GLEANINGS — October 27, A.D. 2013                                                                                                               An Open Letter

The burden of the Seventh Commandment is faithfulness. In Scripture, for example in the book of the prophet Hosea, God often compares spiritual apostasy to marital infidelity. We are called to be a faithful, committed people in our relationship to the Lord, our spouses, and according to our various relations, to one another. Great is His faithfulness, great should be our faithfulness. (Cf. Lamentations 3:23, Luke 16:10ff., 1 Corinthians 4:2, Ephesians 1:1, et. al.)

The letter below dealing with faithfulness was recently sent to Samaritan Ministries International, a Christian alternative to conventional health insurance in which several past and present "New Lifers" participate. There are other such Christian enterprises such as Medi-Share...

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Christian Greetings (director's name) and friends at S.M.I.,

As long term and enthusiastic members, my wife (name) and I give thanks to God and to you for your successful efforts, in conjunction with other health care needs sharing enterprises, to make sure that we will be exempt from the new health care law penalty.

As a pastor (New Life Church, P.C.A., Middletown, NJ) I am persuaded by the Word of God that to be a disciple of Jesus necessarily involves personal, visible identification with a congregation of His Church. There should be no "lone rangers" or "mavericks" exempt from accountability to God established church authority among God's people. This is commonly known as church membership, which sadly along with other aspects of discipline, seems to be a foreign concept among some in our land who name the Name above all names.

So I encourage you to stand strong – not only for the ethical standards for participation in S.M.I. (chastity, Biblical moderation in the use of alcoholic beverages, etc.) but in requiring that prospective and renewing members give credible evidence that they are visibly, accountably united with a faithful congregation of Christ. In fact with hearty approval of, and appreciation for the measures you have already taken in this regard, I would exhort you to even greater diligence. In my opinion it is a crucial matter.

As a result of your work, the exemption which members of S.M.I. will enjoy is likely to become more widely known. Meanwhile, the penalizing of those who do not have acceptable "coverage" soon will go from a vague family budget threat to a nitty gritty reality tugging on the purse strings of many Americans. Persons desiring to find an exemption for themselves unscrupulously will try to exploit S.M.I. and similar organizations as a means to that goal.

Considering the intensifying persecution of Christians in our nation, it is increasingly clear to me that we who call in truth upon that Name above all names must  conduct ourselves worthy of the Gospel of Christ, stand fast in one spirit, with one mind strive together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way be terrified by our adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to us of salvation, and that from God. (Cf. Philippians 1:27, 28)

For His honor and glory, (signed)