Many years ago, in a conversation this writer had with an older brother about the Scriptural requirement to separate oneself from apostasy, the brother stated that he would not leave the Mennonite church until the church ordained a woman to the ministry or accepted homosexuals into membership. That brother is with the Lord now and thus has all these questions answered with clarity. However, we who remain must answer the questions of that discussion. What that brother feared has come to pass, and were he living, he would be forced to make good on his commitment.
We suggest that those who do not base their fellowship on truth have for many years been on a slippery slope which has brought them to this point. It is the proverbial frog in the kettle of water that is slowly brought to a boil. Our question is: who is turning up the heat? The primary answer is “the god of this world.” He has worked through the various “frogs” who are unaware of the end result of compromise. He knows exactly what he is doing, and some of his servants are not just innocent “frogs.”
Liberals (what the previous generation called “laxatarians”) typically complain that conservatives in these debates withdraw into separatist groups. It would be this writer’s position that liberals force the issues and leave no room for the conservatives to stay in the parent groups. How can a Bible believer holding to absolute standards of truth remain in fellowship with an organization that by example denies that same truth? Who is pushing the issue anyway? Is it not the liberals who insist on the ordination of women and the acceptance of homosexuals?
Institutions of the mainline Mennonite church have now gotten themselves in the unpleasant position where evangelicals, whom we consider somewhat liberal in lifestyle and peace issues, are separating themselves from organizations of which these Mennonite institutions are members. The reason for said separation has to do with the Mennonite institution’s open hiring practices relating to the homosexual community. This calls into question the historic Mennonite label. Have the liberals so mutilated the term that it no longer has its historic meaning? Can true Bible believers allow themselves to be so identified?
The liberals are showing their true colors. This is the ultimate position they were doomed to allow when they started down this slippery slope of not requiring adherence to absolute truth. In this writer’s opinion, the brother mentioned at the beginning of this article drew the line where he would separate from the church much too far down the slippery slope. Other issues of theology, such as biblical inerrancy, and practices such as the headship veiling, would have been better places to draw the line. Pouring one’s self and resources into an organization that is headed down the slippery slope is a waste of the gifts of God.