The DeGRAFF FREE
State Route 235/
Phone: (937) 585-4463
James R. Roby, Pastor
A Biblical Look At Promise
Keepers.
Here are some very vital truths to consider when
dealing with the Promise Keepers...
In connection with 'truth,' it is vital that we live and minister by several
critical axioms:
1. Truth Is Foundational. It is probably right to say that
truth is the most foundational moral category in the universe. The whole cosmic
catastrophe began on the basis of a lie: "Ye shall not surely die"
(Gen. 3:4). And it is no surprise that Satan is defined by Jesus as one who
from the beginning "abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him;" for "when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is
a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).
Conversely, God is a God of truth. In fact, truth can justifiably be defined
as that which corresponds to the nature of the triune God. "The Lord is
the true God" (Jer. 10:10). Jesus is
"the truth" (John 14:6).The Holy Spirit is "The Spirit of
truth" (John 16:13). And the apostolic word recorded in the New
Testament documents is nothing other than the codification of this truth about
God and His universe in theological/historical propositions revealed in
inspired Scripture (cf. John 17:17).
Truth, sourced in the triune God and revealed in the apostolic Scriptures,
is very important. It is foundational.
2. Truth Matters to Authentic Christians. That is why we find
all those mandates in the epistles to guard the Gospel; to hold fast the
faithful Word; to promote, preserve and keep pure sound doctrine; to repudiate
what is contrary to sound doctrine; to preach the Word even to those who will
not endure it and who turn away from it; to walk in truth; and to contend
earnestly for the "once-for-all" revealed Faith.
This can only mean that truth mattered to primitive Christianity, to
those prototypical models of the New Testament Faith. If we are to be authentic
expressions of that same Faith in the contemporary world, truth will have to
matter to us too. It will have to be the "rudder-setter" when it
comes to our ministry philosophy and methodology.
3. Truth Demands That We Draw Lines. When Paul said,
"Come out from among them, and be ye separate" (II Cor. 6:17), he used a verb (aphorizo).
suggesting the setting of a limit, the erecting of a
boundary, the drawing of a line. When truth is at stake, there are times when
we have no other alternative. If people or organizations are prepared to
dismiss or give away truth in order to expedite their cause or broaden their influence,
then people or organizations who are committed to the
truth must be prepared to draw lines of demarcation beyond which they will not
go. That is what it means to "come out from among them, and be ye
separate." We do it because truth is foundational and because truth
matters to authentic Christians in the contemporary world as it mattered to
such Christians in the ancient world.
These, then, ate the critical axioms which must regulate ministry. All of
them demand that we be anchored to absolute truth if we hope to have ministries
that count. But there is a second basic concept which we must consider.
Many of us have been exposed to the growing body of literature which both promotes
and critiques Promise Keepers. I have read a fair amount of this literature;
and in summarizing the data,, I feel the need to
express three specific concerns regarding this movement -- each one of
which involves a forfeiture of absolute truth.
1. Its Ecumenical Character. This forfeits the truth of a
sound theology The ecumenical movement is a
twentieth-century invention designed to bring all forms of
"Christian" religion under one umbrella. Ostensibly, this is for the
sake of visible unity, but it has come at the expense of Biblical integrity.
The strategy has been to reduce the belief system to the least common dominator
in order to remove barriers to ecumenical oneness. In such a scenario, Biblical
truth claims go out the window!
Promise Number 6 affirms ecumenicity: "A Promise Keeper is committed to
reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate
the power of biblical unity" (italics mine). Promise Keepers' supporters
and sponsors include evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians,
Methodists, Episcopalians, charismatics, Baptists and others. And in many of
these cases, the differences between them are not merely denominational but
theological and Biblical. Truth is being minimized or dismissed altogether in
order to maximize influence and inflate attendance. People who cherish truth
simply cannot enter into such concessive relationships.
2. Its Charismatic Connection. This forfeits the truth of a
sound bibliology. The charismatic movement ends
up with a dual authority: the written Word of God plus the existential
experience of receiving "new revelation." That creates a crisis of
authority and erodes the uniqueness of God's Word written in Scripture. Bill
McCartney, the founder of Promise Keepers; Randy Phillips, its president and
administrative head; James Ryle, a board member and
McCartney's pastor; and Jack Hayford, one of its
leading spokesmen, all have connections with the hyper-charismatic Vineyard
movement, which is sourced in the ministry of John Wimber,
a pastor in California.
Both James Ryle and Bill McCartney claim to have
received direct, special revelation from God for the body of Christ -- some of
it have to do with Promise Keepers. One example of James Ryle's
so-called reception of "divine revelation" should suffice. In
November of 1990 at a Vineyard Harvest Conference in
"The Lord has appointed me as a lookout and shown me some things that I
went to show you. The Lord spoke to me and said, "What you saw in the Beatles
-- the gifting and sound that they had -- was from Me.
It was My purpose to bring forth through music a
worldwide revival that would usher in the move of My Spirit in bringing men and
women to Christ" (quoted in Promise Keepers and The Rising Tide of
Ecumenism, by Gil Rugh, p.22).
No serious student of Scripture could possibly accept such ludicrous claims.
Yet men from the Vineyard movement, who regularly make such claims, form the
core of the leadership in Promise Keepers. This has to be a matter of grave
concern for conscientious pastors. Exposing our people to such teachers in a
context where there seems to be very little doctrinal accountability is gravely
dangerous.
3. Its Roman Catholic Confusion. This forfeits the truth of
a sound soteriology.
Promise Keepers' acceptance of Roman Catholicism as an authentic expression
of the body of Christ is well documented. Bill McCartney insists on Roman
Catholic participation and requires the crossing of denominational lines in
making covenants with other men, including the Roman Catholic line.
Jack Jayford wrote in The Seven Promises of a
Promise Keeper the following statement: "Redeeming worship centers on
the Lord's Table. Whether your tradition celebrates it as
Communion, Eucharist, the Mass or the Lord's Supper, we are called to
this centre-piece of Christian worship" (13.19, italics mine). The
mass is considered an offering again of Jesus Christ upon the altar of
that church. That is an assault on the finality and efficacy of Christ's cross
work and is a denial of Scripture (cf. Heb. 9:28; 10:10,12,14,18;
7:27). More than this, the Biblical teaching of justification by faith alone is
equally assaulted in Roman Catholicism. Its system of sacraments and works as
integral components in the concept of justification destroys the Biblical
definition of salvation end of the Gospel. Paul has very strong words for those
who distort the Biblical Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).
