Serious business. . .

It now appears that a number of ministers have chosen (or are in the process) to sever their connections with the UPCI.  It reminds me of a family that left our church ten years or so ago.  They originally came to us because they found new truth and they were drawn by the excitement and power of the Spirit of God that they felt in our services.  In the last couple of years before they left, they were poisoned by a book they read that bashed the holiness movement, calling it all unnecessary and repressive.  This family adopted the same attitude as the author of the book and announced to me that they were leaving.  I was unable to dissuade them.  The difference between their coming and their going was this:  They came because of something they liked; they left because of something they disliked.   Which motivation was the most powerful and legitimate?  The first, of course.  When people move because of a negative emotion, they not only lack the force of conviction and excitement, they obsess on the things they don’t like.  It is far better and healthier to go to something than to leave something. When a person’s main motivation is negative, he tends to fall in with whoever shares the same view.  Nothing else matters.  And so, predictably, this family lost their convictions about doctrinal truth, about integrity in character and about a Biblical lifestyle.  They only look for people and groups who don’t like holiness standards. 

Those who leave the UPCI because they dislike resolution #4, will join others who share the same dislike.  Their common bond will not necessarily be the things they like, but it will be the one thing they don’t like, namely, the UPCI.  While they may deny this, it will show up in their sermons, their conversation, their literature and their celebrated causes.  They may preach about outreach, but they will qualify it as being better than the UPCI.  They may build congregations, but they will tout them as being holier than the UPCI.  They may form a new organization, but they will promote it as being “preferred” over the UPCI.  The UPCI will always be their reference point.  They will try to make it different, but it will never be any other way.  Why?  Because their very raisons d’etre is a negative emotion against the UPCI.  A good way to test this is to ask them the following question:  Why are you leaving the UPCI?  Their answer will be some form of criticism of the UPCI.  They will not say, “Because we have found something better.”  They may intend to create something better, but that ideal does not yet exist.  In my opinion, it never will.

For those ministers who have a history with the UPCI, a negative reaction to the UPCI will always have relevance.  They will get energized when they hear their former organization criticized.  I fear for the the next generation, however.  Their kids will grow up without that history.  Thus, bashing the UPCI will have little or no relevance to them.  It will become annoying, petty and dated.  One day, they will ask their elders, “Dad (or Grandpa), why don’t you get as excited about preaching about the cross or Acts 2:38 as you do about bashing the UPCI?”  Lest someone think I am engaging in wild, unfounded speculation, I would remind them that I have seen it all happen before.  Over time, it is hard to sell a negative thought. 

I appeal to all who think they will be better off if they leave.  Please think long and hard before you make such a radical move.  Your decision involves much more than a reaction to resolution #4.  You will affect the lives of your families, your congregations, and your community.  You will force every aspect of your spiritual identity to become a function of one small point… a point that will soon be even more moot than it already is.  The chasm into which you will leap contains many more hazards than the one you think you are escaping.  If you want your ministry to revolve around doctrinal truth, a holiness lifestyle, worldwide outreach and aggressive evangelism, stay with the people you know.  The UPCI, with all its imperfections and manifest inequities, still represents the premier choice for Apostolics in the 21st century.