Mr. Armstrong Was Plain!

Let’s at least briefly cover—and remember—what the entire Church seemed to once understand so clearly. I thoroughly covered this topic as early as 1993 in There Came a Falling Away (changes 35-37). Here are several statements from Mr. Armstrong and others:

“The individual lay member HAS HIS VITAL ROLE in proclaiming the GOOD NEWS (gospel) to the world. How? Not by going out and himself proclaiming Christ’s message to the neighborhood or to the world. That is primarily done by the apostles, to some extent by evangelists, and to even a lesser extent in local areas by local pastors.”

MYSTERY OF THE AGES, p. 266

“The Worldwide Church of God is completely nonproselytizing, and always has been. We have no missionary program, have no program…for training missionaries.”

“It is emphatically contrary to our belief and practice for any minister or representative of this Church to directly or personally solicit any potential member or urge anyone to become a member.”
“Update: AICF and WCG,” GN, Oct. 1975

“Jesus said none can come to Him (spiritually—religiously) except the Spirit of God draws him. We are humans. We cannot draw them. That is not our job—it is God’s.”

“Our No. 1 commission is to proclaim Jesus Christ’s GOOD NEWS as a witness—not to try to force conversion of any. Only God can convert.”

“Personal,” GN, Oct.-Nov. 1984

“The GREAT COMMISSION was given to the APOSTLES … NOT the lay members of the Church.”
“Their part was to back up the apostles—stand behind them with their prayers, encouragement, tithes and offerings.”

“‘And his gifts were, that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers’ (Ephesians 4:11, RSV).”
“Why The Church?”, WCG Reprint Article, 1978

“The Church members, as a whole, are not called to ‘GO FORTH’ with the gospel message, but to back up, help, support the apostle in carrying the message into all the world.”

“The twelfth chapter of I Corinthians reveals that there are various offices of administration within the Church – and that God gives various spiritual gifts for those various functions.”

“7 Proofs of God’s True Church,” PT, Aug. 1979

Like everything from Mr. Armstrong, these statements are unambiguous. Either Mr. Armstrong understood the role and work of his office, and the brethren’s complementary role of backing him up, or he did not. It cannot be both. Of course, some today who think they are holding to the truth seem to believe the apostates they rejected and left behind had a better understanding of their role than did the man who taught them the truth they now seek to spread on their own through personal evangelism. By now you see there is much more to the subject of personal evangelism than the surface suggests. This becomes one more memory to be recaptured—one more topic toward which the anointing of the eyes restores sight.

These quotes re-introduce a question that cannot be avoided—that of whether God has sent another apostle to finish the Work.

How All This Changed—and By Whom

Notice that the previous two quotes explained that various functions in the different offices of the ministry involve gifts that God must give for His Work to be accomplished. The following statements demonstrate how this teaching was changed. Have you been taken in by the shallow deceit of what are no more than simple assertions directly contrary to scripture? I have included ten quotes from the apostates so the reader can understand how relentless they were in repeating their new thinking over and over again. They understood the power of repetition. Let’s read:

“Is spreading the gospel just for the headquarters of the Church to do? Or is it something every one of us as individual Christians needs to be involved in too?”

“Shouldn’t we be involved in the same kinds of works of service that our Lord and Master Jesus Christ was? Jesus proclaimed the gospel and demonstrated its meaning as he gave mercy to those in need.”

Joseph W. Tkach, Brothers and Sisters Letter, Aug. 27, 1992

“How easy it is to pass up a prime opportunity to share our faith with another person, simply because we are timid, afraid of what the person might think, or wondering if it is really the right thing to do.”

“God has called us out of the darkness of this world and into his kingdom, and has given us a job to do.”

Joseph W. Tkach, Brothers and Sisters Letter, Dec. 23, 1992

“We have always narrowly defined proselytizing as recruiting by inducement. Since we believe God must call, our approach has been not to solicit people for membership or money.”

“The [World Tomorrow] announcer will…explain that interested viewers can request [Church] addresses along with the literature being advertised.”

“I’ve already spoken with each pastor in the market areas affected by the test. These men will prepare members in their congregations for visits from viewers.”

J.W. Tkach, “Members Are Vital Part in Reaching Out to People,” WN, June 16, 1992

“…it is time that our local congregations begin taking an active role in the spreading of the gospel in their communities, supported by the collective work through headquarters.” [Author’s note: Notice how headquarters is now to support the brethren instead of the other way around. This tail-wags-the-dog thinking directly paved the way for the Laodicean age when the people rule, in place of Christ through His leader.]

“We have too long seen evangelistic work as something that should primarily be done at headquarters by headquarters.”

“Personal from Joseph W. Tkach,” WN, Feb. 23 1993

“God has provided the ministry…to help equip and prepare his people so that they will be wise and faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ…”

“Personal from Joseph W. Tkach,” WN, Mar. 9, 1993

“Now, God is opening up new avenues for us to be witnesses of his kingdom—reaching out in the love of Christ as his ambassadors in our own communities…” [Author’s note: Recall that, like the world’s churches, it was taught that this was a “kingdom” already here.]

“We have a lifetime of work to do. So few people know what it means to believe on Christ, and to devote one’s life to him.”

Joseph W. Tkach, Brothers and Sisters Letter, Mar. 25, 1993

“Personal evangelism can be put into two categories: 1) confrontational; 2) relational. Relational evangelism…Maybe we have never known that this is the proper term for the kind of evangelizing that the Bible describes.”

Joseph Tkach Jr., “Church Administration,” PGR, Aug. 24, 1993

“Discipling (personal evangelism or sharing your faith) centers on the good news about Jesus Christ. Strictly speaking, making disciples does not mean advancing the claims of a specific church or ideology.” [Author’s note: Many doing this today do not remember how they were conditioned to practice the world’s form of evangelism, which places little emphasis on doctrine and a great deal on “Jesus.”]

Jeff Zhorne, “Lighting the Way,” PT, Nov.-Dec. 1993

“In putting on Christ, a Christian has the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel to others. In the early church, even in times of persecution, individually members did not shirk that responsibility (Acts 8:4). One church has a unique method of reminding those newly baptized of their God-given duty.”

“A part of the act of baptism in the Church of India is for the candidate to place his own hand on his head and say, ‘Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.’ This is part of the baptismal service of new members, not the ordination of ministers!”

E. Paul Hovey, “Baptism into Jesus Christ,” Reviews You Can Use, Mar.-Apr. 1994

“A…way our local congregations can be involved in evangelism is by all members…feeling free to invite [people] to attend a Church function…”

“Not every member has the personality or the motivation to evangelize this way.”

“It just means that God has not given them the talent for knowing how to wisely invite someone to a Church function.”

“God gives each of us gifts as it pleases him…”
“Personal from Joseph W. Tkach,” WN, Mar. 9, 1993

The Great Switch—Flattery and Gifts

Back to The Work of God