The Lord’s church has continually been indicted with the “evil” of conservatism by those in the world. “Your church is too traditional” they might say. Conservative, to the world, carries with it mundanity. It is interesting that the antipathy the modern religious world has for traditional values does not see the inherent negativity in their own liberal values. The whole concept of leniency contradicts the purpose of the revelation of God – zero tolerance. This does not undermine the reality of grace and mercy in the scriptures. Rather, it strengthens the need for their existence – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). By inspiration Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’… Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:7, 12). God gave His law to show us right from wrong so we could toe the line of righteousness. This is our evasive action from the fiery darts of our adversary. We conserve what is written, and stray not from it. To promote liberalism is to promote death. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Liberalism is an open mind to venture out into territory not prescribed by God’s authority.

Someone might say, “The church of Christ is too traditional for my taste.” This may be an indication of a desire, not for salvation, but for entertainment. The institution of the church by our Lord was predetermined as the body of those who would inherit salvation – “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…[who], in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…[who] in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:4, 7, 11). When someone says something like, “The church of Christ is too traditional for my taste,” what they don’t realize is the conservative views – the unwillingness to tolerate transgression of the Divine standard – place them under the title, “the church of Christ.” For Christ’s church is that which conforms only to Christ’s standard, and Christ’s church is the only one with candidates for salvation. When someone has an open mind to experiment with the new that is contrary to divine tradition they willingly forfeit their hope for salvation. Why? Simply for the reason Christ stated – “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

I saw a cartoon the other day that aptly illustrated the inherent negativity in liberalism. It pictured a man jumping over a fence that had the words “God’s Standard” written upon it. He exclaimed, “I’m tired of being contained by this fence!” A man beside him tried to warn saying, “Wait! It’s not a fence! It’s a guardrail!” The next panel of the cartoon showed a man plummeting to his demise with the rail up above him, guarding against the cliff. If there is a standard, especially a divine one, it implies that its way is the only one which leads to success. To be liberally minded is to show disinterest in reserving a place in heaven by the grace of God.

If this concept be true it allows no human interpretation of severity. Paul wrote, “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). The standard is established for us to measure ourselves by. We do not exist for that purpose. Measuring one’s degree of conservatism by comparing it to how far from the standard others have ventured is foolish. James revealed by inspiration that transgression in one part of the law is transgression of the whole law (cf. James 2:8-13). As members of the Lord’s church we cannot afford any kind of provision for sin. Dangers such as tolerant views of fellowship, emphasis on emotionalism, scriptureless sermons, faith in human institutions, and introductions of new hermeneutics present the same folly. We cannot expect to please God except by striving to keep His standard – every jot AND tittle.