by Matt Clifton

Following the prominent interview of Mark Henderson of Quail Springs church of Christ in The Oklahoman, leaders of many congregations in the Oklahoma and Texas area joined together in publicly marking Henderson in an advertisement printed in the same newspaper. For more background on this story, also see BrotherhoodNews.com for a story on the interview, and a follow-up by Glover Shipp.

Part of the fall-out of this conflict comes from progressives who take issue with the public nature of how this debate is being carried out. Some argue that Henderson should have been approached privately, despite the fact that he made the departure from biblical doctrine in a public manner. Many have decried those opposing the addition of the instrument to the worship of the church as “judgmental” and “condemning.”

So, the Quail Springs conflict has brought up an important subject: If a teacher promotes biblical error or departs from the doctrine of the church, is it wrong to publicly expose him?

As the progressives and change agents among the flock begin to pile onto the brethren who paid for the advertisement regarding Quail Springs, Paul’s writing to the Galatians springs to mind. Since the Galatians were seeking to include observance of the Law of Moses and even pagan practices along with their Christianity, Paul said to them:

Gal 4:9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? Gal 4:10 You observe days and months and seasons and years.

After they had come to faith and been baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27) and become heirs to the promise (Gal. 3:29), they were now adding elements of Judaism to their practices. They were returning to the “weak and beggarly elements” of the Law, which was not able to save them.

Much like the “types and shadows” that the Hebrew writer says has passed away, which would include the worship elements of the temple and all its furnishings, Paul says they were submitting themselves to something additional to Christian doctrine that was dangerous to their spiritual well-being!

Gal 4:11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

Paul was deparately trying to keep them on the right doctrinal track. Evidently someone had branded him as being “harsh” or “judgmental,” because Paul felt it necessary through the Spirit to write:

Gal 4:16 Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

And so it seems with the debate over the instrument in worship in the modern time. Brethren who seek to preserve the purity of the church as much as possible are publicly marking Henderson, and those who support the instrument are crying out, “Enemy!” They are tossing about terms such as “judgmental” and “condemning,” not realizing all the while that these men are trying to love Henderson and the church in the best way possible: by adhering to sound doctrine and correcting the erring.

Suppose you are a man, and you are looking for a wife. You take up with a girl who you think is so wonderful and popular. After all, everyone wants to date her! Your best friend, however, knows she is an immoral woman who will lead you to destruction.

In such a case, would it be “judgmental” and “condeming” for the best friend to warn you about the woman? Or would it be loving?

We stand at this time in an era of “do whatever you want as worship, God will accept anything as long as it is from the heart.” This, however, is will worship, nothing more, nothing less.

While the brethren who ran the ad try their best to exercise a love for Henderson, Quail Springs, and the church worldwide, some see it differently. They see it like the Galatians saw Paul for a time.

Have the brethren who ran the ad become your enemy, because they tell you the truth?