John 17:16
Our faith tradition, the Church of God of Prophecy, still adheres to the premise that the Bible is the authoritative, infallible, inerrant Word of God. We strongly hold the view that the Bible is our only rule of faith, practice, government and discipline. We believe and affirm that the Scriptures should not only be read, studied and preached, but they should be internalized, carefully observed and constantly practiced. This is not just a ritualistic mantra for us, but a serious reality, “… All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:18). May the Almighty so help us in keeping our part of this sacred covenant. By His grace we recommit ourselves to so doing.
It must also be observed that much emphasis is placed on the foundational truth of being “born again” stressing the obvious difference of the “born again” experience and lifestyle as opposed to our unconverted and former lives. This should be made crystal clear always, in our discipleship sessions and in preaching from the pulpit – that life in Christ, is starkly different to the prevailing culture of the world. Some Scriptures we are constantly challenged to keep in mind are scriptures like: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world,” (John 17:16; “Be not conformed to this world…” (Romans 12:2); “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world…” (1 John 2:15).
In the Church of God, a very heavy accent is placed on biblical holiness and deeper-life experiences, like sanctification and Spirit-baptism, which is supposed to profoundly affect from our very appearance to our overall behavior and attitude. Therefore, in these ways it can genuinely be said that our Christian community, the Church of God, represents an alternative lifestyle and culture – by our stress on personal holiness and refusing to allow its principles and standards to be dictated by the world. We strongly contend there must be a difference!
On the other hand, I think that it must also be acknowledged that in some ways, the Church of God, sometimes fails to be an alternative society by our flagrant lack of involvement in pressing social issues and concerns. For instance, very little is still done in our communities to feed the hungry, clothe the destitute, house the homeless, take in the orphans, care for the widows and to truly remember those classified as immigrants – as we are solidly enjoined by Scripture to do.
Somehow, there remains a disconnect when coming to social issues. In fact, there was a time when much caution was given about not becoming sidetracked into a “social gospel” movement, instead of caring about the “souls” of humankind. However, we must emphasize, just to pursue personal holiness and to ignore the social needs of our brothers and sisters all around, seriously compromises our status as the alternative society, we were commissioned to be. Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, and other places in the gospels must never be downplayed or denied. They must be seriously adhered to and applied. They cannot be dismissed. This is indeed the unchangeable biblical mandate!
I see change however, slowly coming to the Church of God, here in the Northeast Region and beyond and by this, we can be encouraged. Our children look for a church, one that is more relevant and involved, a twenty-first century Jesus-Church, fully engaged in presenting an alternative to this messed-up world! Honestly, we have no alternative but to be the alternative.
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
June 26th, 2021
