The most dreaded disease known to the human family today is a disease about which doctors know but very little. It is dreaded because it is both painful and deadly. People are dying in ever increasing numbers because of it, yet the labored research of science has found neither the cause nor the cure. Cancer is bad, yet it can affect our happiness and well-being only for a time.

But there is another malignancy which is far more deadly and should be more dreaded. It is more devastating because it affects our happiness and well-being both for time and eternity. It is a malignancy which attacks the spiritual man and even makes bold to assault the most sacred institution among men-the church of the living God.

Cancer often attacks the vital organs, but if discovered in time doctors may save the patient either by surgery, X-ray, or by radium treatment. In the case of spiritual malignancy, the truth of God's Word combines the healing effect of all these types of treatment.

Paul saw symptoms of spiritual malignancy in the Body of Christ even in his clay. To the church at Thessalonica he said, "The mystery of iniquity doth already work." The organization of the church was the first vital part of the Body to be attacked. The first manifestation of the malignancy was very subtle and its growth was so insidious that the body was scarcely aware of what was going on until the Roman hierarchy had all but destroyed the church. It is the nature of cancer to spread from one organ to another. This spiritual malignancy soon spread from the organization to the doctrine of the church. By the sixth century this cancerous growth had almost completely corrupted both the organization and the doctrine of the Body of Christ. As the centuries passed the patient grew steadily worse.

Some of the more spiritual members of the church saw the corruption, sensed the cancer, and began to search for a remedy. The first remedy used in an attempt to save the diseased body was surgery. They sought to eliminate the corruption by reform. The Reformation was the result. This was a noble effort but it failed because it could not reach the deeply penetrating roots. The disease spread, complications set in, and the result was Denominationalism.

Sensing this new danger resulting from complications, and realizing that surgery had not accomplished its intended purpose, a group of the best thinkers in the various denominations began to advocate another remedy. Surgery had failed, hence the prescribed X-ray treatment. They turned on the great light of truth in God's Word and the great Restoration movement was under way. As a result the Body of Christ was saved and New Testament Christianity was restored.

Unfortunately it is the nature of cancer to return. It may attack the body in another place or in the same place. In either case the result may be the same. Today there are symptoms that all is not well in the Body. The old cancer in a new form is making many members of the Body of Christ to suffer. It has already rent the Body into two opposing camps. Some are unaware of the disease, others have sensed the deadly danger and are trying to arrest the disease before it is fatal.

The church today is suffering from the "Social Gospel" complex. This particular form of spiritual malignancy seems to be contagious. We have become infected with the spirit of denominationalism. Like Israel of old, we want to be like the nations round about us. It is right that we should desire to grow, and to reach as many souls for Christ as possible, but it was this same desire, but without giving proper consideration to God's plan of accomplishing this noble purpose, that resulted in the first great apostasy.

Apparently, many today have the denominational concept of the Body of Christ. It is a social concept. They feel that the primary function and responsibility of the church is to take care of man's physical, temporal and social needs. This concept which is so prevalent in the denominations, and which seems to be shared by some of our brethren, is well expressed by Dr. George Crane, a noted psychiatrist and one of the leading columnists of today. One of his correspondents asked the question: "What would you recommend for pepping up attendance at Sunday School?" His answer was as follows:

"Inject more competition into the Sunday School, for it is the human yeast that adds zest to religious activity, as well as to sports and business. Without competition, things are as flat as unleavened bread . . . Besides, the church should conduct vocational guidance clinics for the young people. Inviting various men and women to describe their own trade and professions. Pick talented speakers for this series of addresses . . . Urge your clergymen not to shut up the church on Sunday evenings, but to run a marriage clinic. Include an analysis of the vital marital and parent-child problems, using specific cases as a basis of discussion . . . Get the women to conduct a nursery school, not only on Sunday morning, but also during the week . . . A livewire church should also operate employment agencies, a directory of reputable rooming houses, a matrimonial agency, classes in applied psychology, foreign languages, etc."

When you read some of the church publications and bulletins today you cannot help but see that the Body of Christ is now afflicted with this same type of spiritual malignancy. We have some "livewire" congregations who want to be "like the nations round about us." Even in the denominational world there are some who frown upon the "Social Gospel" emphasis. In an address before a Methodist conference, Robert Raines, son of Bishop Raines of the Methodist church, said:

"We have merely tried to get church members, not committed Christians. It's so easy to become a church member these days. One really doesn't have to stand for anything but merely stand up and be counted . . . The church is loaded with lovable people who are only nominal Christians . . . the church has evangelized only in breadth, not in depth . . . We have lost our zeal, we have come to look at the ministry as a job, not an opportunity. I am alarmed when the church elects to have a minister to preach, one to evangelize, another to minister to the sick, a professional head of the education department, a paid quartet and finally an outside organization brought in to run the financial drive. All that is missing is a professional congregation."

This is a very timely diagnosis of the spiritual malignancy that has so long aflicted the denominational world. One does not have to be either a bishop or a bishop's son to see that this same type of malignancy has appeared within the Body of Christ. Certainly there is great need for X-ray treatment. We need to turn on the light of Truth as found in the Word of God if the Body of Christ is to be cured of this cancerous growth that is now causing so much pain.

Members of the church must be educated as to the mission of the church as set forth in the New Testament. To the church at Ephesus, Paul said, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-12) . In these verses Paul has summed up in brief the mission of the church. The mission of the church is threefold: edification, benevolence, and missionary. The "perfecting of the saints" has to do with the edifying and strengthening the members of the church; the "work of the ministry" has to do with the care of the needy; the "edifying of the body of Christ" has to do with extending the borders of the kingdom through preaching the gospel to all the world..

In order for the church to fulfill its mission it must give the proper emphasis to all three of these fields of endeavor. Today, many of our brethren are placing the major emphasis on benevolence. Sometimes this is done to the neglect and at the expense of the other two important phases of the work God intended that the church should do. Any congregation that neglects to provide proper care for its widows and orphans, that are truly orphans, and widows indeed, and fails to provide for the best interests, spiritually, of all its members, both old and young, is failing in its God-given mission.

However, the Lord has provided and authorized just one institution through which all this work is to be done. That one institution is the church for which Christ died. No provision is made in the New Testament for delegating this work to an institution. Paul said, "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:21) .

The present tendency to institutionalize the church and to provide for the physical and social needs is indicative of spiritual malignancy. Let us consult the Great Physician, accept his diagnosis, and follow his prescription before the Body of Christ is destroyed by the institutional and social cancer.

Sometimes this is done to the neglect and at the expense of the other two important phases of the work God intended that the church should do. Any congregation that neglects to provide proper care for its widows and orphans, that are truly orphans, and widows indeed, and fails to provide for the best interests, spiritually, of all its members, both old and young, is failing in its God-given mission. However, the Lord has provided and authorized just one institution through which all

this work is to be done. That one institution is the church for which Christ died. No provision is made in the New Testament for delegating this work to an institution. Paul said, "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:21) .

The present tendency to institutionalize the church and to provide for the physical and social needs is indicative of spiritual malignancy. Let us consult the Great Physician, accept his diagnosis, and follow his prescription before the Body of Christ is destroyed by the institutional and social cancer.

Truth Magazine, V:10, p. 3-5
July 1961