Tuesday, November 10, 2009

When Man-Made Rules Prevail

After the largest independent Baptist church in the world turned Ruckmanite, attendance went into a two decades long plunge. No longer the world's largest Sunday School, it eventually reached the point that it wasn't even Indiana's largest Sunday School. While their other man-made rules hadn't actually violated specific Scriptures, Ruckmanism did.

And a series of sex scandals started striking other independent Baptist churches as well. Believing that obedience to their rules was proof of holiness, they had a tendency to trust anyone who obeyed those rules, no matter how ungodly the person was in other areas. Many of them then turned to Ruckmanism, but the amount of scandals in Ruckmanite churches continued to be higher than in other groups. Regarding themselves as superior due to their man-made rules, they isolated themselves from other Christians who tried to warn them of what was going on.

It was the Word of God, not the rules, that had made independent Baptists America's greatest soul-winning group. And when they rejected the Word of God and kept the rules, their massive decline began.

The current pastor of First Baptist is a Godly man who has moderated their Ruckmanite position, bringing the attendance up to about 15,000, and causing many Ruckmanite preachers to turn against him. Hopefully, he will continue on the path he is on.