, individual cups, leavened bread, unleavened bread, fermented wine, unfermented grape juice, etc., and proceed to proscribe all who do not subscribe to their unwritten creeds.

     No two factions will list exactly the same things under "light" or "darkness." Each party has its own copyrighted category. What is "light" in one is "darkness" in another. The confusion caused by this hodgepodge parading under the name "The Church of Christ" is as appalling as it is senseless. The chief aim of each faction seems to be to locate a scriptural basis for having no fellowship with the rest of God's children. This passage which says "Have no fellowship" is a godsend to their partisan purpose. To them nothing can be "light" which contravenes the partisan creed They can see darkness everywhere except in the narrowness of their own hearts.

     The truth is that the apostle was not talking about anything even remotely connected with the above list of items. The "works of darkness" are identified as practices connected with immorality, covetousness and idolatry. Under consideration especially are these things as related to the heathen mystery religions with their clandestine sexual orgies. They are identified as "those things which are done of them in secret" (verse 12) . This certainly has no application to the use of instrumental music in public worship. It cannot apply to cups which are passed to a whole congregation in the open, nor to Bible classess to which all are invited. To try and palm off such an interpretation of this passage is to reveal a shameful ignorance of the entire Ephesian letter.

Mind you, the above things may or may not be wrong. But they are not "works of darkness" such as this passage condemns. And if fellowship is to be withheld on the basis of this passage, then it cannot be applied to the things to which the passage has no remote relationship. The sad fact is that men who have a partisan axe to grind will go to almost any length to find a grindstone that suits their purpose. It is time that honest men and women begin to study for themselves and cease to be followers of those who would lead them down blind alleys for gain! Truth does not need to resort to twisting and wresting of the sacred scriptures for its defence. No man has a right to get out of the scriptures what God did not put into them!

     We commend to you the translation of this passage as given by J. B. Phillips, in The New Testament in Modern English. "Steer clear of the activities of darkness, let your lives show by contrast how dreary and futile these things are. (You know the sort of things I mean--to detail their secret doings is really too shameful)." We think it is significant that those who do not want to have fellow-

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ship with others of God's children have to write a Bible of their own in order to justify their factional actions. They cannot find comfort for their party spirit in the word of God correctly interpreted for it specifically calls the party spirit a "work of the flesh."