The Thread
4. A WARNING TO MEMBERS (2)
This thread is straight forward. I am not trying to be mean or nice; I’m trying to tell it like it was for me, no defamation or ill-will. I warn you not to take things personally but to carefully consider the Recovery versus the Bible.
Published 12/02/2019, Written by Jacob Howard
View the Editor’s Notes, Updated 12/02/2019
Practicing the Truth in Love
14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.
15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.
Ephesians 4:14-15 (NET)
In Ephesians 4, in verse 14 being a Christian child is equivocated to being deceived by different teachings that come from tricksters and deceitful schemers. But in verse 15 God says Christians should practice the truth in love, which results in Christians growing up (i.e., no longer children) into Christ.
Through this thread, I’m attempting to hold to the truth, but it is aimless and growth-preventing if it’s not done in love.
The truth, when it comes down to it, is simply the truth. When the truth is contrary to our belief system, it may not feel very good when we hear it. But that feeling isn’t an indicator of love or lack thereof. No one likes being wrong. And by definition, the truth cannot be wrong. In these circumstances of correction, it’s easy to become defensive and deflective, even prideful.
Again, the truth is the truth, no matter how we may feel about it, but the truth should be practiced in love. There’s no need for me to make fun of people or lack mercy. Jesus died for the entire human race, even those we disagree with. He died for me (who gets things wrong), and He died for others (who also get things wrong).
Belittling or mocking someone isn’t very loving, so I’ll attempt not to do that. But “sugarcoating” or covering the truth with little lies to make it prettier doesn’t help either. If something in my language comes off as unloving or even hating and you’d like to let me know, email me at jacobhobsonhoward@gmail.com. I’d love to apologize where necessary and even recant. I have no interest in practicing the truth in anger or hatred.
Not Withholding the Truth
25 And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again.
26 Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all.
27 For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God.
Acts 20:25-27 (NET)
In Acts 20, in verse 25 Paul prophecies that certain Christians will not see him again. Yet in verse 26 Paul tells those Christians he is “innocent of the blood” of them. Why? How could Paul say that? Verse 27 reveals clearly that Paul could be innocent of their blood because he held nothing back regarding God’s purpose, God’s plan.
Other translations, including the New King James Version and the English Standard Version, translate the word “purpose” in Acts 20:27 to “counsel.”
I believe the counsel of God has something to say against the Lord’s Recovery cult. If He didn’t, I’d be wasting my time here; it’d just be me saying some things about a group simply because I have personal issues with it.
But God’s Word is the truth, and I’ve found the teachings and practices of the Lord’s Recovery to contradict the Bible.
2 Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction.
3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.
2 Timothy 4:2-3 (NET)
2 Timothy 4:2 makes it explicitly clear that preaching the message, or the Word, is not up to the teacher’s convenience. Preaching the Word of God needs to be done regardless of convenience.
My personal preference is to leave the Lord’s Recovery alone and be done with it, specifically because that would be more convenient for me. It’s taken a while, but I’ve moved on. And I’d like to spend my time being a simple Christian expressing Jesus Christ to my church and to my city, with the Lord’s Recovery something of my past.
But 2 Timothy 4:2 removes the option of convenience. I can’t say nothing while the curious Christian stumbles upon the Lord’s Recovery and finds themselves with little to no reliable resources from someone who’s dealt with it. For me, saying nothing would be convenient. But God has given me His Word, and I’m obligated to speak it.
2 Timothy 4:2 leads right into verse 3, saying why preaching the Word is necessary — “people will not tolerate sound teaching.” Speaking the Word of God is imperative when it comes to combatting unsound teaching. It’s my argument that the Lord’s Recovery has unsound teaching that needs combatting.